Mental and Behavioral Health
A new study found that transgender, gender-nonconforming, and gender-nonbinary college students suffer two to four times more than their cisgender classmates from mental-health problems, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-injury, and suicidality. About 78 percent of gender-minority students met the criteria for one or more mental health problems compared to 45 percent of cisgender students. The study’s lead author, Sarah Ketchen Lipson, an assistant professor of health law, policy, and management at Boston University, said that she hopes that “the magnitude of these disparities will create a sense of urgency” among college leaders in instituting trans-friendly policies like access to gender-neutral bathrooms and housing, and allowing students to change their name in campus records.
In an op-ed in the Middlebury Campus, student Arthur Martins argues for prioritizing student mental health and increasing institutional support. According to Martins, “We must stop approaching mental health from a crisis-intervention perspective, instead finding ways to incorporate policies that can promote long-term emotional resilience.” Martins writes, “Conversations that shift the paradigm of mental healthcare as an individual problem are in order for all of us; after all, this is an issue in which everyone in our community has the power to make a change.”
The University of Georgia is offering voluntary mental health screenings to all 7,000 freshmen. The screenings are available upon check-in and represent an effort to shift the culture on campus.
According to a new study led by researchers at Indiana University, college students who participate in peer-directed activities designed to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness on campus were significantly less likely to stigmatize people with these conditions. U Bring Change to Mind (UBC2M) included events such as inclusive fashion shows, “de-stress” activities and biweekly club meetings open to the campus community. The researchers found a decrease in prejudice and an increase in inclusive behavior, as well as more “positive perceptions of campus mental health culture.”
A new position at the University of Southern California will be a bridge between medical and mental health services for students, recognizing what health professionals have known for years – that the body and the mind are inextricably connected. Jennifer Hsia, who will fill the role, said, “Sometimes patients will present physical symptoms that indicate mental health issues, like headaches or stomach aches due to stress. People also often go to the ER when they have a panic attack because they think they are having a heart attack. There are also some medical conditions that have psychological effects – like hypothyroidism, which can look like depression – or UTIs, which can cause confusion and agitation.”
Ohio State University is offering a new class this academic year called MINDSTRONG, a seven-week cognitive-behavioral skills-building program that promotes and supports mental health and mental resilience.. The program features weekly sessions that can help people manage stress, anxiety and depression. Each session provides strategies to practice establishing healthier behavior patterns. Jacqueline Hoying, director of MINDSTRONG said, “We know that it’s evidence-based. We’ve performed 17 research studies on it, and in all of the studies, we find the same things. We have a reduction in stress, depression and anxiety.”
University of North Carolina students now have 24/7 access to mental health supportvia a new Counseling and Psychological Services hotline. The new after-hours service was one of nearly 60 recommendations made by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Mental Health Task Force in April. The task force was convened in 2018 by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Blouin and former Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp to assess the mental health care needs of students at Carolina.
Diversity and Inclusion
Advocates for immigrant students say they will be affected by a new ruling by the Trump administration that makes it harder for immigrants who have received certain public benefits such to obtain permanent resident status. The rules outline criteria the Department of Homeland Security will use in denying applications for admission to the United States or adjustments of immigration status for individuals who are already living here and are deemed “likely to become a public charge” in the future. “By the targeting of the public benefits, especially SNAP [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] and housing assistance, it’s going directly at benefits that help support student success,” said Miriam Feldblum, the executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. While the rule does not include Pell Grants and other forms of educational assistance among the types of benefits that immigrants will be penalized for receiving, higher education groups expressed concern that confusion over which benefits would count against them would discourage some immigrant students from applying for federal financial aid. Higher education groups have also expressed concerns about the implications for international students and scholars on nonimmigrant visas.
University of California President Janet Napolitano issued a statement about the ‘public charge” rule. She wrote, “Today’s decision by the Trump administration to expand the definition of “public charge” sends a detrimental message internationally – that the United States does not want other countries to send their best and brightest here to study and add to the intellectual exchange at our universities, to conduct important research, and to contribute substantially to our economy, among other things. This rule also means that a number of UC students and other California residents, out of an abundance of caution, may be reluctant to seek available assistance such as preventative health care, housing opportunities, and nutrition education and benefits.”
In an op-ed in the LA Times, David Kirp, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley and author of “The College Dropout Scandal,” argues that barriers to higher education access for “new gen” students – those from low-income families, underrepresented minority groups and students who are the first in their family to go to college — can be addressed by convincing high-achieving high school seniors to apply for available grant money and persuading those who have been accepted to college to enroll. According to Kirp, researchers from the California Policy Lab, a joint UC Berkeley-UCLA project, were invited by the California Student Aid Commission to rewrite a letter sent out by the commission explaining the application process. They made common-sense changes, shortening the letter considerably and removing jargon. This change, which came at no charge, had a small but significant effect: 67.6% of the students who received the simplified letter signed up, compared to 62% of those who got the standard letter.
Historically black colleges and universities are increasing the number of international students they enroll. In addition to the tuition money they often bring, often paying full sticker price of tuition, there are benefits for the HBCUs‘ American students. Many are from low-income families and cannot afford study-abroad programs. Having international classmates exposes them to cultures very different from their own. While some African American students question whether the culture of their campuses is changing too much, others welcome the chance to interact with foreign students.
In recent years, colleges have tried to increase graduation rates for first generation students by creating offices devoted to helping them, organizing peer groups and connecting students with tutoring and extra support. Now some institutions are designing outreach efforts for parents of first-generation students, and finding new ways to engage them in campus events. “It’s necessary for us as institutions to engage those parents and families of first-generation students and help them understand the college process, so they can also be supportive in that way,” said Amy Baldwin, who oversees the Department of Student Transitions at the University of Central Arkansas and is an adviser to the Center for First-Generation Student Success. She said that more institutions may try to find ways to include parents and families in their children’s higher education in the coming years.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Simone Ispa-Landa, a sociologist at Northwestern University, and Noelle Hurd, a psychologist at the University of Virginia write that as hate crimes increase on college campuses nationwide, colleges must do more to protect their students, faculty and staff. According to the authors “Each academic institution needs leaders who will funnel resources into anti-racist and anti-sexist activity, including support for those who are willing to speak out about potential solutions to pressing social problems.”
A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Harvard University of sex discrimination because of its policy governing students who join single-gender social organizations, including fraternities and sororities. The policy bars students from leadership positions in university-recognized organizations and from athletic teams if they join single-sex clubs not recognized by Harvard. Those students also are ineligible to receive college-administered fellowships, including the Rhodes Scholarship. Harvard was sued by five national or local fraternities and sororities and three anonymous members of those organizations. The lawsuit alleges that Harvard is violating the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (MCRA) and Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in educational programs and activities that receive federal funds.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
Dartmouth College unveiled its new unified policy on sexual misconduct for faculty, students and staff. The new policy, which has been in development for months, comes a week after the college said it would pay $14 million to settle a federal lawsuit accusing it of ignoring years of sexual harassment and assault by former psychology department professors. The policy prohibits sexual harassment, assault and exploitation; relationship and interpersonal violence, stalking and other behavior. It also prohibits retaliation against those who report such conduct.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) has announced that Quintez Cephus, the school’s former wide receiver, was admitted back on the football team after being acquitted of sexual assault charges. Last August, Cephus was suspended from the team and eventually expelled from UW after two women accused him of sexual assault. Cephus was later acquitted. “I know the past year has been painful for everyone involved,” UW chancellor Dr. Rebecca Blank said in a university statement. “I recognize that some will disagree with this decision. To those in our community who have experienced sexual assault, I sincerely hope that there is nothing in this case that will deter [persons] from coming forward for support.”
Student Success
Google added community colleges to its year-old tool that offers details about college tuition and acceptance and graduation rates for individual schools. Also new to the feature is the ability to generate lists of colleges based on searchable factors such as field of study and location.
Nearly 20 community college students who plan to transfer to UMass Lowell took one of three STEM classes on campus this summer for free. The classes are paid for by a state STEM Starter Grant aimed at encouraging community college students to complete four-year degrees in science, math, engineering and health sciences, says Audrey Frater, director of the STEM Starter Academy and Pathways Center at Middlesex Community College. The program, which accepts up to 20 students a year, has proved successful, largely because it requires the community college students to attend twice-weekly “supplemental instruction” sessions held right before or after class.
Safety
A false alert was announced to the George Mason University campus that “A person with a weapon is on the Fairfax Campus. RUN, HIDE, or FIGHT.” The message was sent inadvertently by a software vendor that handles the school’s emergency notification system. The false alarm, coming in the days before the semester begins, rattled the campus and had people scrambling to barricade themselves in offices or bathrooms before the university was able to make an announcement.
Free Speech
A new report from EAB, a firm that uses research, technology, and consulting to address challenges within the education industry, explains that colleges must act quickly when issues arise on campus that trigger “disturbances in the community or media”, often relating to issues such as diversity, free speech and gender. Education Dive spoke with Jane Alexander, senior consultant at EAB, about where colleges go wrong when addressing campus “flashpoints” and what actions they should take instead. “Campus leadership should come together and proactively identify what those potential reputational risks are for their institution,” she said. “Then, when crisis hits campus, this isn’t something an institution hasn’t thought about before.”
