Mental and Behavioral Health
The University of Rhode Island recently completed a comprehensive assessment of mental health services and programs through Jed Campus, an initiative of the New York-based Jed Foundation, which works with schools at all levels to “evaluate and strengthen their mental-health, substance-abuse and suicide-prevention programs to safeguard individual and community health.”
University of Connecticut students and administrators testified in support of a bill regarding mental health services on campus at the Connecticut General Assembly Thursday afternoon. State Bill 750, which was reviewed by the GA Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, proposes requiring colleges and universities to establish mental health prevention and treatment programs. Derek Pan, chairman of the Student Services Committee of the Undergraduate Student Government, said, “This Joint Resolution recognizes that a large percentage of students with mental health issues do not seek treatment despite ready resources available at many college institutions around the nation due to a lack of mental health literacy.” Pan said the Student Services Committee has moved to encourage the University of Connecticut to establish a mandatory educational module for all incoming freshmen that educates them on the common mental health issues faced by college students, dispels common misconceptions and stigmas that surround mental health issues and treatment and points to professional resources both on and off campus.
In an op-ed in LSU Now, Louisiana State University student Michael Frank argues that the school should devote more resources to mental health. While the Student Health Center provides students with free mental health services, including group therapy, crisis intervention, sexual assault support services, therapy, psychiatry, Frank writes that suicides on campus raise questions about the programs’ effectiveness, or at least, their accessibility.
The father of a graduate student who killed herself after visiting a University of South Carolina mental health counselor has filed suit against the university for its “grossly negligent” treatment of his daughter. The lawsuit alleges that though Samantha Strawn exhibited numerous signs that she was going to kill herself, a USC mental health counselor sent her away with only a follow-up appointment. “Samantha found herself in a crisis situation” and the university’s “negligence” allowed her to carry out plans to end her life, the lawsuit alleges. In its answer, the university denies negligence, saying its care of Samantha Strawn met medical standards and her suicide “was a consequence of her voluntary acts.”
The University of Pennsylvania has a new Counseling and Psychological Services executive director who was actively vetted by undergraduate and graduate student leadership. The new director, Gregory Eells, who was the executive director of Cornell University’s Counseling and Psychological Services for more than 15 years.
The University of Wisconsin Madison student finance committee has unanimously voted down the University Health Services budget, saying it doesn’t go far enough to address concerns students have with resources for mental health. “Every student on this campus knows mental health services at University Health Services are subpar,” said Jeremy Swanson, the chair for the Student Services Finance Committee. Swanson said the $18.9 million budget doesn’t ask for enough to correct problems, like meeting limits (students are only allowed 10 counseling sessions per academic year and 20 per academic career), a lack of counselors and a lack of diversity in counselors for both students of color and LGBTQ students. According to a release from the committee, some students also waited as long as 36 days to get a one-on-one counseling session.
A survey conducted by the Yale College Council found that while most undergraduates are happy to be studying at Yale University, they are far from satisfied with how easy it is access to mental health services. The survey found that 48.7 percent said that they believe Yale does not do enough to tend to students’ mental health, and 54 percent of respondents “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” that their wait times for mental health appointments were reasonable. According to the document, waiting for an intake appointment, then waiting for a therapist assignment and then waiting for the first meeting with the assigned therapist each take an average of one to two weeks. The survey was included in a report that analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of Yale’s campus culture, peer and faculty resources and mental health and counseling services. The report also states recommendations regarding mental health resources for undergraduates.
Last semester at Cornell, a student-led Mental Health Task Force presented a list of recommendations signed by nearly 300 students, faculty and community members to University administrators. This semester, one of those recommendations will be fulfilled as the University’s first Mental Health Standing Committee officially convenes. The student-led committee aims to bridge the communication gap between administration and students involved in the mental health community. The committee will serve as a liaison between the students and the University, and will be independent of the University, which means they do not have to report to the school administration.
Diversity and Inclusion
While traveling abroad this week, a black graduate student at New York University says he was told by a classmate that a class discussion was easier to facilitate without a “black presence” in the room. Now administrators at NYU’s Silver School of Social Work have acknowledged that it has a problem with “ongoing institutional racism,” especially in the classroom.
At the latest hearing of the lawsuit filed by Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit organization accusing Harvard of discriminating against Asian-American applicants, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said the group suing Harvard had failed to provide any victims of alleged discrimination throughout the case. She also pointed out that Harvard still faced questions over the subjective “personal rating” component of its admissions process.
According to the American Council on Education’s new report on race and ethnicity in higher education, college-student populations are growing more diverse, yet achievement gaps persist among different racial groups. And the poor outcomes for black students in particular are glaring. All students of color now make up more than 45 percent of the undergraduate population, compared with less than 30 percent two decades ago. Nearly one-third of graduate students are now people of color. Hispanic students have shown the most growth in college enrollment and completion. Black students represent a larger share of the student population than 20 years ago, and a larger share of the students who graduate. But black students who began college in the fall of 2011 had lower six-year completion rates, 46 percent at public institutions, 57 percent at private institutions, than any other racial group.
In her book, “Divergent Paths to College: Race, Class, and Inequality in High Schools“, Megan M. Holland suggests that American high schools are unwittingly using students’ race and class to determine which colleges they attend. She writes that both high schools and colleges are failing to provide many college-bound students with enough information and “cultural capital” – knowledge acquired through membership in particular social groups – that they need to make informed choices on their own. According to Holland, students’ paths to higher education are “defined by students’ social background, such as their race and class, and also by the way their high schools structured access to critical college information.” She found that many students, but predominantly the white, socioeconomically advantaged ones, had networks of friends and family who provided advice about how to make smart decisions about college. Many had parents who helped them to get and retain the attention of counselors and teachers, if the students hadn’t already mastered that skill.
Elite colleges have increased the number of low-income students they enroll in recent years, but getting those students to graduate has been more challenging. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Education Department data, the average difference in six-year graduation rates between students who received Pell grants and those who didn’t at a particular school was 8.9 percentage points. Even at schools where at least two-thirds of students who started in 2011 graduated within six years, the gap was 6.4 percentage points. Pell recipients at those colleges stood a better chance of graduating than elsewhere, but still often significantly lagged behind their classmates.
Sexual Health
The American College Health Association announces the release of its new guidelines, HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. Developed by the ACHA PrEP in College Health Task Force, these guidelines serve as a roadmap for college health services seeking to provide HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a means of preventing new HIV infections and as a resource to assist with front line implementation. While HIV rates have recently decreased among the general population, HIV remains a serious issue for young adults. PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection by over 90% if taken daily as prescribed.
Substance Use
Binghamton University was recently certified as an Opioid Overdose Prevention Program site by the New York State Department of Health – the first such university to achieve the certification. The designation allows the campus to distribute Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan™, free of charge to non-medical individuals who have received training to use it. Bennett Doughty, a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy and one of the developers of the campus program, said “The program will provide not only provide Naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal agent, but will also help in other ways. This program will also help reduce the stigma of opioid use disorders on campus as well as back in the home communities of many of our students.” Doughty will study how successful, and useful, the program is when delivered by non-medical individuals.
As of Jan. 1, smoking and tobacco use, as well as the use of all e-cigarettes and vaping devices, have become prohibited throughout Skidmore College property, including outdoor areas and on-campus residential properties.
Greek Life
Three female students are suing Yale University and nine off-campus fraternities, arguing the fraternities create a hostile environment for women and that Yale is “turning a blind eye” to sexual misconduct. Anna McNeil, one of the plaintiffs, says she was repeatedly groped at fraternity parties during her first year at Yale. Among its claims, the lawsuit argues Yale is violating Title IX, the law banning sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. The plaintiffs want the fraternities to allow women to join – and to gain access to fraternities’ powerful alumni networks.
The lawsuit cuts to the heart of an issue that’s top of mind for campus leaders: what responsibility colleges have to regulate the culture of their fraternities. Fraternities are private organizations governed by student leaders and national fraternity groups. They have traditionally operated with limited involvement by college administrators. At Yale and a few other colleges, the fraternities aren’t formally affiliated with the institution at all. Marvin Chun, dean of Yale College, the university’s undergraduate arm, said just last month that Yale has no legal standing to influence the local chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon, even though a recent university investigation had found that many students believed the fraternity’s parties were sexually hostile environments.
College Affordability
Alfred Street Baptist Church gave $100,000 to Howard University, paying the debts of 34 students who owed sums ranging from $100 to more than $3,000. Alfred Street had raised the money via a church-wide fast during the month of January, during which congregants committed to doing without certain things, from not consuming sweets or alcohol to abstaining from social media. They were also asked to undertake a “financial fast,” and eliminate spending on non-essential items.
In a new poll of education priorities, the majority of Americans – both Republicans and Democrats – said “finding ways to lessen student debt” is an extremely important goal for Congress to tackle.
The Chronicle Trends Report
In their 2019 Trends Report, the Chronicle of Higher Education highlights “The New ‘In Loco Parentis.” The report examines the way colleges and universities nationwide are finding a middle ground between the ‘In loco parentis’ of the 1960’s, and the bystander role they took after its legal demise. According to the Chronicle report, the new in loco parentis is driven by tuition-payers’ expectations, colleges’ concerns about legal liability, shifting cultural and social norms, and an evolving understanding of human development. The new approach can be seen in more-intrusive advising and the recent crackdowns on fraternities and sororities.
