How Faculty and Staff Can Support College Student Mental Health

Colleges across the country continue to grapple with student mental health concerns, with students reporting significant levels of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. With counseling centers experiencing staff shortages, burnout, and unprecedented turnover, institutions are struggling to meet the demand for mental health services.

As a result, faculty and staff are increasingly the first contacts students confide in when they are having mental health challenges. One survey found that professors are the most frequently endorsed group on campus that students say have a responsibility to help them address stress and mental health issues.

Many faculty are embracing this role: about 80% now say they engage in one-on-one conversations with students about their mental health needs. At the same time, they are acutely aware that this is not their area of expertise, nor was it a part of their original job description. About half of faculty members say they are unsure how to recognize when a student needs help. Three-quarters say they would appreciate professional development opportunities related to student mental health. Another two-thirds say it should be mandatory.

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While faculty and staff should not replace certified mental health experts on campus, they can—and already do—play a preventative role in addressing students’ well-being and helping them connect to needed resources. Institutions should equip all student-facing individuals with the important skills they need to confidently and effectively navigate difficult conversations about mental health.

Empowering faculty and staff in this manner can help create a networked approach to student well-being. According to research from Uwill, the online mental health platform where I work as a director of clinical affairs, loneliness and social isolation are among the most prevalent mental challenges students say they are struggling with. These issues are significant in their own right, but they can also exacerbate other mental health challenges like depression and anxiety. With 38% of students experiencing depression, 34% students experiencing anxiety, and 13% having seriously considered suicide, it is essential that every student understands they have a supportive community behind them. Of course, that community must also be well-informed and well-trained.

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Resources to Help College Faculty Recognize Student Mental Health Struggles

A faculty or staff member’s willingness to help is limited without the necessary knowledge of how to assist or where to direct students for support. Equipping faculty and staff to have conversations rooted in research-based strategies such as motivational interviewing can help improve the quality of conversations and reduce defensiveness by tapping specific skills, such as asking open-ended questions and using reflective listening. Using these kinds of skills can open the door for students to articulate the challenges they’re facing and help faculty and staff guide them toward potential solutions (or resources).

Approaching these difficult discussions with sensitivity and without judgment can increase the chances a student will seek formal support. Most importantly, faculty should be familiar with the resources and professional mental health services available to students. The good news is that these are all concrete skills that can be learned. In fact, a growing number of institutions are now investing in mental health training programs for their faculty and staff.

Northeastern University has created guides on student mental health tailored to faculty, staff, and student and parent/family audiences, each of which offers education on mental health, skill-building approaches, and resource information designed for the specific audience. For example, the faculty guide includes sample syllabus language to consider adding about student mental health and resources and scripts for talking with students about mental health. This level of detail can remove a barrier for some who are worried about saying the wrong thing when a student is struggling.

The Georgia Institute of Technology has taken a community-wide approach to student mental health and wellness by establishing coalitions on mental health that include students, faculty, and staff. This system-level strategy increases visibility into student well-being. For instance, Georgia Tech established a multidisciplinary committee to participate in the JED Campus Assessment, which resulted in the development of wellness guides and training opportunities for faculty and staff to prepare them to have effective conversations with students about mental health.

To create an environment that supports positive student mental health, institutions must also invest in the health and well-being of faculty and staff. For example, the Alabama Community College System provides the same set of comprehensive mental health and wellness resources to faculty, staff, and administrators as it offers to students enrolled at 24 community and technical colleges

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In many ways, faculty and staff have been thrust into the role of first responders, charged with offering immediate support that prevents mental health challenges from escalating into crises. They are, after all, well-positioned on the frontlines, where they interact with students every day. It’s not about asking faculty and staff to become mental health professionals. Rather, their important roles within the institution mean they can act as connection points to a college or university’s more specialized mental health resources.

With the right training, faculty and staff can serve as a listening ear and a crucial bridge between students and needed resources.

Amaura Kemmerer is Director of Clinical Affairs at Uwill, an online mental health platform. Amaura is also a licensed clinical counselor and former Associate Dean of Wellness at Northeastern University who designed their student wellness and peer counseling curriculum.