New Information For Leaders Looking To Support Student Mental Health And Well-Being – ACE
As campus leadership teams move to address student mental health during the pandemic, ACE has co-authored, along with several other organizations, a new brief that identifies three major strategies for leaders to consider during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.
Recent surveys of presidents shows there is real concern about how the disruption of in-person classes will affect students’ already-rising rates of anxiety and depression. One survey, conducted by Inside Higher Ed, finds that over 90 percent reported being very or somewhat concerned about student mental health during the COVID-19 crisis, making it their top concern. And ACE’s April 2020 Pulse Point Survey of college and university presidents suggested that a little over a third of presidents surveyed plan on making more investments in student mental health due to COVID-19.
The paper, “Mental Health, Higher Education, and COVID-19: Strategies for Leaders to Support Campus Well-Being,” reflects on this and other data and offers examples and resources to help guide decision-making, including ways that leadership can adopt an equity lens with each of these mental health strategy. It also identifies three major strategies for leaders to consider as they respond to support student mental health during COVID-19 and beyond: