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The National Academies released a report based on an 18 month consensus study on mental health and well-being in higher education. You can read the press release, download the report (free), and more at the below link. One overarching theme of the report is for whole campus, collective awareness and responsibility for mental health and wellbeing. There is a small section on trauma and higher ed as well. Any questions, please feel free to reach out to me jtietjen@massbay.edu or to Layne...

While the 5,000-page $900 billion COVID Relief Bill ( H.R. 133, Div. M and N) fell short on some fronts (e.g., did not provide direct fiscal relief to cash-strapped states and localities), it does provide $82 billion in Education Stabilization Funds for states, school districts, and higher education institutions—crucial support for education as students return to school after the holiday. Funding of this magnitude makes a trauma-informed COVID response possible, giving advocates the...

(Pictured here are LLC International University students who serve as core leaders of Lithuanian non-profit Gausus Gyvenimas) In a year when the world has weathered trauma surrounding the global pandemic of COVID-19, quite surprisingly, new doors opened for me to share about the science of resilience in Lithuania. In 2017, a faith-based organization served as a means of introduction to a young minister from Pakistan named Robin Mubarik. Since our initial meeting we have only remained...

By Sravya Tadepalli, Hyphen, December 20, 2020 When mental health activist Shivani Nishar was in middle school, she began experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Growing up in what she describes as the “white suburban fairytale” of Palo Alto, California, Nishar, whose parents immigrated to the United States from India, found it difficult to fit in. “I didn’t have a lot of people who looked like me or had parents like me, and that contributed to me feeling like I didn’t belong,” said...

By Vanessa Rancano, KQED, December 15, 2020 UC Irvine and the state prison system have reached a deal to create the first University of California bachelor’s degree program behind bars. Since California opened the door for community colleges to teach in prisons in 2014, some 2,000 incarcerated men and women across the state have earned associate degrees, said Brant Choate, director of rehabilitative programs for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. But opportunities...

By Vanessa Rancano, KQED, December 15, 2020 UC Irvine and the state prison system have reached a deal to create the first University of California bachelor’s degree program behind bars. Since California opened the door for community colleges to teach in prisons in 2014, some 2,000 incarcerated men and women across the state have earned associate degrees, said Brant Choate, director of rehabilitative programs for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. But opportunities...

By Larry Gordon, EdSource, December 17, 2020 Right out of high school and not sure where the advising office is, let alone how to register for classes, freshmen need special care at California’s big public universities. Without it, they are at higher risk of not making it back for a second year. That’s why about a quarter of the 23 campuses in the California State University system recently overhauled their academic advising to first-year students. [ Please click here to read more .]

By College Fix Staff, November 29, 2020. Lawmakers in New Jersey passed a bill last month which would require schools to teach about racism, social justice and the “contributions made by prominent African Americans from the past to the present like Kamala Harris.” Bill 3601 , originally introduced back in March, awaits Governor Phil Murphy’s signature to become state law. The bill appropriates $400,000 to, among other things, teach that “inequality is a consequence of prejudice and...

By Rachelle Hernandez - Liberty University, December 2, 2020, The College Fix. Loyola University Maryland institute to ‘address racial trauma and violence’ Loyola University Maryland launched a new anti-racism institute this semester and picked a professor supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement to lead it. Karsonya Whitehead, a professor of communications and African American studies, will serve as the first director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice. [...

As Thanksgiving approaches and COVID soars, I wrote this piece to help parents and educators understand student non-compliance and to suggest a solution or two or three, not the least of which is positive role modeling. Here is the link to the piece appearing in the New England Journal of Higher Education. A worthwhile read I hope -- with strategies for positive role modeling, something we are lacking. As the title suggests (apologies to Pete Seeger), Where Have All the Role Models Gone? We...

A college student on Twitter shared a pre-Thanksgiving e-mail she and her classmates received from a professor, and it's just the best example of real human-kindness. It reads: "Good morning. I know this has been a difficult time for a lot of you—some of you have had Covid, some of you are currently in quarantine, and some of you may not be able to go home for Thanksgiving as you have family members who are socially distancing. I don't want anyone to feel alone at Thanksgiving, or to miss...

By Anastasia Pirrami, The State News, November 17, 2020 On Thursday, Nov. 12, Michigan State University opened up its first-ever sexual assault health care program for MSU students, staff, faculty, and anyone in the tri-county area and Clinton county. MSU’s sexual assault health care program provides the option for survivors of sexual assault to receive treatment. The Center for Survivors designed the program for people who have been sexually assaulted within the last 5 days, have access to...