Preparing for the Next Decade in Student Mental Health and Well-Being Support

Student affairs leaders have been on the front lines of institutional responses to COVID-19, rapidly adjusting and implementing policies, procedures, and support services while moving from crisis to crisis. Given the demanding nature of crisis response, it has been difficult for leaders to step back and create a forward-looking strategy for mental health and well-being on campus. But, more than ever before, cabinet leaders and boards are expressing heightened interest in student mental health and well-being, with 68% of presidents ranking student mental health as a pressing issue.

Therefore, it is critical that student affairs leaders capitalize on institutional momentum for mental health support. It is of equal importance that leaders capture the benefits of lessons learned from the pandemic and adjust strategies to reflect the long-term, complex impact COVID-19 has had, and will continue to have, on campus mental health preferences and needs across the next decade.

EAB held a roundtable to assist student affairs leaders in thinking strategically about emerging trends, areas for investment, and a longer-term campus mental health strategy. Specifically, we discussed:

• Strategies to modernize how students find and use best-fit resources
• Ways to optimize access points throughout the student experience to support mental health and well-being
• Targeted ways to shift the role of faculty from “aware” to “active” by enhancing their ability to connect students with support
• Innovative tactics to bring a DEIJ lens to campus mental health support
• Strategies to leverage data to demonstrate student affairs impact and make strategic investments