New Quadcast: Supporting Students with Serious Mental Illness in College with Dr. Dori Hutchinson
In a new episode of this week’s Quadcast, Dori Hutchinson, Sc.D., Executive Director of the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University and Clinical Associate Professor at Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, discusses how colleges and universities can vastly improve their support for students with serious mental health conditions — from supported education, to improved access to accommodations, to life-changing policies on leaves of absence and re-entry.
Dr. Hutchinson describes working with students in the NITEO program, which helps students on leave build resilience and avoid shame with an 84% success rate of returning to campus. The pandemic, Hutchinson says, has produced an opportunity for college administrators to offer more supportive options for students with serious mental illness. Listen on our website or on Apple Podcasts. While you’re there, leave us a rating or review, which helps us reach a wider audience. We hope you enjoy listening.
Mental and Behavioral Health
Main Stories
The Chronicle discusses the impact of “suicide clusters” that have been affecting colleges and universities around the country. Because others may be more likely to attempt suicide after being exposed to one, suicide can be especially dangerous on college campuses. Dartmouth College suffered the deaths of three students by suicide this year, leaving administrators struggling to deal with the emotional toll on campus and many students frustrated by the response, or lack thereof. Colleges, including Dartmouth, are therefore making efforts to expand student mental health services, particularly in light of this past year characterized by acute isolation. As schools work to establish a “culture of care” for all, training faculty members to be able to identify and handle signs of mental health problems in students is one notable measure to increase support for students.
Other News
In a feature for The Daily Princetonian, two student authors highlight the unique mental health problems that affected undergraduates across campus this past year. As Princeton’s mental health services were overrun, students experienced varying degrees of support from clinicians and professors, as they struggled to keep up with their schoolwork without a social outlet.
Another feature for The Dartmouth similarly reports that students have felt unsupported by their school to cope with the last year, especially in light of four student deaths that rocked the campus. As students dealt with isolation, many discovered a shortage of services in on-campus counseling and a flawed leave of absence system.
A team of students at Penn State developed an app called PsySpace, which uses Artificial Intelligence to pair students struggling with their mental health with “an active listener who can help,” according to Penn State News. The creators hope to mitigate not only the unique stressors for college students, but also the challenges of finding proper counseling, although they are still working on increasing the app’s accessibility and efficiency.
In an op-ed for EdSurge, Christensen Institute fellow Chelsea Waite discusses the limitations of college counseling services, while highlighting the potential in peer support, which she calls a “resource hiding in plain sight.” A recent report from the Christensen Institute reveals increasing opportunities for students to benefit from peer-to-peer academic or mental health support — often with greater cost efficiency.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The New York Times reports on the achievements of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, several of which have recently been in the news for hiring renown faculty and receiving significant donations. At the same time, some less well-known HBCUs, particularly small and rural ones, continue to face declines in enrollment. Graduation and retention rates are suffering at many of the schools, which must contend with a lack of government funding and even suggestions that they merge with non-HBCUs.
While colleges across the country debate what to do with buildings named after controversial people, The Chronicle highlights an additional complication for public universities in South Carolina, where the Heritage Act mandates that a supermajority (two-thirds) of the state legislature must approve name changes to any public buildings. State law is preventing the University of South Carolina from renaming 11 buildings currently named for figures with racist and Confederate ties, even though a school commission approved the changes. While some community members feel disenchanted by the University’s lack of action, others are hopeful for a way to create change despite the Heritage Act or to remove it completely.
Starting this year, Colorado will be the first state to officially prohibit legacy admission for its public universities, according to The Hechinger Report. While public universities across the US are already less likely than private universities to give preference to applicants because of legacy status, Colorado’s ruling is a symbolic disavowal of a policy widely believed to give White and higher-income families the upper hand in admissions. A call to end legacy admissions and disrupt inequities is reverberating throughout the country, but for many schools, the practice has been and may continue to be a “a really key part of their identity.”
Diverse Education discusses a recent report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW), which does not find evidence of discrimination against Asian American applicants in the admissions processes of selective US colleges. Analyzing data from 91 selective schools, the study shows similar rates of growth in Asian American enrollment at selective schools compared to other four-year colleges. The director of the CEW says that the “real issue” in college admissions extends back to the segregation of American education from the youngest classes: “Until you change that with policies that try to provide equal opportunity from preschool to the end of your college career, you can’t have much impact.”
Inside Higher Ed reports that President Biden will push back against the ruling that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which defends undocumented children against deportation, is illegal for never having been approved by Congress (President Obama originally instituted the program). Not only the president but the Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration has encouraged Congress to protect undocumented children, hundreds of thousands of whom are currently working toward postsecondary degrees. According to Diverse Education, Illinois may institute a new policy, if approved by the governor, that connects undocumented students with a “liaison” to help them navigate financial aid and other opportunities.
As Ithaca College president Shirley Collado prepares to move onto a new position as CEO of College Track — which supports first-generation and low-income students in the process from high school through college — she discusses her tenure at Ithaca and future plans in a Q&A with Higher Ed Dive. She highlights how her own experiences as a first-generation student guided her commitment to fostering a student-centered campus, promoting equity and accessibility for all. At College Track, Collado hopes to affect the “entire higher education ecosystem,” suggesting that not only colleges but every level of higher education needs effective leadership.
Student Success
Although sororities and fraternities are no stranger to controversy, The Hechinger Report discusses a new poll that reveals an association between involvement in Greek Life and improved experiences with faculty, extracurricular activities, and internships. Those who participated in Greek Life were more likely to have a job soon after graduating and go on to enjoy work, and they also had a more positive perception of their college experience. While the poll cannot offer definitive conclusions about its results, some posit that those in Greek Life are wealthier to begin with, or they tend to be more outgoing and willing to network.
The Hechinger Report covers a new report from New America, reviewing the state of online education over the last year-and-a-half and offering strategy recommendations to improve course structuring and communication going forward. The report also stresses the growing importance of the internet as a basic need, encouraging government subsidies to ensure access to Wi-Fi and devices for college students who qualify. Still, a lack of data on online education continues to be a barrier to research, and the study encourages increased data collection from programs to further investigate into the field.
Diverse Education spotlights the latest plans from Virginia’s Community Colleges System (VCCS) to increase equity across all students by 2027. After a VCCS task force investigated various measures of student success, it found particular disparities among Black students, including declining enrollment and limited graduation rates. Over the next six years, every college in the system will work to increase equity by educating and training faculty, practicing more diverse hiring, and fostering a “culture of care” for students.
Basic Needs
Diverse Education reports on a new study finding benefits for students living on campus. “The Case for Campus Housing,” a national study conducted by the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International, found that first-year students who live on campus were 2% more likely to continue college into their second year than those who did not. Additionally, the study found that students of color experienced a more welcoming campus environment when they chose their roommates. The report examined data from 33,000 respondents across 76 institutions.
Coronavirus: Safety and Reopening
After eight students filed a lawsuit against Indiana University’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate and face-mask requirements, federal Judge Leichty sided with the university in the first-ever ruling of its kind regarding a university’s enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. While many legal scholars have said they believe universities have substantial legal ground to mandate vaccines, the ruling at Indiana University sets a precedent for other potential lawsuits filed in response to universities’ vaccine requirements across the nation. Students claimed that the requirements violated their rights under the 14th amendment. However, Leichty wrote, “This was a deliberative decision based on a wealth of scientific, medical, empirical, and industry-wide data.”
Higher Ed Dive reports on colleges and universities reevaluating their vaccination mandates prior to the fall return to campus. On Thursday, the University of California system announced a vaccine mandate for their faculty and students, making it the largest public university system to require vaccines. The University of Hawaii system, however, removed their vaccine mandate after surveys showed a vast majority of their students and faculty have already received vaccination shots.
Inside Higher Ed reports on colleges across the nation waiting on student vaccination rates in compliance to vaccination requirements prior to their deadlines needing documentation. Universities are hosting raffles for free room and board or tuition incentives for college students to submit their proof of vaccination paperwork early. Officials at other universities say it is still too early to accurately know student vaccination rates at their institutions.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the increasing number of states banning COVID-19 vaccination requirements at colleges and schools. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah have all banned colleges and schools from requiring vaccines or proof of vaccination. Meanwhile, the Delta variant, which is 50% more transmissible than the Alpha variant, has now become the dominant strain in America. Officials worry that state bans could increase rates of outbreak in schools and universities, and medical experts say schools and universities should continue practicing social distancing in areas with low vaccination rates.
