Colleges and university counseling centers could benefit from more surveys, presentations, self-assessments, activities and special events to identify students whose psychological well-being is interfering with their development, learning and achievement. That's one of the messages conveyed in a briefing paper issued to college and university presidents by the American Council on Education (ACE) in September. The paper — "A Strategic Primer on College Student Mental Health" — is part of a yearlong partnership with ACE, APA and NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, in response to President Barack Obama's call in June 2013 to launch a national conversation to increase understanding and awareness about mental health.
The paper reviews trends in college student mental health and highlights promising practices that contribute to student well-being. In addition to academic administrators, the publication is also being widely disseminated to practitioners working to address campus mental health.
Much of the briefing focuses on the need for schools to ensure that students get the care and support they need to learn and succeed in college.
"We know that for students to draw as much from their college experience as possible, they need to be engaged in the classroom and engaged with their communities and with peers," says Brian Sponsler, EdD, vice president for research and policy for NASPA. "Our focus on student learning and development foresees positive mental health as a pillar of a student's readiness to learn platform."
Making sure students are aware of and have access to the supports available to them is also critical, as is ensuring that no student feels alone, isolated or stigmatized, says Louise Douce, PhD, one of the briefing's contributors and an advisor to the partnership project on behalf of APA.
"Simply put, mental wellness is integral to learning," Douce says. "The less time and energy a student has to put toward feeling safe and well, the more time and energy they have to put into the reason they're there — to get an education."
— A. Novotney
