Faculty Views on College Student Mental Health: Implications for Retention and Student Success

Abstract

Faculty members play key roles in successful college student retention and degree completion. In recent years, investigators in a variety of higher education disciplines identified numerous factors associated with improving retention and graduation rates, including college student mental health. Faculty members play vital roles in supporting college student mental health, including recognizing and referring students to resources. In this phenomenological study, researchers investigated the lived experiences of faculty members who had active lived experiences with supporting college student mental health. A structural description included five emergent themes, which support and extend the extant literature surrounding the utility of faculty members for supporting college student mental health and retention.

Factors associated with psychosocial problems in Korean nursing and non-nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In addition, a steadily progressing curriculum per the schedule based on a long-term learning goal than a continuously changing short-term learning plan can help alleviate psychological problems by reducing uncertainty amongst students ( Fitzgerald & Konrad, 2021 ; Haslam, 2021 ). Faculty members willing to participate in recognizing and referring at-risk students to additional resources and the structuring academic environment are also important mitigating factors for the psychological problems among non-nursing students ( Kalkbrenner, Jolley & Hays, 2021 ). Additionally, internet-based interventions are effective for lowering distress among college students ( Nguyen-Feng, Greer & Frazier, 2017 ).…”

The COVID‐19 pandemic and students’ mental health

“…Mental health is everyone's business: we must attend to the structural systems within higher education that may exacerbate students’ mental health concerns. Faculty, student support staff, student affairs professionals, advisors, and counselors all play a key role in student retention as well as in recognizing, supporting, and referring students for mental health concerns (Kalkbrenner et al., 2019 ). Below, the authors offer recommendations that those important stakeholders on campus can undertake to support students’ mental health during a crisis like a global pandemic and beyond.…”

Developing a Culture of Caring in Classrooms: Best Practices During a Global Pandemic and Beyond

“…A recent report by the American College Health Association (2018) found that students indicated stress as the number one factor for why they had lower than expected academic performance. This is an important consideration as not only is stress linked to academic performance but also to student retention (Kalkbrenner et al, 2019).…”