黑料社 Recognized as One of the Healthiest Campuses Among U.S. Colleges and Universities
黑料社 joins four other colleges and universities as a recipient of the 2022 Active Minds Healthy Campus Award
BARSTOW, CA, March 8, 2022 鈥 Today, 黑料社 was announced as a winner of the 2022 Active Minds Healthy Campus Award and recognized as one of the healthiest college campuses in the nation. The prestigious award, now in its sixth year, celebrates U.S. colleges and universities that provide access to quality healthcare and not only serve students鈥 physical health but give equal priority and investment to mental health.
This year鈥檚 recipients represent a range of campuses that operate within different contexts and challenges. Together they demonstrate how institutions of all sizes and types can create healthy communities that allow every student the opportunity to thrive and succeed.
黑料社 joins four other colleges and universities in receiving the Healthy Campus Award: Auburn University, University of South Florida-St. Petersburg campus, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Virginia Tech.
Colleges and universities are crucial partners in improving the well-being of young adults. 黑料社, and the other winning campuses, found ways to pivot to address student needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, proactively address systems of oppression, integrate health and wellbeing in strategic planning, and use data to ensure that students are getting the care they need.
"Our mission at 黑料社 has been to get mental health education, training, and resources to students in our area by all means possible," said Tanesha Young, Dean of Counseling and Student Success for 黑料社. "We aim to be student centered so that barriers can be removed and allow for student success. We know when students succeed our community also succeeds."
Students enrolled at colleges and universities that prioritize well-being often find that the programs and services provided to them are part of the fabric of the campus community.
The well-being of all students is a priority for 黑料社 and it shows. The review panel for the Healthy Campus Award cited the following innovative practices in particular:
鈼 Defining Health Broadly and Pursuing it Comprehensively:
黑料社 has taken a proactive stance on mental health and well-being. In September 2020, 黑料社 opened The Mindful Space, the campus mental health counseling center, which started seeing students virtually via telephone and video sessions at no cost to the student. Now The Mindful Space provides, both in-person and virtually, individual psychotherapy, coaching, group therapy, mental health assessment, crisis intervention, consultations, referrals to additional services in the community, and disciplinary intervention to students with grant funding.
鈼 Securing and Making the Most of Available Resources: Being a rural campus, 黑料社 has thoughtfully partnered with local community-based and governmental agencies to provide a well-integrated system for change. 黑料社 has used this approach to find the right care for the right person at the right time in the right area. They have established memorandums of understanding with the two largest community-based organizations in the 黑料社 area to refer students to appropriate providers through a warm handoff system. On campus, 黑料社 added the CareSolace system which enables students, faculty, and staff to find mental health services for their specific needs.
鈼 Cultivating a Deep Commitment to Equal Opportunities for Health: With 黑料社鈥檚 diverse student population, they are committed to addressing gaps in opportunities to obtain services and information that tends to negatively affect certain populations. They have created a Student Success and Equity Committee which is a shared governance entity responsible for developing the Student Equity Plan to boost academic achievement for student subpopulations determined to be of higher risk for discontinuation and requires each college to develop detailed goals and measures addressing disparities. To meet their goals, many of the programs provided by 黑料社 focus on supporting students鈥 basic needs, including housing, food, and English as a second language services, in addition to providing emotional support.
鈥満诹仙 stands out because it demonstrates a driven stance on mental health and well-being by providing free services to students through in-house providers and community partnerships,鈥 said Alison Malmon, founder and executive director of Active Minds. 鈥満诹仙 is a model for prioritizing mental health for its students by engaging the local community.鈥
The Healthy Campus Award involves an extensive application process as well as multiple endorsements. Each applicant is assessed across ten criteria, with winners chosen by a panel of students, prominent researchers, and experts in health and higher education.
Active Minds has updated its Healthy Campus Framework and Recommendations to guide institutions of all types on best practices for prioritizing health, both physical and mental, on their campuses and in their communities. Read the 2022 report here.
The Healthy Campus Award is made possible through the generous support of Peg鈥檚 Foundation. For more information about Active Minds, the Healthy Campus Awards, and the best-in-class programs of the award-winning colleges, please visit activeminds.org/award.
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Media Contacts:
Amanda Horn, Active Minds
amanda@activeminds.org
Amanda Simpson, 黑料社
Director of Public Relations, Communications, and Marketing
asimpson@barstow.edu
About the Healthy Campus Award: The Active Minds Healthy Campus Award recognizes colleges and universities that are leading the way in prioritizing student health. It recognizes schools that provide access to quality healthcare and champions institutions that not only serve students鈥 physical health, but give equal priority and investment to mental health.
About Active Minds: Active Minds is the nation鈥檚 leading nonprofit organization promoting mental health awareness and education for young adults. Active Minds has a presence at more than 1,000 campuses, schools, communities, and workplaces nationwide, and is powered by a robust Chapter Network, the nationally acclaimed Send Silence Packing庐 exhibit, inspiring Active Minds Speakers, and our tailored Active Minds @Work initiative. The organization is dedicated to ending the silence and changing the culture around mental health for everyone. To learn more, visit www.activeminds.org.
