In the final episode in our Flourishing series, EVP of Counseling at NYU and MCF President Zoe Ragouzeos speaks with two college presidents about why higher education should commit to “Creating Environments for Flourishing,” and how to go about doing so in today’s environment. Our guests are Shirley M. Collado, PhD, President of Ithaca College and John J. DeGioia, PhD, President of Georgetown University.
Previous episodes of the special Quadcast series, Creating Environments for Flourishing feature:
Zoe Ragouzeos, PhD and Sarah K. Lipson, PhD on the importance of expanding communities of support
Daniel Eisenberg, PhD and James Hudziak, MD on the need for innovation in college student mental health
Corey Keyes, PhD on how to improve the mental health of college students
Alan Schlechter, MD and Dan Lerner who teach “The Science of Happiness” course at NYU
This series is based on the report, “Creating Environments for Flourishing” released by the Mary Christie Foundation and Georgetown University. You can listen to the final episode and the entire series here or on Apple Podcasts. While you’re there, give us a rating or review. We hope you enjoy listening.
The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that some UPenn students boycotted their classes on Nov. 3 and 4 to demand that the university prioritize student wellness and meet activist demands to abolish Penn Police. The Penn Scholar Strike for Wellness cited the elimination of fall break, the failure to cancel classes on Election Day despite widespread student demands, and the Philadelphia police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. as causes of mental health struggles this semester.
The loneliness epidemic on college campuses appears to have worsened over the course of the pandemic as students either had to continue learning remotely or in a limited fashion on campus due to COVID precautions. Faculty at Yale University, among 100 other higher education faculty, signed a public letter penned by Harvard epidemiologist Julia Marcus and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Stefan Baral condemning the “punitive” isolation and distancing measures put upon college and university students. Inside Higher Ed published the letter in October and it continues to provoke conversations across academia. Marcus and Baral wrote, “Social contact may be particularly vital for marginalized students, whose mental health may be heavily impacted by the loss of positive social connections.” Students and professionals express concern over the lack of social interaction for students under quarantine due to contact tracing or being symptomatic and awaiting a negative test, or a positive test. The coronavirus weighs heavy on many students, physically but perhaps even more so psychologically and is likely to impact their wellbeing for years to come.
Last week, the Florida Board of Governors heard presentations on evidence-based research and national best practices regarding student wellness. The board’s Drugs, Alcohol and Mental Health Task Force has identified best practices to inform the development of system-wide recommendations for addressing the issue. One strategy presented was the implementation of Kognito’s mental-health literacy program, which can train faculty and staff to increase awareness and build their knowledge and skills related to mental health and suicide prevention. A second recommendation was the use of surveys to monitor student mental health and drug and alcohol use across all 12 Florida universities, like the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment.
Student and faculty groups at UCLA hosted a virtual post-election healing event last week to offer students a place to discuss and digest the 2020 election. The event had a specific focus on helping Black, Indigenous and people of color process changes that may disproportionately affect their communities. Nicole Green, the executive director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said, “It’s just going to be helping students process feelings, thinking about what’s important to them, thinking about what they’re going to do next in terms of their own self-care, their own activism, their own student identity.” Calena Ang, a fourth-year student who is the academic affairs coordinator of UCLA’s Asian Pacific Coalition and helped plan the event said, “For BIPOC especially, there’s a lot at stake with this election. “So when it comes to why we focus on BIPOC perspectives, it’s because we need to reserve some space for our BIPOC allies because they’re going to be heavily impacted by the new legislation, regardless of who is in power.”
Several organizations at Manhattan College including the Counseling Center, the Office of Student Engagement, and Campus Ministry are offering virtual office hours to help students deal with election-related stress.
The Oracle reports that University of Florida students have experienced increased stress and anxiety due to the election with the Counseling Center seeing an increase in students in the past several weeks. According to Scott Strader, director of the Counseling Center, the election is the tipping point for many students who have made appointments to speak with counselors. “What we really see is that people may have had some low-level anxiety or low-level concerns,” he said. “Situations like [the election] really end up exacerbating what is going on and really increases the level of anxiety, concern or triggering trauma.” One student who is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient spoke about his anxiety and fear of potentially being deported if the election does not swing in his favor. Another student said she feared that her rights as a woman and LGBTQ individual would be infringed upon, depending on the results of the election. “I have generalized anxiety disorder and, as we grew closer to [Election Day], I have had a major increase in anxiety attacks,” she said.
In an op-ed in the Cavalier Daily, University of Virginia student Maddie Stokes argues that the University must provide students with the extraordinary mental health resources necessary to succeed in extraordinary times. “If the University wants to act in the interest of student well-being, it must first acknowledge the limitations of its present system. Like its counterparts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University must address the obvious mental toll of a semester without fall break or Family Weekend,” she writes. She suggests that the University institute mandatory mental health days throughout the semester.
The Chronicle reports on the struggles of first year college students who are transitioning to college life amidst a new normal this fall. According to the article, first-year students have found it hard to build relationships and community due to the physical distancing requirements and extracurriculars shifting online. Lee Burdette Williams, senior director of mental health initiatives and the College Autism Network at NASPA said, “…freshmen, especially, are at grave risk of dropping out, of going home, of having a mental health crisis.” Many first-years, among others, have questioned the value of pursuing a degree at a residential college or university during this time. Many students feel that they cannot devote adequate time and energy to their studies due to familial responsibilities and emotional strain. In addition, many students, including first-years, find that no amount of programming to build social connection between students can restore the lost trust in their universities as a result of misleading or confusing communication regarding rules, case counts, and more. Other students and experts alike see this fall transition as an opportunity for students to learn resilience and healthy coping skills, assuming they develop this intuitively or have guidance from mentors on and off campus.
In an op-ed in Inside Higher Ed, Mark Dennis, psychology department chair at Sacramento City College, argues that, amid calls for drastic police reform and even defunding departments to reallocate resources, community colleges are distinctly situated to become spaces for the growth and restructuring that society needs. As more than a dozen cities in America are considering reallocating resources currently directed for militarized policing, Dennis writes, “Community colleges should be assertive in asking them to redirect some of those funds to our campuses to create, for example, two-year associate degrees in trauma-informed community policing.” Dennis cites research showing that the value of higher education for police officers has been well documented, and is correlated with decreased use of excessive force. He writes that community colleges are well-positioned to work on this issue because they are open access, low cost and can quickly develop new programs and degrees.
The case brought against the University of North Carolina by Students for Fair Admissions, an anti-affirmative-action group, began in federal court last week. Students for Fair Admissions claims the University uses applicant’s race in a formulaic manner, illustrated by a mathematical model that estimates an applicant’s chance at admission with 90% accuracy, to boost admission for Black, Latinx, and Native American applicants and deny white and Asian-Americans. The University argues that race is just one of many factors considered in an applicant’s candidacy, including applicants’ personal stories of “obstacles overcome, grit, and determination.” Other anti-affirmative-action suits include cases brought against Harvard, Yale, and the University of Texas. It is expected that an anti-affirmative-action case will reach the Supreme Court despite previous SCOTUS precedent outlining affirmative action. Many are watching the case carefully in the wake of the recent Trump appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett and preparations for the transition of power to President-elect Biden in January.
The recent Achieving the Dream Student Parent Success Summit focused on the experiences of student parents pursuing a college education amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of leaders, speakers and attendees across all disciplines at educational institutions and community-based organizations discussed recommendations for developing campus programs and policies that support student parents. Summit experts said that flexibility is key when it comes to the pandemic and recommended accommodating student parents who have different demands on their time.
The Chronicle reports that international students are elated and relieved by the victory of President-Elect Joe Biden. Biden has pledged to give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship, and has called for overhauling the immigration system, expanding visas for skilled workers, and exempting recent graduates of Ph.D. programs in STEM fields from any caps. But hopes for comprehensive immigration reform are likely off the table even before Biden takes office, as Democrats lost seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Republicans may retain control of the Senate.
Georgetown Law’s ‘Lawyers as Leaders‘ course this fall attracted the largest enrollment of any class in school history. The course, created to celebrate Georgetown University Law Center’s 150th anniversary, takes a broader view than traditional courses, looking at leadership and the role of the lawyer in making an impact. This spoke to many students this year, as the pandemic has kept the ground moving under students’ feet. Lectures from renowned legal scholars have covered US elections, health care policy, racial discrimination in the US justice system, advice for maintaining composure when arguing in front of justices, and more. The lectures are available to the public on the 150th anniversary website.
Two prominent associations, the National Association for College Admission Counseling and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, announced a joint initiative to reimagine the admissions and financial-aid system. Their goal is to redesign those processes to promote racial and ethnic equity in higher education. The eight-month project, financed by a grant from the Lumina Foundation, will bring a panel together of thought leaders, policy experts, legislators, college presidents, and representatives of technology companies. The panel will examine the entire college pipeline, from student recruitment, through financial-aid requirements, and develop recommendations to improve each part. Angel B. Pérez, chief executive of the college-counseling group said, “We can’t be having these conversations in silos right now.” . “This is a chance to engage people who have the power to make decisions in their spaces and to actually move the needle on these issues.”
A new study suggests that African Americans who attend Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) may be at lower risk for health problems later in adulthood compared to African Americans who attend predominantly white institutions. The research showed that Black adults who had enrolled in an HBCUs had a 35% lower probability of developing metabolic syndrome by midlife compared to Black adults who enrolled in predominantly white schools.
Preeti Chemiti, a sophomore at Princeton University, is writing a mental health guide book called Mind Matters as she studies remotely from her family’s home in Fargo, North Dakota. Chemiti embarked on this project after she was awarded a scholarship to support Princeton students involved in service or civic engagement projects. Her team includes a designer- a fellow Princeton classmate- and an outreach coordinator- a student from Idaho State University. The research process included conducting over 150 interviews with students about their experiences with the isolation and anxiety many feel directly and indirectly related to the coronavirus. Chemiti intended for the book, which has been downloaded over 3,000 times, to elevate the student voice in the conversation about student experience and opportunity.
The University of Connecticut paused its free tuition program, Connecticut Commitment, for low-income students, citing budget concerns amid COVID-19. The program, which is about a year old, offered free tuition to all in-state students with annual family incomes of $50,000 or less. “Pausing the program is the hardest decision I’ve had to make since arriving here,” University of Connecticut President Dr. Thomas Katsouleas told the Board of Trustees.
In an op-ed in Inside Higher Ed, David P. Haney, the president of Hiram College, explained the importance of supporting first-generation students’ spirit of civic engagement. He writes that many first-generation students have strong ties to their civic and faith communities, and often attend regional public universities, nonelite private colleges and community colleges. Haney writes that community engagement increases retention and overall student success, and that first gen students are often among the most eager participants in those initiatives. He calls on states and counties to support both two- and four-year regional public colleges, and on donors in both the public and private sectors to acknowledge the value of these regional institutions. “If we want to achieve true social mobility… we must ensure that students at these institutions can continue to change the world, as they always have.
According to a recent working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, several colleges and nonprofit organizations run programs that offer student success services to help students graduate, but scaling these initiatives can be difficult and financially burdensome. The researchers evaluated eight programs through randomized controlled trials, some of which helped boost student completion rates.
This fall, fewer college-bound high school seniors completed the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) with a 16% decrease compared to this time last year. Experts fear that the FAFSA falls lower on the list of priorities for students and families navigating food, home, and technological insecurities during the pandemic. Schools often host FAFSA workshops to assist students and families with the application, and workshops held remotely may not be as helpful. Additionally, college is less appealing to many right now with the lack of residential living and learning, and the changed social engagement emblematic of today’s college experience. “We’ve long looked at FAFSA completion as an indicator for fall enrollment for the interest of individuals taking that first step to paying for college. With that step not happening, I do worry that not as many particularly low-income and minority students are thinking [college is] an option for them,” said Julie Peller, executive director of Higher Learning Advocates.
The New York Times reports that Terry Pat Reynolds II, a member of a Phi Kappa Psi at Louisiana State University, has been charged in connection with a hazing event that left another student on life support. Reynolds was arrested on Monday and charged with a dozen misdemeanor counts and one felony count of criminal hazing, and one count of failure to seek assistance. Members of the fraternity dropped off a student with severe alcohol poisoning at a hospital in Baton Rouge, LA. The hospital’s staff told investigators that the student was unresponsive and had “pink frothy foam” coming from his mouth and nose.
The Chronicle and Education Dive explore what the election of Joe Biden means for higher education. According to the Chronicle, Biden has signaled his support for the sector, and the Plan for Education Beyond High School which promises to “strengthen college as a reliable pathway to the middle class.” However, the outlets note his focus initially will have to be on saving a system in crisis that has experienced historic disruption from the pandemic. Predicted areas of focus include campus sexual assault, coronavirus stimulus, college affordability and student debt, International students, and for-profit colleges. Education Dive notes that Biden has pledged to expand free college and support workforce training as well as historically Black colleges and other minority-serving institutions.
According to data analyzed by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, voters under age 30 overwhelmingly supported Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential contest. Sixty one percent said they voted for Biden, compared to 36% who chose President Donald Trump.
Education Dive explored how higher education issues fared up and down the ballot. California voters denied a proposal to end a ban on affirmative action. In North Carolina’s legislature, which has a strong hand in its postsecondary affairs, Democrats came up short, leaving eves both chambers with a Republican majority. At the federal level, it is unclear what a Biden win with divided government will mean for the sector. Justin Ortagus, a higher education professor at the University of Florida spoke of the “dire need” for federal relief among colleges in the near term.