Articles and research from our team on the future of mental healthcare for young adults.

Moravian University President Dr. Grigsby On Innovation, Culture, and Student Well-Being 

According to his college mentor, Bryon L. Grigsby, PhD, Moravian University’s 16th president, once said, “Someday I’m going to run this place,” though now, he laughs and says, “I’m sure I meant the English Department, not the whole institution.” 

When the ‘90 alum first stepped on the Moravian campus as a freshman, he was consumed by soccer and basketball. After experiencing a career-ending injury in his sophomore year, Dr. Grigsby quickly found himself questioning his identity as a non-athlete. Thanks to the support of Robert T. Burcaw, PhD, who he now meets monthly for lunch, Dr. Grigsby changed his major to English and set out for a career in academia. 

After earning his PhD in English from Loyola University Chicago, Dr. Grigsby got a faculty position at Centenary College, where he worked for a few years before the president asked him to consider administration. He figured he’d try it out and eventually return to being a professor, but Dr. Grigsby quickly fell in love with the chaos of administration. He spent five years at Shenandoah University working in academic affairs before joining his alma mater in 2013. 

"I love this place so much. Moravian is unique in providing a community that I’ve never seen at any other institution I’ve been at. It cared for me when I was a student, even though I didn’t realize I was being cared for," says Dr. Grigsby. 

I love this place so much. Moravian is unique in providing a community that I’ve never seen at any other institution I’ve been at. It cared for me when I was a student, even though I didn’t realize I was being cared for.

Building a More Robust Campus and Seeing Higher Admissions

While many institutions are struggling to recruit students, Moravian has seen a dramatic increase in student enrollment, which is due, in part, to the many efforts being made by Dr. Grigsby and his administration. 

Over his ten-year presidency, Dr. Grigsby has enhanced the campus’s technology infrastructure, built a new-student orientation program, opened the new Center for Intercultural Advancement and Inclusion and the Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences Center, surpassed $100-million in fundraising, and launched Moravian University’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan, among other major initiatives. 

The institution was also reclassified from a “college” to a “university” in 2021, which required a new structure, and now means the institution offers master’s and doctoral degrees, in addition to its undergraduate programs. Within the new School of Behavioral and Community Health, which opened in 2022, students can now pursue master’s degrees in clinical counseling, school counseling, and social work, as well as online certificates in specialized skills, which will help grow the network of mental health providers. 

This new classification meant new strategic hirings and the recruitment of many incredible leaders, from James Scifers, PhD, the Associate Provost and Dean of the College of Health Sciences, to Lesley R. Brown, PhD, the Associate Provost and Founding Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to the Associate Provost of the College of Health, who are bringing new life to the institution. 

Moravian will also expand the institution’s student center, the HUB, to bring together health and counseling services and provide additional wellness offerings. When students walk in, they will be able to request a flu shot or counseling and they can leave through a private exit which Dr. Grigsby hopes will eliminate some of the stigma associated with help-seeking and reduce some of the barriers to care.

Even though he’s made many innovative changes at Moravian, Dr. Grigsby continues to ask himself, how can we continue to embrace more people within this community and support their lives outside of campus? In addition to continuing the institution’s long-held tradition of greeting every person in passing, Dr. Grigsby has put a lot of effort into fostering and maintaining a culture that’s supportive and caring. 

Every week, Dr. Grigsby hosts a dinner at the president’s house, which rotates between athletics and organizations bi-annually and gives students an opportunity to talk about their experiences, the culture, and what support they need to continue taking care of one another. By staying connected to the students on campus, Dr. Grigsby is able to mitigate problems that might arise and better recognize students’ pressing needs. 

He also hosts community-wide events, including Winterfest and Heritage Day, a day that commemorates the Moravians and prioritizes giving back. This annual event is something that many students look forward to and includes a full day of activities, including off-campus service events. Dr. Grigsby knows that building a strong sense of community is critical to student success – and that often starts with him and his administration. 

“I don’t think there’s a president that doesn’t wake up every morning and check their phone to make sure that their students are alive. It’s a very stressful time,” says Dr. Grigsby. “Parents are sending their most precious gifts to [us] and entrusting [us] with that – and we’re supposed to adult them. We’re supposed to teach them self-knowledge and help them self create and give back to society and get out into the world with great jobs.” 

Not only does Moravian have a robust Counseling Center, as well as a Student Help and Referral (SHARE) Team, made up of eleven campus leaders, who meet at least once per week to discuss incoming student concerns, but they have also recently launched a Just Ask campaign, in which students can ask for support on anything from a bill to a mental health concern. Students can submit a question via the chatbot, which is immediately assessed by a campus leader who can refer them to the right department or service. Moravian has also worked with Mantra Health for the past three years, bringing more clinical support to students.

"I can’t praise Mantra enough. It’s been highly successful for us," says Dr. Grigsby. "It’s added a whole new realm of mental health services for our students. [Telehealth] is an added bonus. It produces a new group of people we weren’t serving before."

I can’t praise Mantra enough. It’s been highly successful for us. It’s added a whole new realm of mental health services for our students. [Telehealth] is an added bonus. It produces a new group of people we weren’t serving before.

Celebrating the Past and Embracing the Future 

The sixth oldest institution in the country, the first to educate women, and home of the national honor society for first-generation college students, Moravian has a long, rich history. One of its buildings, the Brethren’s House, played an important role in the Revolutionary War – and in 2024, the campus’s Historic Moravian Bethlehem will be considered for a World Heritage Site. 

While Dr. Grigsby and his administration are excited to celebrate the institution’s history, they continue to look for ways to innovate. Having acquired Lancaster Theological Seminary in recent years, Dr. Grigsby believes more mergers and acquisitions are on the horizon. He’s also looking forward to seeing the ways in which AI will transform higher education. 

“It’s a dynamic time,” says Dr. Grigsby. “You still have to become a leader, and you still have to critically think, but I think AI is going to help you do that. If you like change, this is a moment you’d be thriving in.” 

Following the Moravian mantra “hound ‘em,” which means never give up, have total persistence, show determination, and don’t take “no” for an answer, Dr. Grigsby plans to keep making positive changes for his alma mater – and will, no doubt, continue to build the type of community that helps students thrive both on campus and off. 

“Some say, ‘call one hound and the whole pack comes running,’ and I see that all the time,” says Dr. Grigsby. “This is what our students live by,” and this is what keeps Dr. Grigsby motivated. 

To learn more about our partnerships, fill out this form or contact us at partner@mantrahealth.com. 

“I like being at the intersection of clinical practice, technology, and research,” says Ben Locke, PhD, the Chief Clinical Officer at Togetherall, the leading peer-to-peer community, where he oversees the clinical team across the U.S., New Zealand, UK, and Canada.

Long before joining Togetherall, Dr. Locke worked as a wilderness therapist, as well as in group homes, psychiatric hospitals, and community mental health. He eventually found his way to Penn State, where he spent nearly 20 years holding various roles such as assistant director of research and technology, clinical director, and most recently the senior director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). 

Working alongside an exceptional team at Penn State, and building upon the center’s existing foundation, Dr. Locke had the opportunity to design an ideal system that effectively improved the supply and demand imbalance and addressed students’ rising mental health needs. Part of his approach included partnering with third-party providers, including Mantra Health and You at College, among others. 

Wanting to influence the collegiate mental health field at a population level and seeing how valuable and supportive these innovative telehealth services could be, Dr. Locke decided to join Togetherall in 2021 and has recently partnered with Mantra Health to bring more accessible mental health support to students across the country through the Whole Campus Care solution.

Advancing the Field of Collegiate Mental Health Through Collaboration

Many years before the college mental health landscape shifted to include the implementation of telehealth services, Dr. Locke saw a need for more data-driven solutions. He was frustrated with the way people in higher education were talking about mental health. “It was a series of opinions and data drawn from sources that were not the people engaged in mental health treatment and service."

Understanding that technology and research were just as critical to the conversation as the clinical approach, Dr. Locke helped co-found the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) in 2004. The organization, which started as a grassroots collaborative effort has since evolved to become an international Practice-Research-Network of over 750 college and university counseling centers. 

Designed to create an infrastructure that generates high-quality data, CCMH brings together the voices and expertise of students, patients, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, counseling centers, vendors, and other leaders in the space. Part of why CCMH is able to achieve its desired outcomes, Dr. Locke explains, is because the organization is driven by the needs of the college community rather than the economic interest of those involved.

"The existence of CCMH and all the benefits it offers is 100% dependent on the relevant parties working in collaboration to produce data-driven insights,” says Dr. Locke, who sees the relationship between on-campus counseling centers and telehealth providers working the same way. 

Rather than acting as competitors, Dr. Locke believes counseling centers and telehealth providers can work together to fill gaps in services and achieve a much larger, long-term goal of connecting students to more accessible clinical and non-clinical mental health solutions. 

Working in Alignment with the Counseling Center 

When it comes to student mental health, Dr. Locke says the pendulum has swung from one extreme to another, and his hope is that this will soon balance out. The key, he believes, is to acknowledge the universality of human distress, which comes with feelings of sadness, anxiety, grief, and loss.

“I think we need to fundamentally take a step back and rethink our initial response to distress. In general, a student's first experience of distress should include connecting them with people and support systems rather than presuming they need professional treatment,” says Dr. Locke.

The current approach of referring nearly every student to individual counseling and escalating levels of professional treatment is no longer tenable for institutions and doesn’t necessarily fulfill students’ pressing needs, says Dr. Locke. “We need a different model that focuses on population-wide support and connecting people with appropriate resources.”

Institutions are already turning to telehealth providers for additional mental health support, but Dr. Locke hopes they will work more closely with third-party vendors to create an interconnected web of support, systems, and options for students, understanding that both the institution and the vendors offer their own unique benefits.

“I have a profound appreciation for the field of counseling psychology,” Dr. Locke says. “I want to enhance the counseling centers’ ability to meet needs,” and it's through these partnerships that Dr. Locke believes a more cohesive, holistic offering is possible. 

Innovating with Technology and 24/7 Clinical Moderation 

While some students need intensive treatment, many don't. Rather than referring students through complex systems of care, why not provide basic in-the-moment support? If a student’s stressed about an exam, for example, they can’t wait three weeks to see a counselor, and that might not even benefit them. Instead, they could turn to a peer who’s going through a similar experience and solve the problem in real time. 

This is one of the many reasons why Dr. Locke feels Togetherall and other wellness services can make a significant difference in students’ lives. “Human change unfolds across many weeks and months of interactions, not just during one hour sessions,” he says. 

There’s also a significant shortage of providers, putting additional pressure on college counseling centers. Rather than referring every student in distress to counseling, we should be thinking about supporting students across time, considering what they really need and when they need it, explains Dr. Locke. 

“Peer support, with its versatility and accessibility, can play a crucial role in creating a scalable model of mental health support,” says Dr. Locke. 

Togetherall combines technology with clinical rigor to provide support to students that’s responsible, safe, and effective. Within the platform, Togetherall maintains 24/7 clinical moderation using licensed mental health professionals. In addition, the company trains students to become peer supporters – and part of the 10-week comprehensive training program includes hands-on practical experience and clinical supervision. 

By training peers and exploring new provider categories, Dr. Locke aims to create a new framework for effectively meeting the diverse needs of individuals seeking mental health support. To maximize and support existing clinical services, which are essential, Dr. Locke hopes institutions will consider adding in additional services like peer-to-peer support, crisis support, and wellness content, which can fill in gaps on the care continuum and support students on various stages of the mental health journey.

To learn more about our partnership with Togetherall, please connect with us here. 

Advancing Mental Health at a Population Level with Togetherall’s Chief Clinical Officer Ben Locke, PhD 

Concerns over student mental health have risen on campuses across the country. According to the latest Healthy Minds Study, 23% of students reported severe depression, 18% reported severe anxiety, and 15% reported suicidal ideation. Among LGBTQ+ young people, in particular, 41% seriously considered suicide in the past year. 

Higher education institutions continue to face an increased demand for higher levels of care, but are far too often constrained by budget, resources, and limited access to psychiatrists and therapists with expertise in working with the college population. Looking for additional ways to support students with moderate to severe depression, bipolar disorder I and II, complicated ADHD, suicidal ideation, and other psychiatric conditions, many institutions are considering or already turning to innovative partners.

The challenge is finding the right partner who understands the nuances of collegiate mental health, has established crisis response best practices, and is equipped with the right team, systems, and resources to meet the complex needs of students with psychiatric conditions, as well as students at risk or in crisis. 

“Nobody knows the students and the community better than the people on campus,” says Nora Feldpausch, MD, Medical Director at Mantra Health. “Which is why external providers need to be transparent about their systems and protocols, be prepared and able to quickly and effectively collaborate with on-the-ground providers, and have the ability to integrate their crisis response protocols into the institution’s existing campus model.” 

Mental health crises are inevitable. Even with preventative measures in place, clinicians must always be trained and prepared to assess for crisis or suicide risk, especially in a telehealth setting. 

At Mantra Health, we’ve built a level of care into our clinical model and proprietary software systems to ensure that students are protected and the right stakeholders in our clinic and our campus partners are notified should a crisis situation arise or require de-escalation. Our approach helps on-the-ground clinical teams continuously monitor students in care, manage safety risk, collaborate directly with our team, and ultimately support student well-being and persistence. For universities and colleges without those resources, our systems reassure campus leaders that their students are being supported with the highest level of evidence-based resources and care. 

Mantra Health leads the industry in supporting students with high-acuity needs. We have created our own crisis response best practices, which include, but are not limited to the following:

Rigorous safety planning that meets or exceeds evidence-based standard of care requirements is available to on-the-ground clinicians and our providers during video sessions and in the student’s electronic health record (EHR). This means it can be accessed by the student or any member of the treatment team either within Mantra or on-the-ground at any time.

An alert system notifying on-demand, highly-trained Mantra Health crisis intervention experts if a clinician is navigating a student crisis and needs immediate support. Our clinical risk support expert or, if appropriate, a university crisis team member can also join the video call to support a crisis intervention. 

A trained on-demand crisis intervention team that can first guide the provider in determining if hospitalization can be safely avoided and second, if needed, ensure that the hospitalization process follows university-established protocols. 

A culturally informed script for interacting with emergency responders which equips the right people with the right information to quickly, safely  and effectively transport a student to the appropriate local crisis resources while minimizing the potential trauma of transport.  

A comprehensive record of resources that is co-developed with our partner institutions, ensuring that every Mantra Health provider understands what on-the-ground and community resources are available to each individual student and can share that information with students or family as appropriate as part of our holistic student-centered approach. 

A post-hospitalization care continuation plan personalized to each institution’s needs and resources, which is implemented upon a student’s return to campus. 

A patient population monitoring system available to clinical leaders at our partner institutions, and followed closely by our clinical team, enabling ongoing visibility into the risk levels, safety plan status, diagnoses and appointment attendance for all higher risk students in our care. This allows partner institutions the transparency needed to understand the status of every student as well as the level of support being offered that those students are getting. It also gives partners and our clinical team the information needed to collaborate effectively and efficiently on these cases when needed.

Access to the Collaboration Portal where safety plans, patient progress, and prevalent data is shared between providers in our system and our clinical partners at the college counseling center, so decisions can be made around patient care and student population needs and communication is easy, fast, and HIPAA and FERPA compliant.

Our clinical staff work closely with board-certified psychiatrists (MDs) who have experience in assessment treatment of higher risk students as well as training in telehealth crisis response. These experienced psychiatrists are also available to work with students with bipolar I and II, severe depression, suicidal ideation, and other high-risk mental health conditions. 

“No matter if a student is going in-person to their counseling center or showing up to a virtual session, you want them to have an equitable experience and receive the same high-level of care,” says Dr. Feldpausch. “We made this happen at Mantra by starting with established in-person evidence based standards and from there building out our experienced team of crisis responders, an integrated system of communication, and a standardized protocolized response that also took into account local needs and services. This ensures every student is offered the support and attention that they deserve. When a campus is looking at life and death, this quality of response is critical.” 

Supporting Students with Psychiatric Conditions

Not every student at risk is in crisis – and quality mental health care can help prevent decompensation and hospitalization. For students with complicated mental illnesses or psychotic disorders such as Bipolar I, telehealth needs to involve the right people and processes that can safely treat higher risk disorders. 

Since launching our clinical program, we have successfully supported students with complex conditions, including those with Bipolar I who developed manic symptoms, and, in many cases, were able to treat them without having them hospitalized. We have also cared for students post-hospitalization (in collaboration with campus supports) for bridged care or ongoing care, supporting student retention and success.  

Students with complex conditions can easily slip through the cracks, if collaboration doesn’t exist between telehealth providers, counseling center staff, academic supports, and others in the community. Our crisis response and collaborative systems at Mantra Health, as well as the high-level visibility that we have built for partners makes it possible to keep these students safely in telehealth care. As a result, we’re able to break down barriers to access that have historically prevented students with these mental health concerns not just from staying enrolled in school, but also from achieving their academic and personal potential. 

“It's been a pleasure collaborating with Mantra Health on telepsychiatry services. Through our partnership, we've been able to access a psychiatric provider who treats bipolar and other psychiatric conditions and an MD who consults on high-acuity cases. This has allowed us to provide additional high-quality care to students with significant needs,” says Jeffrey E. Goldstein, MD, FACEP, Director of Health Services at Lafayette College.

Want to learn more about our approach to high-acuity care? RSVP for our July 19th webinar Tackling High-Acuity Cases in Higher Education with Telepsychiatry. 

Serving High-Acuity Needs and Improving Student Mental Health Outcomes with a Telehealth Emergency Response Team

Twin Sisters and AVPs of Health and Wellness Take on Health Equity in Higher Education

Shawnté Elbert, EdD, CWHC, MCHES, and Sherrá Watkins, PhD, LCMHC-S, LCAS, CRC, CCS, twin sisters, are making waves in the college health and wellness space. Both work in similar roles at different campuses: Dr. Elbert is the Associate Vice President of Health and Well-being at the Ohio State University and Dr. Watkins is the Associate Vice President for Health and Wellness at the University of Utah. 

At the heart of their work is a deep and abiding commitment to help serve students in their communities and build a better campus system that actually supports health equity initiatives. This duo, full of passion and determination, is poised to make a long-lasting impact in the world of higher education. 

Two Different Paths, but the Same Shared Vision

Born and raised in Winston Salem, North Carolina, Dr. Elbert and Dr. Watkins saw firsthand the need for health and mental health support. Their father, who received a full scholarship to Wake Forest University, succumbed to drug addiction at a time when the ‘The War on Drugs’ wasn’t treated with critical attention or care, preventing him from graduating. Their mother, just eighteen when they were born, became a nurse and worked in the hospital, then in a doctor’s office, where Dr. Elbert and Dr. Watkins spent many after-school days. 

Throughout their childhood, they witnessed the generosity and camaraderie of the healthcare workers, in addition to the kindness of their grandmother who was a hospital nurse and later, a home health nurse, as well as the glue bringing family and community members together. They both decided, early on, they would become lifelong helpers. 

After working as peer health educators and graduating as first-generation college students from East Carolina University, they extended their academic careers and went on to acquire five postgraduate degrees between them. Dr. Elbert jump-started her career in higher education right away, and has now spent 17 years experience across health education, wellness, and student affairs. Dr. Watkins, in contrast, spent many years working in public health and ambulatory care, focusing on mental health, substance use, rehabilitation counseling, and chronic diseases, before turning back to higher education. To this day, she still maintains a private practice. 

“The majority of my sister’s clients outside of campus are people of color and those in the LGBTQ+ community. Being able to pick her brain on how she’s working with these clients and bring that insight to campus has been pivotal, says Dr. Elbert. At the same time, Dr. Watkins will turn to her sister for mentorship and guidance around higher education, as Dr. Elbert has spent many years working as a leader in this space. 

With two different perspectives, but the same shared mission, the sisters maintain an ongoing discussion around college mental health. Dr. Elbert and Dr. Watkins have created a shared space, where they can “cry and debrief” and offer support to one another during challenging times. They often share what has worked in the community, what has or hasn’t worked in higher education, and how they can better support students and their staff on campus today. 

One of their long-term visions is to reimagine and restructure the higher education systems of care and take a much larger, preventive approach to health and wellness, which will help reach diverse, underserved students who may not feel comfortable help-seeking or utilizing clinical services. 

Building Programs for More Preventative, Holistic Care

A lot of institutions tie student success to student retention, but don’t always consider the full scope of why students are stopping out or leaving, Dr. Elbert explains. “How do we go upstream and find out what’s actually impacting our students prior to coming to campus so we can build a model to assist and support them holistically when they get here?” 

Starting with basic needs and the dimensions of wellness, Dr. Elbert and Dr. Watkins aim to equip students with the skills and tools they need to advocate and care for themselves and feel empowered once they graduate. Part of that solution would include peer-to-peer support, wellness coaching, more campus resources, and opportunities for social engagement. 

Ultimately, they believe the opportunity and responsibility to create a better culture of care for students, is on the institution itself – and the campus stakeholders. 

This is why Dr. Elbert and her colleagues at Ohio State University are working to launch, in phases, the Buckeyes T.H.R.I.V.E. program, which takes a preventative approach to student health and well-being, in partnership with Dr. Kia McKinnie and the First Year Experience team and other campus partners. Part of the program will include a Wellness Passport, which encourages students to engage in campus activities and resources, and will focus on various elements of health and wellness, including sleep, finances, stress, and nutrition. Dr. Elbert hopes to embed the program into existing first-year courses so students really take advantage of it. 

Dr. Watkins loved the idea so much, she took it straight to her team at the University of Utah and they are now using the major concepts of the framework to build out their own program. In addition to establishing a preventative approach to student health and wellbeing, which they plan to make some components digital, Dr. Watkins and the University of Utah staff want to really highlight the importance of understanding who incoming and current students are in order to help them access and navigate campus programs and services, and critical health literacy topics like health insurance and deductibles, as students use their current insurance and will have to navigate the U.S. healthcare system upon graduation. 

While the programs will vary to account for institutional differences, the ultimate goal for both sisters is to achieve health equity for all students, regardless of their socioeconomic status. 

“Building a connection within the first couple of weeks for a student is very, very crucial when it comes to academic success and mental health wellness,” says Dr. Watkins, which is why both sisters are considering the best ways to assess and screen students in a safe, secure way, and build in more interaction so they can determine the existing state of student mental health on campus. They’re even considering co-creating a healthy equity assessment, which doesn’t currently exist. 

Overcoming Limitations and Building Wraparound Services

“We have to stop being a crisis-focused center,” Dr. Elbert says. “If we continue to work this way, we’ll neglect to serve the students who don’t look like they’re in crisis.” 

While many institutions are faced with staffing shortages, being under resourced, and budgeting limitations, offering more preventative services can not only improve the student experience and assist with student persistence, but it can actually prevent students from reaching a state of crisis. A good first step to building a preventative model? Using a root cause analysis, Dr. Elbert suggests, and figuring out which systems need to change. 

Dr. Watkins also wants to merge the siloed departments that currently exist on campus to build wraparound services for students. One of her big initiatives is creating a referral pathway across the campus that’s open, transparent, and consistent. Bringing together different stakeholders from the counseling, wellness, recreation, student health, and disability departments, she let them all know that at some point they would need to start sharing critical information. 

Dr. Elbert is planning to do the same and will bring in other key departments like academic affairs. The challenge, however, is finding the technology to bring all of these people into one central system where there’s just one profile for the student. While student confidentiality and privacy would be incorporated, ensuring that only relevant stakeholders would be able to view certain information, it would eliminate the disparate systems that currently exist in higher education. 

“Not every student needs counseling,” Dr. Elbert explains. While some students are in crisis and do need clinical intervention, many just need support. They may be experiencing financial issues or a recent breakup which is preventing them from focusing on their academics. The goal, she says, is to not only help the student, but decrease the amount of time it takes to help the student, and decrease the amount of times that student has to repeat their story. 

The sisters want to change the way higher education works – and they both feel as though we’re in a pivotal moment. With more and more people acknowledging health promotion and the need for health equity, they feel hopeful that higher education will change for the better and students will, someday, receive the support they really need to thrive.

“Working on a campus is a privilege and an honor,” says Dr. Elbert. “It’s also personal for us.” 

Dr. Watkins and Dr. Elbert were featured as part of our Spotlight series on prominent leaders in higher education. If you know someone who you would like to be featured, please email us at outreach@mantrahealth.com.

Cultivating a Culture of Care with the Catholic University of America’s Dean of Students

Higher education wasn’t a common pursuit in the community where Jonathan Sawyer, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the Catholic University of America, grew up. In his graduating class of approximately 200 students, fewer than ten went on to pursue a four-year degree and he was one of them. 

He wanted to follow in his brother’s footsteps and pursue a career in engineering, but Sawyer had a hard time adjusting to campus life at Virginia Tech. He had little social interaction with his peers, didn’t connect with professors, and was in a challenging living situation. At the end of his freshmen year, he went to the housing office to request a change – and ended up with a job in housing services, where he helped new students with the transition to campus. 

This experience strengthened Sawyer’s relationship to the university and led to other opportunities, more enjoyment, and greater academic success. He hopes that, regardless of what college a student chooses to attend, they will find that same degree of connection, support, and engagement that Sawyer found at Virginia Tech.

Turning the Dean’s Office into a Hub for Students

After earning a master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Virginia Tech, Sawyer took a job as the Residence Hall Director at Ball State University in 1995, then moved to Catholic University in 1998 where he first worked in Residential Life and Student Conduct and later as the Dean of Students, a role he has held for 19 of his 25 years at the university.

Sawyer has been in the trenches with the students, helping them work through challenges, and he’s managed a staff that has faced an ever-increasing volume of student issues. Since the pandemic, Sawyer has found himself engaging more and more with students. The caseload has almost quadrupled in his office, although there are few undergraduate students enrolled at the university.

From his vantage point, Sawyer believes that virtual engagement during COVID has impacted a great number of students’ ability to develop coping skills needed to overcome obstacles, leading to an increase in engagement between students and staff. “Students are also more comfortable articulating certain issues and we’ve created a framework here to engage with students. We encourage them to come forward when they need help,” says Sawyer. Students will go to the dean’s office to discuss their academic challenges, or personal hardships. “They learn pretty quickly that this isn’t a place that gets you in trouble. We help the students.”

At larger state schools, students might not interact with the Dean of Students, but at a small, private Catholic university, it’s different. “Everybody should know you,” Sawyer explains, which is why he has deliberately created a culture of openness within the department and encouraged students, parents, and other community members to come to his office with any questions or concerns, which he then filters out to his staff. This has allowed the dean’s office to become a centralized place for students to access guidance and support.

Sawyer wants students to “learn how to cope, how to be resilient, and how to recognize that life is full of setbacks and, at times, failure.” He wants students to develop key skills, like communication, negotiation, self-reliance, so they can overcome these obstacles and make a broader impact on the community around them. The challenge, however, is maintaining a strong relationship with the students and building the proper support systems to care for them across all four years. This starts with the parents, with the months leading up to college, and freshmen orientation, but must continue through the duration of that student’s time on campus. 

Maintaining Balance in a High-Stress Environment 

Now more than ever, students are talking about their mental health and seeking out counseling services, which has dramatically increased the service utilization rates. At the same, we’ve witnessed more suicides, deaths, disturbances, and shootings at campuses across the country, which has turned the counseling center into a triage center.

Staff, from counseling services to student affairs, are overworked, and often overwhelmed with the rising demand. To mitigate these problems, Sawyer treats the dean’s office like a hub, where initial intakes can be conducted. Maybe a student does need counseling support, or maybe they simply need coaching. By establishing the dean’s office as the go-to place on campus, Sawyer has managed to reach anywhere from 35-45% of the entire undergraduate population on an annual basis. 

Maintaining this structure is challenging, however, with students graduating every year, and as the university aims to double its enrollment over the next decade. But Sawyer and his staff have been working for the university for many, many years, long before COVID. They’ve weathered many storms and they know how to cope with the changes and roll up their sleeves and get to work. They also understand that the chaos will rise and fall across the academic year, but when limits are reached staff are reminded to take pause before resuming. 

“We can’t get overwhelmed by the reality of what today is, because tomorrow is going to bring something different,” says Sawyer. At the same time, “we can’t keep pushing through because it will pile up and that’s not healthy either.”

Sawyer aims to maintain the balance, but knows that it’s a year-round rollercoaster, and rest needs to be taken during breaks and in the summer months. This downtime also gives Sawyer and his staff time to rethink procedures and processes of the year and consider what worked, what didn’t, and what approach should be taken for the next academic year. 

Keeping the Focus on the Student Experience 

“The work is ever-changing. There’s never a dull moment,” Sawyer says. He describes the experience of supporting students across the four-year journey as akin to having children, of which he has three of his own. “You get to see these students change and grow, just like you do your own family.” 

Often, he’ll tell students of the many times he went fishing in college. The river near his undergraduate campus was winding and in order to find the right place, he had to test out different spots, push his limits, sometimes wading into the water, and always adjusting his position based on the weather or time of year. Sawyer compares this experience to college, in which there are obstacles that need to be overcome – and in which students have the opportunity to develop their own sense of independence. 

“It's about loving yourself and self-sufficiency,” Sawyer says. Far too often students are encouraged to go to college, find their spouse, get a job, but what they should be focused on is their own self-identity and finding the things that bring them joy. “What we do isn’t rocket science, but it’s really hard work. It’s stressful. And we don’t know what the future holds, but hopefully good things.”

Photo copyright: Ed Pfueller | The Catholic University of America

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Preventative Care with the President and CEO of Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area

Dr. Andrew Flagel, PhD, President and CEO of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area and Visiting Senior Scholar at The George Washington University, has worked in higher education for 30+ years. 

You wouldn’t know that Dr. Flagel intended to become an attorney. His mother, a school teacher and community activist, founded one of the largest economic development programs in the country – and Dr. Flagel thought he would follow in similar footsteps. But when he got on campus, his perspective changed. 

“I found myself really engaged in the life of the university and its interaction with the community and that led me to, much to my parents’ dismay, turn down law school to decide that I would spend my career in education,” says Dr. Flagel.  

While an undergraduate student at George Washington University, Dr. Flagel worked three jobs to overcome financial hardship. At the same time, he enjoyed every opportunity he was afforded, including being a part of the radio station, taking on leadership roles, working for the university, and receiving mentorship from the university’s president. 

During this time, he started to consider “new ways of thinking about access to colleges and universities,” an interest that really propelled the rest of his career. After completing his masters, Dr. Flagel took the regional director of admissions role at his alma mater. 

“I had no idea I’d be doing this for the next four decades,” says Dr. Flagel, who went on to earn his PhD in Education from Michigan State University. 

Dr. Flagel has worked in enrollment, marketing, public relations, student affairs, among other areas. For seven years, he worked as the Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment at Brandeis University, where he oversaw various departments, including sexual assault services and prevention, the health and counseling centers, athletics, housing, financial aid, and many others. 

“It’s such a tremendous sense of responsibility when you wake up every morning, feeling like these lives are in your hands and knowing that you can't save them all,” he says. “I don’t have a great solution for those who are in it every day,” but he understands that the work these campus leaders are doing is essential. 

This is, in part, why he enjoys his current role, in which he gets to support those on the ground, providing them with resources and tools to develop more student health and well-being initiatives. 

Removing Barriers to Care in a Post-COVID World

The mental health challenges affecting students have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, putting an enormous stress on the campus and its community.

“Anyone working in student affairs or education understands that there has been a rising tide of anxiety and other disorders in students at the elementary, middle school, and early-college level,” says Dr. Flagel. While older adults have started to move on, the younger generations are still recovering, Dr. Flagel explains. “That wave was heading towards us before the pandemic. With the pandemic, we’ve seen this incredible surge in anxiety, self-harm, and other mental health conditions.” 

The pandemic has had cascading effects on the students, but also the faculty and staff who are working long hours, often with few resources, to meet the ever-increasing demand for support. If the staff are experiencing anxiety, how are they supporting students? If the counseling center is overwhelmed, how are they meeting rising demand? What about the student health center? These are questions Dr. Flagel is working to solve as he focuses on campus- and community-wide initiatives.  

One of the biggest barriers to care, he knows, is based on socioeconomic factors. Students are battling financial instability, food insecurity, and housing concerns, but also societal problems, like gun violence and the opioid epidemic. 

Creating Better Solutions for Holistic Health

While there are many challenges to addressing student health and well-being, Dr. Flagel has found that building partnerships across the campus and community provides tremendous value. During the pandemic, for instance, the Consortium received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and worked with AU and Gallaudet to expand access to COVID-19 testing. Other initiatives include partnering with the Capital Area Food Bank to address food insecurity on campus, and working on a massive project to bring affordable housing to students. 

Additionally, over 100 faculty members, from across 18 institutions across the Consortium, are working collaboratively to develop the best possible recommendations for practical and actionable approaches to reducing gun violence, Dr. Flagel explains. And next year, he’d like to tackle the opioid epidemic and increase campus access to Narcan. 

One of the biggest challenges is recognizing the fact that the structure of higher education doesn’t really support big complex initiatives. Each campus is designed to be autonomous and separate. Even internally, collaboration is difficult to achieve, which is why Dr. Flagel suggests creating new mechanisms for collaboration. 

“We’ve siloed, in bizarre ways, student wellness from approaches to student success,” Dr. Flagel suggests. “A strategic approach to wellness starts with an equity approach. We know these challenges are significantly greater in the lowest income brackets and among populations that are significantly underserved. How do we make sure that we're not losing students because of housing, lack of access to food, lack of access to appropriate health care, and how do we do that proactively?”

At Georgia State University, for example, micro-grants are now being offered to students who are nearing graduation and falling short financially. At Denison University, President Adam Weinberg has invested in a new wellness center that combines medical, counseling, and wellness, to create a whole person approach to health. 

The most expensive visit is the emergency room, Dr. Flagel explains. Rather than waiting for students to reach a state of distress, why aren’t we thinking more proactively? And how can we track outcomes? Rather than tracking visits, how do we figure out metrics? If we’re not measuring and disaggregating that data, we’re failing to determine programs and initiatives that are most successful, he says. 

“It’s a critical time to think about the health of our community, but it requires a team effort and a kind of visionary strategic approach. Everything matters, from insurance to providers to access,” says Dr. Flagel. 