by Leah Jackson
The student mental health crisis is a key area for higher education leaders to address, and it is an issue that requires collaboration from the entire campus community, not just the counseling center, cautions a new report from the American Council on Education (ACE) entitledSix Considerations for Student Mental Health in Higher Education for the 2023-24 Academic Year.
"It is a campus-wide issue, and higher education cannot hire its way out of it -- there are not enough counselors and not enough funds," reads the report.
Thankfully, though, ACE has identified six actions in this report that institutions can take to support students before they need therapy, including:
1. Realize the impact of counseling center staffing and address turnover.
ACE says counseling centers have been overworked. Even prior to the pandemic, caseloads were growing as campuses worked to expand mental health services. With the pandemic and great resignation that followed, the situation has only worsened. As a result of staff burnout and greater opportunities elsewhere, many counseling centers have seen turnover. The report recommends that leaders re-evaluate how to best serve students without overburdening staff in these centers.
2. Cultivate degree pathways for aspiring mental health professionals, especially for students of color and LGBTQ+ students.
The report also points out that colleges and universities can play a pivotal role in addressing the counselor shortage that exists across industries (not just in higher education). Recommendations include encouraging students to explore this career option and incentivizing them with scholarships and grants, among others.
3. Build upon positive movement at the federal and state levels that supports student mental health.
"With all the attention that mental health is receiving at the federal and state levels, college and university leaders are well positioned to build upon these efforts," the report reads. It outlines several recent federal actions that higher education has benefited from and highlights how some states are addressing the mental health crisis, which may inspire other ideas.
4. Implement evidence-based practices on campus, and document and assess their impact.
ACE warns that while there are many solutions, interventions, and programs used to address mental health, not all of them are proven to be effective. The report shares a few resources that can help institutional leaders identify strategies that really work, such as American Council on Education's brief What Works for Improving Mental Health in Higher Education, an "open-access brief shares various strategies for addressing college student mental health -- those with proven effectiveness, promising evidence, and proven ineffectiveness."
5. Focus on public health- and trauma-informed approaches to address the mental health crisis.
The report advises against the traditional, reactive approach to mental health of the past, saying that it is important to examine root causes of issues. So, rather than helping students only after a crisis has occurred, colleges and universities should focus on implementing public health-informed approaches that "promote healthy lifestyles as well as ways to identify, prevent, and respond to concerns through prevention, intervention, and postvention," the report says. However, recognizing that many students come to college with trauma from the past, ACE also recommends considering a trauma-informed approach. Faculty, staff, and leaders should be trained to provide safe places for students, empower them, and empathize with them.
6. Anticipate that incoming traditional-aged students and their parents will ask about and expect there to be mental health support on campus.
Current and future incoming college freshmen are students who were in the K-12 education system during the pandemic and dealt with "tremendous disruption" the report says. To support students, many middle and high schools boosted their mental health resources, so these students will be accustomed to having those resources at their fingertips and expect that same option in college. Likely, their parents will expect it as well. The report recommends institutional leaders "begin outreach efforts and partnerships with K-12 institutions and counseling units to understand the unique challenges and new variables that come with this incoming generation of students."
For more in-depth information on each of these recommendations to better support your students' mental health, read the full brief from ACE.
This article is republished from HigherEdJobs® under a Creative Commons license.