Needs description

One in three first-year students experience mental health challenges; those that do are twice as likely not to graduate. Furthermore, students from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups, many of whom are first-generation college students, are less likely to seek support. Presenters will review research on college students’ mental health and its implications for student success. They will then explore the distinctive college adjustment challenges experienced by first-generation students as well as systemic barriers to effectively supporting first-generation students’ mental health. Presenters will make a case for delivering a proactive mental and emotional wellness curriculum rooted in the fields of positive psychology, mindfulness, and self-compassion and how students can apply these principles during their college experience. Presenters will review a case study on how California State University, Dominguez Hills successfully implemented a proactive mental and emotional wellness curriculum to support first-generation students' mental health. The session will close with experiential exercises and a group discussion about ways in which participants may seek to support first-generation college students' mental health proactively.

Learning Outcomes:

Participants will:

• understand distinctive college adjustment challenges experienced by first-generation students;
• identify systemic barriers to mental health support for first-generation students; and
• practice techniques for proactively supporting first-generation student mental health from the evidence-based fields of positive psychology, mindfulness, and self-compassion.

To create attitudinal and behavioral change, we need to find ways of having meaningful, honest, and critical conversations about the harm we observe and – often unconsciously and unintentionally – engage in. In this framework, this program moves the conversation beyond traditional bystander intervention programs and teaches participants simple skills to address harmful behavior they witness, but also open themselves up to feedback when they have caused harm to others. Questions such as, “What can I say when I observe a classmate, a friend, or a family member engaging in harmful language, behavior, or attitudes?” and, “What does an appropriate reaction look like when I get negative feedback about something that I have said or done?" will be addressed. This program aims to build skills of participants to express emotions and needs, to identify the differences between reactionary and responsive feedback that translate to more successful listening.

This presentation is intended to provide participants with the ability to: 1) list valid data sources to develop a comprehensive picture of the campus wellness environment; 2) describe one university’s process of conducting a qualitative campus wellness assessment using social media; and 3) identify ways data collected via social media may be used to influence campus practices. Presenters will discuss the planning, development, and steps for implementing the research project; findings from the key informant interviews, focus groups, and windshield survey; and dissemination and use of the findings. 

Behavioral intervention teams (BIT) are a research-based, best practice for campus safety and student wellness. Student affairs practitioners are central to successful BIT leadership and operations. The presenters address common challenges facing BITs such as how to help reporting parties distinguish between feeling threatened and being threatened, documenting patterns of concerns without profiling or discriminating against those involved, and navigating BIT activities alongside other student affairs functional units such as counseling and conduct. The presenters also share research-based standards of practice for these and other issues and present the best practices in behavioral intervention.