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Perspectives

Ahead of the new academic year, a panel of undergraduates convened last Tuesday on Zoom to offer an audience of educators and administrators insight into some of the influences most affecting college student wellbeing today.



As the title suggests, “The State of Student Wellbeing: Navigating Pressure, Belonging, and A.I. on Campus” covered the young panelists’ views on a wide range of both academic and personal concerns, as well as ideas for how higher education leadership can help address them.&nbsp;



The hourlong event was the second of its kind produced together by the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU), a national consortium of leaders from research universities, and the Coalition for Student Wellbeing (C4SW), a student-led college mental health advocacy group.&nbsp;



This time, the LearningWell Coalition, which promotes best practices in college student wellbeing, was also an organizing partner. The LearningWell Coalition is the publisher of LearningWell magazine.



After words of welcome from UERU Executive Director Steven Dandaneau, Angela Lindner, the executive director of the LearningWell Coalition, opened the session with an overview of trends in college student wellbeing, as well as ways forward. Recent measures of flourishing and purpose are troubling, she said, but evidence shows experiential educational experiences, like mentorship, internships, and research, can set students for long-term success.



“To fully support lifelong wellbeing, we must liberate our students and our own universities from the burden of the notion that the only purpose of college is to punch a ticket toward a job, and we must provide access to and participate in these relationship-rich, lifelong giving experiences available to all students, not just for a portion of our population,” Lindner said.



The remaining time was devoted to the student panel, which was moderated by Carson Domey, the founder of C4SW and a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He was joined by three of his members: Mayeesha Alvi, a rising sophomore at Yale University; Leyli Balaghi, a rising sophomore at Arizona State University; and Aneesh Chintala, an incoming first-year at the Georgia Institute of Technology.



Time and again, the panelists highlighted how intertwined their academic experience is with their lives and struggles outside the classroom.&nbsp;



Several of the stressors students identified might seem purely academic at first. Chintala spoke to his concerns about entering a university whose reputation for educational rigor he may not be able to keep up with. Alvi pointed out how a prevalent “hustle culture” on her campus perpetuates the idea that “you’re always supposed to be doing more.”



But at a certain point, each of these academic anxieties became almost impossible to isolate from others, like financial or career-centered ones.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In the nearly same breath that Chintala expressed his worry about maintaining an intense workload and top grades, he mentioned the coinciding urgency around “making sure that we have the internships, the experiences, and all of these different things needed in order to essentially get these jobs that we want.”



Alvi, too, marked these entangled academic and professional pressures and how they can be exacerbated by financial need. “For students who are helping support not only themselves, but their families, it becomes even harder to slow down because success is tied to: How am I going to support my family in the future?” she said. 



According to Balaghi, financial concerns have the potential to influence just about every decision students make. Work hours could limit their class choices or ability to engage on campus in general. Earning requirements, not genuine interest, could dictate their major, extracurricular activities, or career path.&nbsp;



There are also non-academic issues with potentially academic implications that are more personal or situational, the panelists revealed.



Balaghi opened up about the challenges of focusing on classes while grieving a close family member and far away from her support system at home. Alvi said public and government scrutiny of her university, as well as general uncertainty about the future of higher education, has been distracting.



“There's this underlying feeling that the landscape is constantly shifting,” Alvi said. “As a student, that can feel very exhausting and confusing.”



Even the prevalence of A.I. in classrooms these days, the panelists noted, may have its roots in wellbeing issues. If young people were less afraid of failure, they might be more willing to trust themselves, instead of A.I.



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If young people were less afraid of failure, they might be more willing to trust themselves, instead of A.I.
</blockquote>



“I think it speaks a lot to the very kind of changing landscape of education that so many students are just so scared of making mistakes and so scared of not being perfect that they're turning to tools like ChatGPT, like Gemini, countless others, because they know that it will usually output a correct answer,” Alvi said.



To mitigate this reliance on A.I., Alvi suggested “bringing it back to encouraging mistakes and encouraging the organic kind of thinking things through.” She mentioned a friend who was put at ease by a math professor who graded assignments based on proof of process, rather than the accuracy of final answers. 



A.I. chatbots are one tool the students all agreed should not be considered a mental health solution.&nbsp;



Chintala recognized why young people, especially young men, might gravitate towards A.I. to work through emotional concerns. Its accessibility makes it a convenient option, he said, and a non-human sounding board could appeal to those hesitant to be vulnerable with others about their feelings.&nbsp;



Still, Balaghi said, A.I. isn’t an appropriate replacement for professional, in-person mental health support. Institutions should educate students on its limitations, as well as provide the human resources they really need.&nbsp;



“University leaders, I believe, should not simply tell students to stop using A.I. Instead, I believe that they should ask what A.I. is providing that [the] current support system at their institution is not,” Balaghi said.



All of the panelists agreed that one of the best buffers against college pressures have been the people and spaces that make them feel secure. A sense of genuine belonging, whether to cultural groups or living-learning communities, has helped each make second homes of their campus. Accessible and culturally responsive mental health resources on campus, they added, can reinforce that safety, too.



“Community has made all of the difference for me,” Alvi said. “I think universities do a really great job when they create spaces where students can find people who share some part of their identity.” 



Often, the message the panelists seemed most keen to get across was that they are eager to be involved in determining and improving the decisions about how to address their own health and wellness.&nbsp;



“One thing I hope university leaders remember is that today’s students are incredibly invested in their campuses. I mean, they serve as our second home for a large majority of the year,” Alvi said in a closing statement. 



“We don't want to just receive decisions. We actually want to help shape them.”



You can reach LearningWell Reporter Mollie Ames at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mames@learningwellmag.org">mames@learningwellmag.org</a>&nbsp;with comments, ideas, or tips.

Students Share Wellbeing Concerns Ahead of New Year

For nearly two decades, the rising rates of mental health struggles among college students have been well researched and well reported. This much-needed awareness catapulted the issue to the top of administrators’ priority lists, resulting in task force recommendations that focused primarily on treatment expansion. In fact, the majority of the response to what the media has coined the “college student mental health crisis” has been just that — a response.&nbsp;



A growing number of campus leaders across the country are now promoting a different lens through which to view college student mental health — one that is proactive and population-based. Encouraged by movements such as the Okanagan Charter, which advises colleges and universities to embed health and wellbeing into every aspect of campus life, this new thinking takes into account determinants of&nbsp;health, both protective factors as well as risk factors, that help or inhibit students from thriving.&nbsp;



Part of the appeal of a&nbsp;health promotion approach comes from frustration about the unsustainability and limitations of the clinical model most colleges maintain. While experts support strengthening and expanding counseling services for those who need them, demand will continue to outpace resources at most institutions. At the same time, many students who could use some level of support aren’t asking for it, indicating there could be other non-clinical on-ramps that could help with issues that may be more developmental or environmental. And as with all downstream models, counseling treats those who have already developed a problem, begging a question about what might have helped earlier.&nbsp;



As valid as these arguments may be, moving upstream by focusing on mental health, not just mental disorders, requires colleges and universities to make an institutional mindset shift. This is not always easy to achieve in a sector dominated by entrenched beliefs. The broader, more holistic approach takes interdepartmental coordination and buy-in (no more “not my job” rationalizations), introduces new phrasing like “psychological health,” and requires the currency with which institutional decisions and investments are made in higher education: evidence.&nbsp;



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“It really takes the wellbeing conversation away from, ‘What are the student affairs people doing about this?’"
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“For a while now, we’ve been able to understand individual health outcomes which are easier to&nbsp;measure,” said Chris Dawe,&nbsp;the former&nbsp;chair of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ushpcn.org/">U.S. Health Promoting Campuses Network</a>, which is affiliated with the Okanagan Charter. “I think we need much better data on the kind of work we are doing at the systems level that allows us to make better decisions about what works and doesn’t work.”&nbsp;



Researchers working in the field of college student mental health acknowledge this need and are helping to close the data gap on a preventive approach. Daniel Eisenberg, along with Sarah Lipson, directs&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://sph.umich.edu/news/2025posts/college-student-mental-health-third-consecutive-year-improvement.html">University of Michigan’s Center for Healthy Minds study,&nbsp;</a>whose annual survey has been largely responsible for sounding the alarm on the rising rates of mental health issues among college students. They are now developing&nbsp;a&nbsp;best practices repository: a comprehensive, publicly accessible repository of evidence about the effectiveness of various public health and preventative programs, services, and policies that address college student&nbsp;mental wellbeing.



“Campuses offer an ideal setting for preventive strategies because there are so many different ways to reach students over a sustained period of time with supportive resources and practices,” Eisenberg said. “But campus leaders and administrators need to pay close attention to two major challenges in implementing these strategies. First, which strategies actually have strong evidence of effectiveness? Second, how can we ensure that these strategies actually reach a large number of students in a meaningful way?”



Innovative partnerships



Another key player in the evidence-based prevention research arena is MindArch Health, a company that partners with colleges and universities on improving community health. Founded by Nadine Wilches, a clinical social worker and researcher, MindArch uses a comprehensive software solution to assess and enhance mental wellbeing and resilience within campus populations. It is both a product and a strategy, starting with a survey tool institutions use with their students, and often faculty and staff, to determine a wellbeing protection/risk profile.&nbsp;



“The mission behind our work is to reduce risk and reverse rates of mental and behavioral health problems,” Wilches said. “We do that by trying to predict those most at risk using a community mental health model which is more socioecological. We look at the whole campus system and the impact of mental wellness through what we call protective factors in the research.”&nbsp;



The product, called MAP (MindArch Automation Pathway), is evidence-based, strength-based, and pre-clinical. MindArch uses an EQUIP model (Examine, Quantify, Unite, Inquire, Plan) for the process overall and the five elements of a systemic wellbeing framework in its surveys. These are: self-efficacy, psychological safety, emotional control, interpersonal attunement, and self-assurance. 



“We are measuring the factors that are known to buffer against mental health problems — things like security, belonging, connection, sense of self. And then we break all those down into questions that allow us to direct solutions,” Wilches said.



After the assessment, which includes qualitative research with key stakeholders, the MindArch process calls for bringing together leaders from across campus for a three-part planning phase that produces sustainable changes towards a tangible goal. The areas in consideration are the 4 P’s — policies, practices, programs, and places — with the question being: How has what we learned influenced these domains? Once interventions are in place, a pre- and post-assessment provides the schools with efficacy data. The outcome of the process can involve every aspect of the university, from the classroom to the surrounding community.&nbsp;



“We’re working on changing environments and environmental conditions that produce stress that can be prevented rather than saying each individual on campus needs X, Y, and Z,” said Tim Ecklund, the vice president for partnerships at MindArch. Ecklund came to the company after many years in student affairs leadership positions, including at Stonybrook University and Utica College. He said, during his career, he was struck by how little colleges and universities were doing to strengthen mental health, while they focused most of their attention on how to address mental disorders. “MindArch was what I wished I had,” he said.&nbsp;



MindArch’s preventive mindset, and its focus on strategies that can impact everyone on campus, appeals to many administrators looking for more comprehensive solutions. Cheryl Barnard, the dean of students at Miramar College, a community college in San Diego, is a customer of MindArch. She spent many years as a student affairs leader for private, four-year institutions on the east coast.



“In all my years as an administrator, mental health has always been about the delivery of a service to the students who come to counseling,” she said. “This is the first time where I feel like I have an evidence-based strategy that looks at the entire population and not just the 1 percent to 5 percent who find their way to the counseling center.”&nbsp;



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“This is the first time where I feel like I have an evidence-based strategy that looks at the entire population and not just the 1 percent to 5 percent who find their way to the counseling center.”&nbsp;
</blockquote>



Barnard said MindArch has allowed her to reach that larger student group with strategies that are specific to her campus. After receiving the data regarding protective factors and risk factors among students at Miramar, she pulled a task force together to consider what changes they might make on campus. One idea included putting together a skills building program for the school’s ANAPI population (Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders) after these students reported a deficit in their decision-making abilities. Another involved pooling resources that would combine supporting students’ health, mental health, and basic needs.&nbsp;



Barnard’s favorite part is the data. “MindArch gives you evidence-based practices based on the data you’ve collected so you’re not guessing. It’s hard to argue with a result we’ve gotten from 300 of our own students.”&nbsp;



MindArch’s broad application on campus means that many of its customers come from different corners of the institutions. Stuart Sidle&nbsp;served as the dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Mercy University in New York. He now leads a $5.25 million U.S. Department of Education STEM Ready H.S.I.-STEM grant at the university. As an organizational psychologist and student success strategist, Sidle was particularly drawn to MindArch’s focus on resiliency and its correlation to persistence.&nbsp;



“We’ve had some very good opportunities to use this data,” Sidle said, pointing to a new training for faculty that helps students with self-regulation by having them reflect on their own energy and time during exam periods. “We’re really looking at what we can we do to help people stay in a good place before they are struggling,” he said. “It really takes the wellbeing conversation away from ‘What are the student affairs people doing about this?’ to ‘Let’s all be aware of the adjustments we can make to help students thrive.’”&nbsp;



MindArch was launched in September 2025 as a for-profit company, though Wilches prefers to call it a social enterprise, as it receives donations and puts profits back into research and development. At an average of $14,000 a year, it is now in seven schools and growing. Its pitch to higher education includes its advantageous use of competing resources given its scale. Here again, is where evidence comes into play.&nbsp;



“One school saw an 8 percent improvement across four or five elements in just one academic year,” Wilches said. “Another saw an 11 percent improvement in psychological health by strengthening the protective factor they had targeted. In fact, 100 percent of our institutions have been able to get additional funding from the data we originally collected.”&nbsp;



You can reach LearningWell Editor Marjorie Malpiede at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org">mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org</a>&nbsp;with&nbsp;comments, ideas, or tips.

Going Upstream

Last fall, Dartmouth College made <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/health-wellness/2025/10/14/dartmouth-builds-its-own-ai-chatbot-student-well">headlines</a> after <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10/announcing-evergreen-ai-tool-student-well-being">announcing</a> the development of a new A.I.-powered tool for student wellbeing, called <a href="https://evergreen.dartmouth.edu/">Evergreen</a>. At a moment when concerns about the use of A.I. for mental health were coming to a head, Evergreen’s emergence signaled a continued interest in employing the technology in this way, in the right way. Already, Dartmouth has amassed $7 million of its $16 million fundraising goal to support Evergreen’s production.



But not everyone is equally ready to embrace the app. Over the last several months, students have expressed skepticism of the emerging resource, which has taken up a notable space in campus discourse. As institutions navigate how best to both regulate and leverage A.I. for students, the response at Dartmouth offers insight into when and how young people seem willing to accept the technology in their lives, as well as the kind of communication they may require from institutions introducing it in new ways.



Evergreen is far from Dartmouth’s first foray into A.I., nor digital health innovation. The Ivy League college has a longstanding tradition in both realms, including as the site where the term “artificial intelligence” was coined 70 years ago. In the spring, <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/25/business/dartmouth-college-artificial-intelligence/">The Boston Globe</a> reported on how the college has strived to live up to its history, outpacing its peers in the speed and breadth of its rollout of A.I., to mixed reviews. Evergreen is discussed, with a focus on Dartmouth’s recent partnership with the A.I. company Anthropic and potential plans to "integrate the tech into most facets of campus life.”



Meanwhile, since 2011, Dartmouth’s <a href="https://www.c4tbh.org/the-center/">Center for Technology and Behavioral Health</a> (C.T.B.H.) has been ground zero for pioneering research on digital interventions for the treatment of behavioral health issues. Lisa Marsch, the center’s founding director, described the goal of C.T.B.H. as leveraging the accessibility of modern technology, like phones and wearables, to make a broad and meaningful impact on health and wellbeing. Marsch, who specializes in technology and addiction treatment, is known for developing a related mobile tool which became the first F.D.A.-authorized “prescription digital therapeutic.”



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"How do we think about the whole student body and ways that we can bring the science of flourishing to students in a way that scales?"
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It's now Marsch and several of her fellow experts at C.T.B.H. who are spearheading the Evergreen project. It launched as an opportunity to tackle the wellbeing challenges young people are facing nation- and worldwide, Marsch said, as well as fulfill an institutional priority laid out by current President Sian Beilock to better support student mental health at Dartmouth specifically. Unlike the counseling center, aimed at treating or diagnosing mental health conditions, a digital tool could offer everyday, in-your-pocket tips to strengthen wellbeing and ward off more serious crises.



“It's about prevention,” Marsch said of her vision for Evergreen. “It's about, how do we go upstream? How do we think about the whole student body and ways that we can bring the science of flourishing to students in a way that scales?”



In its current form, Evergreen has a few different functions. The interface is an A.I. chatbot, named Evie, through which students can engage with educational modules on different behavioral health topics. The first version of Evergreen’s A.I. isn’t generative, like well-known chatbots ChatGPT or Claude, meaning it doesn’t offer original or spontaneous responses. Instead, all the content comes from pre-scripted, expert-reviewed dialogues that offer insight into college-relevant issues, including sleep hygiene, nutrition, and physical activity.&nbsp;



Those interested in a more personalized Evergreen experience have that option. By allowing the app to collect passive data on different contextual elements of their life, like step count, heart rate, and sleep patterns, students can receive targeted assistance for their health needs. Someone whose sleep cycle has fallen out of whack, for example, could get a nudge from the tool to review the sleep module.&nbsp;



Evergreen’s capacities differ from traditional wearables because the app was designed with a Dartmouth-specific experience in mind. If users provide data on upcoming assignments and deadlines, the app can support them with time management. If they tell it about their extracurricular interests, it can point them towards relevant events on campus. If they decide to track their meals, it can show them the nutritional information for that day’s spread in the dining hall.&nbsp;



As Evergreen takes in individual student data, it will also be able to spit out campus-wide trends. Another of the app’s services will be to present these types of broad insights into user behavior, so students can understand their wellbeing collectively. Throughout the semester, they could track how many hours of sleep their peers are averaging. During exam periods, they could watch what happens to visits to the fitness center or time spent outdoors.



It’s important to note at this point that Evergreen is still far from a live product. A year since its announcement, the app has only just entered an initial round of testing, involving 15 students, although that number is expected to jump to 200 in the fall. A second, more advanced version of Evergreen that does involve generative A.I. is being developed simultaneously and isn’t estimated to start testing until 2027.



By students, for students



The reason that Evergreen has already managed to secure an active role in the minds and lives of Dartmouth students is likely because hundreds of them have been employed to work on the project. Upwards of 250 of these project assistants, as they’re called, have been helping engineer the technology, deliberating on the issues Dartmouth students might need the app’s help navigating, crafting the scripts for the dialogues, and producing and narrating supplementary videos. It was a student’s idea, for example, to integrate the dining hall menu. And it was students who suggested Evergreen provide designated support for those who weren’t admitted to the fraternity or sorority of their choice, or at all.



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The assertion of its student-centered ethos seems to have opened Evergreen up to particular scrutiny from, well, students.
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It's a key point of pride for Evergreen that it’s “Built by students, for students” (that’s essentially the greeting line on the home page of the app’s <a href="https://evergreen.dartmouth.edu/">website</a>). But ironically, the assertion of its student-centered ethos seems to have opened Evergreen up to particular scrutiny from, well, students. The promise that they’re in the driver’s seat ends up deepening skepticism of the enterprise altogether when they sense that they’re not.



In January, students’ hackles were raised after the editors of The Dartmouth, the student newspaper, revealed the author of <a href="https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2025/11/roberts-why-evergreen-ai-deserves-a-chance">an op-ed supportive of Evergreen</a> had received payment from his employers at the app for the time he spent writing. His supervisors at Evergreen also provided feedback on a draft of his essay, which was titled “Why Evergreen.AI Deserves a Chance.” That headline alone suggests reservations about the tool were already brewing. Now there was another reason to imagine students weren’t really in charge at Evergreen.&nbsp;



Then, later this spring, a similar publicity snafu rocked Evergreen when The Dartmouth again turned up some <a href="https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/05/klee-miller-evergreen-ai-writing">incriminating details</a> about student involvement in the project. Three different student workers had come forward to admit they used A.I. to write dialogues for the Evergreen modules, which were branded as intentionally student — not A.I. — generated. 



In the article, Lisa Marsch affirmed this conduct was against the rules put in place to preserve the student voice of the content. More recently, she amended that, given the extent of the editing process for these scripts, some of the language having been originally A.I.-generated isn’t inherently concerning. “I don't know that it would be that much of a problem because we have such a careful, thorough review of the quality from peers and experts that ultimately nothing's going to make it into this that hasn't gone through that rigorous process,” she said.



The biggest barrier to overcome for Marsch and her team moving forward may be how students feel about Evergreen. These feelings could be mixed up in views on A.I. generally, as well as Dartmouth’s specific efforts to champion it. To Trace Ribble, a rising sophomore, Evergreen is part of his school’s larger mission to “claim” A.I. as its expertise. “We want to be the A.I. school. We want to be on the cutting edge,” he said. By his account, he added, “there's not much student support for it.”&nbsp;



Ribble was responsible for <a href="https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/03/ribble-evergreen-ai-is-not-good-for-dartmouth">another op-ed</a> in The Dartmouth, expressing his view that “Evergreen.A.I. Is Not Good for Dartmouth.” He writes from a background in youth mental health advocacy, having founded a nonprofit to make resources accessible in rural areas like his home in Oklahoma. His concerns about Evergreen center on a wariness of the newness and therefore efficacy of A.I. for mental health support. Evergreen, he writes, is a “multi-million dollar cash sink designed to generically ‘support student success.’” The funds raised, he believes, would be better spent on expanding in-person care.



It’s true that people struggling with their mental health have turned to A.I. chatbots and received dangerous guidance, or lack thereof, in recent years. Generic large language models often aren’t trained to recognize warning signs or offer referrals for behavioral issues. Around the time students were first hearing about Evergreen, one <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/magazine/character-ai-chatbot-lawsuit-teen-suicide-free-speech.html">major news story</a> featured a teen boy who died by suicide after falling in love with a chatbot and his family’s effort to hold the A.I. company responsible. His parents <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5545749/ai-chatbots-safety-openai-meta-characterai-teens-suicide">aren’t the only ones</a>.



Ribble understands Evergreen isn’t positioning itself as therapy, but he worries the slope is slippery. “They're walking this fine line where they're like, ‘Oh, we're not trying to replace traditional therapy.’ But then they're lauding their connection to, I think it's called Therabot, which is just exactly what it sounds like — therapy A.I.,” he said. “I don't know. It's really icky to me.”



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The biggest barrier to overcome moving forward may be how students feel about Evergreen.
</blockquote>



Therabot is indeed the generative A.I.-therapy chatbot designed by two faculty members in the Dartmouth psychiatry department, Nicholas Jacobson and Michael Heinz, who are also leaders of Evergreen. They designed Therabot using current, evidence-based therapeutic&nbsp;best practices to prioritize&nbsp;safety and efficacy to an extent commercial&nbsp;platforms typically&nbsp;do not. In a recently published clinical trial, <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/03/first-therapy-chatbot-trial-yields-mental-health-benefits">the first of its kind</a> for this kind of software, Therabot users were found to have experienced a 51 percent average reduction in symptoms for depression and 31 percent for anxiety.



Still, Heinz confirmed Evergreen’s work is different. “I don’t think it’s the place for this app to deliver mental health services,” he said. Even the second version of the app that, unlike the first, will have a generative component will be “purpose-built in a way that it knows what it is,&nbsp;it knows its limitations.” So if a student started chatting with the bot about a serious mental health issue, it would be able to refer students to better resources for help. “It would know the off-ramps,” Heinz said. “We're training this in right now, so it knows the resources at Dartmouth, and it's able to connect students to those resources.”



The “off-ramps” are key to Evergreen, Marsch agreed. This digital resource is different from typical online content, she said, because it actually wants users to get off and engage beyond. “Unlike a lot of social media and other online things that people can do, which have algorithms designed to keep your eyes glued to the screen, this is all about the opposite. It's about giving you resources to connect you to the real world.”



Keene Dampal, a rising junior at Dartmouth who has been involved in mental health advocacy since high school, is a project assistant for Evergreen. He said he knows that the app isn’t “the best perceived” among his peers, but while he’s an enthusiastic supporter, he doesn’t necessarily think the wider hesitance is such a bad thing. “In fact, I think it's a very useful thing,” he said. “It just shows that people are critical before they actually just say yes to something that's new.”



Clarifying the mission of Evergreen will be important, Dampal continued, but in the end, not everyone may want to use it. That’s okay, too, he said, as long it helps someone who does.



You can reach LearningWell Reporter Mollie Ames at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mames@learningwellmag.org">mames@learningwellmag.org</a>&nbsp;with comments, ideas, or tips.

Digital Wellbeing at Dartmouth

Allie Jutton graduated from high school in 2022 with a pile of Advanced Placement credits and few options to put them to use at the kind of small liberal arts college she wanted to attend. But she knew she could save a lot of time and money if she could find a school that counted her A.P. work toward her degree.



Jutton, who grew up in Lakeville, Minn., landed at the University of Minnesota Morris. It offered the small college feel—just shy of 1,000 undergraduate students—and a well-publicized Degree in Three program, which could save students like her about $20,000 by graduating in three years, instead of four.



Jutton was sold. And now she’s graduating with a degree in psychology and a minor in gender, women, and sexuality studies and plans to attend Minnesota State University, Mankato in the fall for a master’s in mental health counseling.



“I came in with a lot of general education courses already done, like statistics, history, geography, and English,” Jutton said.​​ “It was cost-effective for me and my family, and it allowed me to get my degree a little faster.”&nbsp;



At Morris, the Degree in Three program isn’t a new concept. Students with the drive and desire have always had the option to finish the standard 120 credits to earn a bachelor’s degree in a shortened time frame. However, it wasn’t until 2024 that the college openly advertised that all of its 32 majors could be completed in three years, if students chose to do so.



Morris is one of almost 50 institutions that have joined the College-in-3 Exchange, a nonprofit organization advocating for more undergraduate degree options that take less time to complete. The collective includes a diversity of institutions, from Georgetown University and the University of Miami, to Merrimack College and Portland State. When the incubator started in 2021, a dozen institutions signed on—and the group has grown each year.



“Higher ed needs to be reimagined in all kinds of ways, and this is a very practical way to create a catalyst for rethinking undergraduate education,” Lori Carrell, chancellor of the University of Minnesota Rochester, said. She founded College-in-3 alongside Robert Zemsky, professor at the University of Pennsylvania.



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“Higher ed needs to be reimagined in all kinds of ways, and this is a very practical way to create a catalyst for rethinking undergraduate education."
</blockquote>



Nationwide, about 64 percent of students who start a degree program finish it within six years, with an average loan debt among borrowers of $29,300, according to the College Board. In 2023, Carrell testified to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development about how the College-in-3 concept could improve student retention, degree completion, and career launch, either by developing accelerated 120-credit degrees or creating new curricula that reduce the credit requirement to 90.



“Accreditors have opened their doors to this,” Carrell said.&nbsp;



Not for Everybody



While financial wellbeing is an obvious benefit of earning a degree in three years, the College-in-3 movement continues to head off concerns about less-desirable repercussions for students, like increased stress, feelings of overwhelm, or a rushed college experience.&nbsp;



Jutton shared those concerns, initially. Her fears were eased after mapping out the course work with her advisor, taking into account the credits she brought with her from high school. Still, Jutton worked two jobs while in school, as a resident assistant and also as an assistant in the student engagement and events office. During her second year, she took 20 credits each semester. It was a lot at the time, but Jutton believes the experience also gave her skills that she’ll use forever.



“It taught me valuable life lessons. I’m really good at time management and my organizational skills are better than they were coming into college,” Jutton said. “I was able to recognize when I needed help and ask for it, as well as set boundaries for what I can and cannot do.”



As more institutions are joining the College-in-3 Exchange, they are also considering how to design curricula that take student mental health and wellbeing into account, Carrell said.



“The worry that you’re just going to rush students through and turn degrees into credentials, instead of deep, transformative learning? Nothing could be farther from what we’re doing,” she said.



Janet Schrunk Ericksen, chancellor at Morris, said that since the college started actively promoting the three-year option in February 2024, it’s been well received. The Degree in Three program features prominently on the website, and Ericksen said that it receives more page views than any other part of the site. Visitors also spend more time looking at the information.



“We serve a large percentage of students from historically underrepresented populations—low-income, first-generation students,” Ericksen said. “Giving them this path is important.”



Ericksen acknowledges, however, that completing a 120-credit bachelor’s degree in a condensed timeline isn’t for everybody. It’s easier for those who can use A.P. credit or pursued dual enrollment in high school, earning some college credits before arriving on campus. Most students also take a summer class or two along the way. She believes that certain degrees also lend themselves to quicker completion than others. Physics, for example, requires foundational knowledge before moving on to the next levels, so the major might be more challenging to finish in less than four years.&nbsp;



“It’s not going to work for students who change their major six times or who want a triple major—and we have a fair number of those,” Ericksen said. “But the students who are really focused, they’re saying, ‘Yes, this is what I want, and it’s great to have a clear path.’”



An opportunity for experiential learning&nbsp;



Institutions like Brigham Young University - Idaho, which serves an older population of working adults taking online classes, are finding that eliminating elective courses and reducing degree credits to 90 or 94 are helping students complete programs in majors like business management, applied health, and family and human services. The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an accrediting body, approved the truncated programs in 2023.



Still, not everybody is sold on the validity of a 90-credit degree. Some higher education experts and faculty members are concerned that it will create a two-tiered system and that employers may not value the degrees equally.&nbsp;



But Madeleine Green, executive director of the College-in-3 Exchange, said the timing for higher education to make such changes is “propitious.”



“For all the questions that are out there about the value of a degree, employability of graduates, the cost of higher education, those are all factors that I think have propelled institutions to think about alternative pathways,” Green said.



Designing three-year degree programs with industry partners is leading to better outcomes, Carrell said. At the University of Minnesota Rochester, for example, students in health-related majors are offered paid internships at the Mayo Clinic, as well as job interviews upon graduation. The partnership has also helped the faculty design a tight curriculum that ensures that students are prepared for the workforce, while building in strategies like block scheduling, success coaches, and capstone experiences that contribute to student wellbeing.



“To know that there are these dire workforce shortages in healthcare deserts and we’re producing people who can go out and serve communities sooner is very, very satisfying,” Carrell said.



Peh Ng, chair of the division of science and mathematics at Morris, said the students she’s helped guide through three-year degrees aren’t missing out on the hallmark experiences of college, like undergraduate research, study abroad, and internships. Still, those who arrive at Morris without having earned any college-level credits have a much more challenging time finishing in less than four years—and often they don’t.



“A three-year program is really not for every student, but if a student tries it and it doesn’t work, then they finish it in four years. So at the end of the day, it bodes well for four-year graduation rates,” she said.&nbsp;



Ng is among the faculty members who don’t agree with reducing credit requirements, especially in STEM fields, where she said the difference between taking 12 courses and seven is “huge.”



“You can’t have two tiers of programs,” Ng said. “I am a strong proponent of not changing the requirements.”



Jutton agrees with Ng—she wouldn’t have wanted to take a lesser load, she said. As she prepares to graduate, she has few regrets. Sure, another year may have afforded her a more robust social life, but she also found friendship and camaraderie among like-minded peers who were also on the fast-track to degree completion. Although Jutton will be younger than many of her graduate school cohort, she still feels prepared to move on.



“I think the biggest thing for me was finding supporters, like my career counselor and the faculty,” Jutton said. “I haven’t met someone who does not believe in me here and that was really important for me to be able to do the degree in three.”

"College-in-3"

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On this month’s episode of LearningWell Radio, the C.E.O. of a nonprofit experiential learning organization describes a global immersive experience where students undergo personal growth while building the skills and networks needed to address the world's most pressing challenges.



Listen now on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3paMZPzVgHJM9YRX3M8TuU?si=97b0153493a14c48">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tilting-futures-with-erin-lewellen/id1732284927?i=1000784111223">Apple Podcasts</a>.



You can reach LearningWell Editor Marjorie Malpiede at <a href="mailto:mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org">mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org</a> with comments, ideas, or tips.

Tilting Futures with Erin Lewellen

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On this episode of LearningWell Radio, John Volin, the president of Gustavus Adolphus College, and Dan Currell, a Gustavus trustee, pair up to discuss the major changes coming to higher education and what they might mean for colleges and universities that prioritize personal growth and development.



You can reach LearningWell Editor Marjorie Malpiede at <a href="mailto:mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org">mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org</a> with comments, ideas, or tips.

The Future of Holistic Higher Education with John Volin and Dan Currell

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On this episode of LearningWell Radio, George Abalekpor, a Georgetown graduate from the class of 2024, reflects on his experience over the last two years working inside the administration at his alma mater. As a Hoya Fellow, he has used his firsthand experience and insights into the Georgetown student experience to help guide the Division of Student Affairs.



In particular, Abalekpor has been focused on efforts and issues around student thriving. With LearningWell, he discusses some of the pressing concerns and potential solutions in this area, with an emphasis on the role of Hoya Fellows in bridging gaps between students and staff.



Listen now on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/10cIU7PJduQNmW8Bqd6RhZ?si=mu2yop08QgKCyBjPXbOjRg">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/putting-the-student-in-student-affairs-with/id1732284927?i=1000772975751">Apple Podcasts</a>.



You can reach LearningWell Reporter Mollie Ames at <a href="mailto:mames@learningwellmag.org">mames@learningwellmag.org</a> with comments, ideas, or tips.

Putting the Student in Student Affairs with George Abalekpor

Playing for Keeps 

I didn’t know you could build a home. I thought it had to be luck, stars aligning, or something unobtainable. From 30 days in Spain, I learned all it took was lingering after a meal, and a tomato.&nbsp;



The program lasted only a month. When I met my host mom, Carmen, I stumbled over an introduction in broken Spanish, body trembling and sticky in the humidity. Back then, I was glad it would be short. I’d be “home” in a month, back to what I knew. Brows knit together as I failed to understand, knowing they were speaking slower for me, knowing it wasn't enough. I started keeping a tally of my mistakes, because if it wasn't the heat keeping me up it was the faults and failures weighing down in much the same way.



I was nervous, and so ashamed of myself. “Belonging” was an unattainable concept. It felt like the world had blurred and twisted beneath my feet. I didn’t deserve a place at the table — but every night, Carmen set it out for me. She always filled my cup first. The largest piece of fruit was always balanced on my plate.&nbsp;



In my slow, mispronounced words, we started to talk. I told her that I used to have a garden with tomatoes, that they smelled like home. In the meals after that, in a hushed ritual, her hands worked steadily to avoid every tomato in the salad bowl, leaving them for me.&nbsp;



It was things like that, so small that to any outsider they are nearly invisible. Yet, it’s the invisible things that change us, because for a moment I felt known; I felt home. Over the weeks, I learned to notice the small things, to let them happen, and to reciprocate.&nbsp;



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The smallest things have taught me hope, something I think all college students desperately need. 
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On one of the worst nights of my life, I came home a wreck. She continued to do what she had always done.&nbsp;When I distractedly misplaced my house key, she returned it to where it always sat in my room,&nbsp;straightening my stuffed animal on the way out — no scolding, just silent care. Later, she set down two salads, one with tomatoes. I turned my head as I tried not to cry, and we both lingered when the meal was done. When I put the water&nbsp;pitcher&nbsp;away, she folded the tablecloth. She asked about things I didn’t remember telling her and brewed my coffee for the morning just the way I like it.&nbsp;



In all honesty, I sobbed on the plane home,&nbsp;worried&nbsp;I wouldn’t find that kind of loving attention here. But, I learned, I just didn’t know how to look. It’s in how the bus driver waits for that one extra person, in a compliment given about vibrant hair, an extra chocolate passed to your brother, ducking under a stranger's umbrella. The smallest things have taught me hope, something I think all college students desperately need.&nbsp;



College sparks the&nbsp;troubled&nbsp;realization that home isn’t a constant. It can be left, disrupted in a single night by tens or thousands of miles. But it also opens the doorway to a whole world of people to love.&nbsp;



I was acting blindly before, but now, after all of this, I know how to build a home. I have found people who I would avoid tomatoes for, that I’d do anything for. My best friend doesn’t like working outside, so we study in. Another prefers the right side of the cafeteria, so I set the table there. I know their food orders. I buy extra laundry detergent just for them. 



Because in these moments, when I walk them home, when I linger with a hug, when I help them move out, or order for him, and put on a song she likes, I see the heaviness lift from their shoulders. We’re&nbsp;dying&nbsp;for these things. There’s so much love in me, in us. This species is starving for that ounce of being known.&nbsp;



I can’t help but be like Carmen.&nbsp;



So, yes, I’ll take you on a drive. No, you don’t have to pay me back for the food. Yes, I bought you that snack you like. No,&nbsp;you’re not a burden.&nbsp;Yes, I love you. Yes, you can have my tomatoes.&nbsp;



Some things that take nothing mean everything.&nbsp;This&nbsp;is what college is meant to be, tearing down the walls of&nbsp;anxiety&nbsp;and shame and rejection. It’s in these selfless acts that we build a home, for others, and for&nbsp;ourselves.&nbsp;



I find that college students, like anyone in a new, stressful environment, isolate themselves. But I worry that in our dark, albeit comfortable, corners, we miss out on the chance to belong, to be known. Because that’s what it is — that’s what the small acts of kindness do. It’s a way of saying, “I’m here with you,” "I see you,” “We’re an&nbsp;us.”



Paying attention, taking the time to check in with someone, remembering birthdays, lingering in a doorway, giving a hug on the way out — this is how you build a home. It doesn't matter what country, what language. You don’t need rising cathedrals or the late Spanish sun. You don’t need an extraordinary act to save someone; you only need to listen. You only need to be there.&nbsp;



The life changing lesson I’ll forever hold from those days in Spain is the ease of belonging, how natural it can be. It isn’t dependent on the good or the bad. I learned to let someone take my tomatoes, to confess about the hard days, to stay. I’ll allow the home to be built, allow the small things to matter and take root.&nbsp;



So, let someone take your tomatoes or refill the&nbsp;pitcher&nbsp;after dinner — just stay. Stay, and take the time and effort. Some people have never had a home built around them; some need it more than anything, and maybe you do, too. It doesn’t take an army, just a tomato.&nbsp;



Chloe McCaskill is a rising sophomore at Wake Forest University from New York, New York.

On Tomatoes and the Power of Being Known

On the last day of the Summer Studio at Olin College of Engineering, four teams of faculty from around the world reflected on their experiences. They had spent the previous week pursuing a framework that would lead to engineering education improvements in their home countries. As the facilitator moved from table to table, it became clear the participants had succeeded in what they came to learn: how to apply what a start-up engineering college in Massachusetts did to transform engineering education.&nbsp;



“We had heard of the Olin pedagogy, and it had many synergies to our own,” said Uday Roopavath, an assistant professor of bioscience and bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Jammu. “Before coming to the Summer Studio, I had a vision of what I wanted to do with my students, but I wasn’t able to define it. Now I can.” 



For over two decades, Olin College of Engineering has not only practiced a groundbreaking way of teaching within its own institution but also shared its methods with the rest of higher education, both domestically and globally. The effort is more than just an example of best practice sharing. The theory is that by instigating changes within institutions, a cumulative effect will occur to alter the field of engineering education and the types of engineers it produces.&nbsp;



“A big part of our mission is to transform engineering education,” said Olin President May Lee. “The Summer Studio is the flagship program for allowing us to do that, and it’s more important than ever. Olin provides the scaffolding for students to understand what it means to learn — not just take tests and get the right answer. This way of learning leads to a kind of agency within our students that is essential, particularly with the onset of A.I.”&nbsp;



Lee’s commitment to Olin’s role in influencing engineering education comes from the fact she has seen it first-hand. When Lee was the chief strategy officer for institutional impact at&nbsp;Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (R.P.I.), her colleague there, Professor Shayla Armand, participated in one of the Olin summer programs and came back promoting an entirely new way of thinking about research and teaching. Before she left R.P.I. for Olin, Lee incorporated much of that transformation into R.P.I.’s current strategic plan. She then brought Armand to Olin as provost, and the two leaders continue working together to extend Olin’s impact on the field.&nbsp;



May is the third president of Olin College, succeeding the five-year tenure of&nbsp;Gilda Barabino&nbsp;and the 21-year tenure of founding president, Richard Miller. The school was chartered in 1997 by the&nbsp;F. W. Olin Foundation with a directive for Miller to operationalize what the engineering community believed to be much-needed changes in how engineers had traditionally been trained. The prevailing sentiment was that a reliance on technical skills-based learning alone would not be sufficient to address the major changes brought on by a more integrated global economy and the launch of the internet. Engineers would need to have business and entrepreneurship skills, teamwork, creativity, and a broader understanding of the societal contexts of engineering.&nbsp;



Olin was created to become a form of privately funded national laboratory for engineering education redesign. What the college lacked in size — the highly selective school enrolls about 400 students — it more than made up for in innovation. From the beginning, Miller and his team did things differently, rejecting a number of deeply held convictions in higher education, such as academic departments and tenured faculty. 



“We were given a rare opportunity — and responsibility — to rethink what it means to be educated in the 21st century and what it means to be an engineer,” Miller said. “The expectations were extremely high.” While the campus was still being built, 30 students spent the first year living in construction trailers and acting as partners in designing pedagogy.“ The student ‘partners,’ together with the founding faculty and leadership team, developed a new paradigm for engineering education based on human-centered design and intrinsic motivation,” Miller said. 



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Olin students develop a sense of identity and agency early on, many acquiring patents and starting enterprises before they even graduate.
</blockquote>



The concept of students as co-creators continues today. Olin is perhaps best known for its student-centered, project-based learning whereby students frequently work in teams, building real solutions to real-world problems. The faculty, who team-teach across disciplines,&nbsp;still&nbsp;apply human-centered engineering to their teaching — an approach that combines technical expertise with empathy, design thinking, communication, and an understanding of human needs.&nbsp;



As a result, Olin students develop a sense of identity and agency early on, many acquiring patents and starting enterprises before they even graduate. Not surprisingly, they tend toward emerging technologies. Olin alumni Evan Morikawa and Andy Barry founded Generalist, the leading A.I. research and product driven company building general intelligence for the physical world, a.k.a. “robots.”  



By the late 2010s, Olin was earning a global reputation as the producer of the new kind of engineer — one that creates solutions, not just products. In 2018, M.I.T., in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rhgraham.org/resources/Global-state-of-the-art-in-engineering-education---March-2018.pdf">its global state of the art in engineering education report</a>,&nbsp;named Olin first among 10 universities cited as current&nbsp;global&nbsp;leaders in engineering. M.I.T., which came in second, used the Olin model when revising its own engineering curriculum.&nbsp;



Learning by doing&nbsp;



As satisfying as it may have been to be an example to the standard bearer down the street, having a superlative pedagogy was only the first metric of success in Olin’s founding mission.&nbsp;



“If Olin only graduates good engineers than we have failed because we have not changed engineering education,” said Chris Lee, the interim dean of research and strategic partnerships at Olin.&nbsp;



Dean Lee leads Olin’s efforts to share with the world what the college itself has built. This transfer of knowledge has taken many forms over the years. Since the college’s inception, visitors have come to campus to sit in on classes and converse with faculty and students, all hoping to see what the engineering education incubator was all about. Miller said that in his last 10 years at Olin, he hosted leaders of 800 universities from 65 countries who journeyed to Olin to see for themselves how the learning model works.



In 2009, Olin started the Collaboratory, which included more formal workshops for visitors who not only would observe Olin’s methods but could learn how to apply them to their own institutions. This eventually led to Olin’s residential summer program. Now called the Summer Studio, the on-campus program aims to help institutions accelerate their institutional initiatives related to teaching and learning. The Summer Studio is an intensive project-based professional development experience for the teams of educators that come to drive these projects forward. Teams of up to six participants pay $35,000 to attend. 



Participation in the Summer Studio has shifted over time from pre-Covid levels of 10 to 12 teams and over 80 participants to this year’s smaller group of four teams, all from outside the United States. In July, the campus hosted teams from Saudi Arabia, India, Bolivia, and Korea. Like Roopavath, most of the team members arrive with a specific problem they want to solve. But if they come looking for Olin’s secret sauce, Dean Lee tells them there isn’t one, or at least there isn’t one that could be universally applied.&nbsp;



“We don’t give them the answers; we give them a process,” he said. “Every institution is different. You tell us what you want to do and what your culture is like, and we’ll adapt to it.”&nbsp;



President Lee underscores the point.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We would never be so presumptuous as to think that what we do ought to be copied exactly someplace else,” she said. “There are disciplinary and curricular considerations. Each institution has their own traditions, their own accreditation concerns; and there are, of course, size differences.”



The teams are each assigned two coaches, Olin faculty members, who meets with them before, during, and after the one-week engagement. During the week, the teams utilize design principles to work through an interactive loop of goal setting, constructive feedback, reflection, and re-engineering — just as they would in an Olin classroom. “We tell them at the very beginning: ‘You are going to experience what we do here. You are going to be the students,’” Dean Lee said.



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“We tell them at the very beginning: ‘You are going to experience what we do here. You are going to be the students.’”
</blockquote>



A primary educational framework they learn is called GAPA — goals, assessments, products and activities — which Olin uses with its students. At the Summer Studio, the process is introduced as a tool that can be applied to anything from a desire to increase attendance to redesigning first-year curriculum to starting an institution from scratch. “We tell them, ‘If this is your goal, what activities will you do? What products will you develop to show those activities are successful? How do you assess what you’ve done?’” Dean Lee said.



GAPA is only one of many takeaways of the Summer Studio. Educators from around the world share common goals, despite their different cultures and perspectives. Those that attend the Summer Studio are both receptive to new ideas and generous with their own body of knowledge. This makes for high-quality collegial relationships, even life-long friendships.&nbsp;



For Olin College, the learning is bidirectional. “A critical piece of Olin’s DNA is that we are constantly learning,” President Lee said. “We are learning from the institutions who come as participants — observing how they might interpret what we say and listening with intention to their feedback. For me, that’s an important outcome of the Summer Studio.”&nbsp;



With an opportunity to make her own mark on Olin, President Lee believes the Olin model, now well established, can be applied to a range of non-engineering institutions, from liberal arts colleges to state schools and historically Black colleges and universities — “all in service of extending our impact and transforming higher education.”&nbsp;



You can reach LearningWell Editor Marjorie Malpiede at <a href="mailto:mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org">mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org</a> with comments, ideas, or tips.

Learning Exchange

When Ezra Hall arrived at Furman University as a freshman, he signed up for the school's Adopt a Grandparent program expecting a light volunteer activity. In the introductory session, students met residents of The Woodlands at Furman, a retirement community bordering campus, in a kind of speed-dating event. There, they chose whom they wanted to spend time with over the coming year.



Hall connected with retiree Jeanne Christie. At first, they met for meals or campus events. Before long they were attending church together, celebrating birthdays and graduations, and talking about everything from family to books and career plans. Christie eventually encouraged Hall to call her Mimi, the name her own grandchildren use. It stuck, and so did the relationship, which influenced more than his college experience. After interning at The Woodlands while he was a student, Hall decided to work at the retirement community full time after graduation. Now, as the director of philanthropy and engagement, he helps create opportunities for others to have similar intergenerational relationships.



Hall's was a fortuitous match. But the circumstances that brought him and Christie together are becoming increasingly intentional. Across the country, a growing number of colleges and universities are partnering with retirement communities — or building their own — as an extension of their educational mission. Since the mid-1980s, <a href="http://UniversityRetirementCommunities.com">more than 80 of these types of residences</a> have opened across the U.S., including The Woodlands at Furman University, Mirabella at Arizona State University, University Commons at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Demand has increased along with the aging of boomers, and waiting lists for openings is common. The Woodlands, for example, has a wait list of 500 people for its 280 residences.



The opportunity starts with the chance to continue learning. Residents can audit university courses, attend lectures and performances, use campus libraries and athletic facilities, and remain connected to an intellectually vibrant community. Some are retired faculty members or administrators, and others are alumni or even relatives of matriculated students. But most are people with no previous affiliation to the institution but want to live in an environment where ideas continue to enliven their world.&nbsp;



And while the intellectual stimulation is a draw, these communities are increasingly discovering that some of the richest forms of lifelong learning happen outside the classroom — and that it goes in both generational directions. Students and residents mentor and tutor one another and form friendships that span generations. In the process, lifelong learning comes to mean something broader than continuing education. It becomes an ongoing exchange of experience, curiosity, and perspective that continues long after formal schooling ends and underscores the value of age-accumulated experience.



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And while the intellectual stimulation is a draw, these communities are increasingly discovering that some of the richest forms of lifelong learning happen outside the classroom — and that it goes in both generational directions.
</blockquote>



The experience within these communities also reflects wider evidence on the benefits of intergenerational connections. For&nbsp;<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33017736/">older people</a>, being in relationship with a younger person leads to greater wellbeing and quality of life. Likewise, a review of intergenerational programs found that&nbsp;<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29163269/">younger participants</a>&nbsp;experience greater empathy, self-esteem, and social and communication skills through their relationships with older adults.&nbsp;Given these benefits increase with stronger connections, the longer-term living/learning arrangements of campus-based retirement living pose to be particularly effective.&nbsp;&nbsp;



There are a number of compelling practical advantages to these programs as well. A.S.U. graduate student and musician Caleb Bailey is one of a handful of young people living at Mirabella. Initially, the arrangement was actually motivated by a financial issue. Growing up in rural Maryland, Bailey never imagined graduate study in classical guitar was within his financial reach. His mother managed a Lady Foot Locker store; his father’s income came from buying and reselling items on eBay. As a first-generation Hispanic college student with A.D.H.D., Bailey felt talent alone wouldn't cut it to cover tuition or rent.



"I was trying to figure out how graduate school was even going to be financially possible," Bailey recalled. At A.S.U., Mirabella houses a few graduate students in the arts free of charge each year in exchange for performances and engagement with residents. Bailey had participated in a similar artist-in-residence program while earning his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University, and the arrangement made graduate school financially feasible.



There, and at A.S.U., he has found much more than affordable housing. Residents attend his recitals and ask about his research. They remember upcoming performances and stop him in the hall to ask how auditions went. Others simply became enthusiastic supporters of a young artist trying to build a career. Casual conversations after concerts often stretched longer than the performances themselves. "It's like having 300-plus grandparents," Bailey laughed.



The relationships changed his musicianship as well. Residents weren't interested only in technical perfection. They wanted music that moved them, comforted them, surprised them, or reminded them of someone they loved. Bailey began thinking less about performing for judges and professors and more about performing for people. Some residents decided to rediscover instruments they had abandoned decades earlier. One resident, a retired engineer, had spent years quietly writing songs for his wife. Bailey worked with him to arrange and perform them.&nbsp;



"I realized music is about serving the listener. That shifted my whole perspective," said Bailey, who is attuned to giving residents a choice in what they’d like to hear. This is especially true of those in a higher level of care. People with limited mobility or serious health issues may have less agency in their daily routines. “It’s always nice to be asked what you’d like to hear.”&nbsp;



The experience also reshaped his professional ambitions. Today, Bailey is developing a nonprofit organization designed to expand artist-in-residence programs like Mirabella's to retirement communities around the country, making graduate education more financially accessible while enriching the lives of older adults through sustained artistic engagement. His story illustrates something advocates of university retirement communities have been observing for decades: Meaningful intergenerational learning rarely emerges from occasional programming alone.



"It doesn't happen by accident," said Andrew Carle, a nationally recognized expert on university retirement communities who has spent more than 20 years studying their development. Simply building senior housing next to a campus isn't enough. The strongest communities create intentional opportunities for residents and students to cross paths through academics, the arts, athletics, volunteerism, and everyday campus life. Over time, those encounters accumulate into relationships that no one could have predicted.



Carle describes the model as having five essential pillars, including formal lifelong-learning opportunities, access to campus life, intergenerational engagement, wellness, and a close institutional partnership with the university. Remove any one of those elements, he said, and the experience begins to look less like an extension of the university's educational mission and more like housing with a convenient address.&nbsp;



That philosophy has become central to how Mirabella approaches lifelong learning. When the community opened in 2020, administrators expected residents would primarily attend lectures and audit classes. But over time, something more dynamic emerged.&nbsp;



“I would say the vast majority came in saying, ‘I want to take A.S.U. classes.’ And as they've lived here for some years, just about 40 to 50 percent of the residents actually audit classes,” said Lindsey Beagley, Mirabella's senior director of lifelong university engagement. That’s because there are so many different avenues to intellectual and psychological enrichment. International students are invited to Mirabella to interact with others interested in speaking their language or to find companionship for a Thanksgiving meal when much of the campus empties out. Retired entrepreneurs step in as judges in departmental competitions; mentors in clubs give students a better sense of their profession.&nbsp;



“There's 400 residents who have full access to campus, so there's 400 completely different experiences, and that's what's exciting about this model,” Beagley said. “It's really their own question to answer: How do you want to spend your time? What's important to you? What do you want to learn?”



For Kathie Zurfluh, a 74-year-old former elementary school teacher, the classroom was what first attracted her to university retirement living. She and her husband had already built what they assumed would be their forever home further away in Arizona. But as they began thinking about the next stage of life, they were drawn to the idea of remaining intellectually engaged.



"The opportunity to take classes was just right up our alley," she recalled. They put their name on the list at Mirabella and sold their forever home. Today, she continues to audit university courses. But some of her most meaningful learning happens outdoors, in regular conversations with students that offer insight into the lives of young people today. Two mornings each week, Zurfluh has a volunteer shift on a Friendship Bench beneath the shade of a tree with her certified therapy dog beside her. Students know that anyone sitting on the bench is open to conversation (the banner says, “I’m all ears”). Sometimes they stop because they're homesick. Sometimes they're overwhelmed by exams or relationships. Sometimes they simply miss having an older adult to talk with. Some conversations last just a moment while students pet Griffy, her Golden Retriever, while others continue for months, with students seeking her out regularly in her expected Tuesday-Thursday place.&nbsp;



“If they call Griffy’s name when they’re coming out of class, he gets so excited I have to hold onto him,” Zurfluh said. She and Griffy have celebrated acceptances for internships and graduate school and watched nervous freshmen struggling with loneliness grow into confident seniors. In return, the students have introduced her to new music, new ways of thinking, and shared their feelings about school shootings and other realities of growing up in a very different generation.



The exchange is precisely what Carle believes distinguishes successful university retirement communities from traditional senior housing that just happens to be located near a campus. The goal isn't simply to give older adults access to university resources or proximity to students. It's to create enough regular opportunities for authentic encounters that relationships can develop organically.



Rick Brackett, the president and C.E.O. of The Woodlands at Furman, has watched those relationships ripple outward in unexpected ways. International students who may be thousands of miles from their own families often find surrogate grandparents in the community. One Japanese student would come share meals at The Woodlands with a former director of Asian Studies. After the student graduated, the former director and his wife traveled to Japan to visit and meet her family.



There are paid conduits to relationships, too, with student interns receiving a stipend to work in the dining hall or teach classes at The Woodlands. “Some of the most successful are the athletes that intern in our wellness facility and teach exercise classes,” Brackett said. “The residents love the football players and soccer players that come over — they’re just superstars.” At games, the prime tailgating spots going into the stadium are lined with residents cheering for the players they know who march by.&nbsp;



The residents can be superstars in their own way, too, with decades of professional experience and connections. Students preparing for careers in medicine, business, education or public service benefit from regular access to people whose professional lives span decades. Residents contribute institutional memory, hard-earned perspective, and even networking opportunities. One retired physician recognized that pre-med students needed a place to talk candidly about burnout, uncertainty and the emotional realities of medicine. He helped launch the Future Physicians Forum, creating conversations that complement what students learn in the classroom.



At the same time, residents remain connected to emerging ideas, technologies, and cultural shifts through daily interactions with younger people studying their field. That reciprocity represents some of the quiet innovation at the heart of university retirement communities.



For decades, lifelong learning has often been understood as continuing to accumulate knowledge through classes, lectures, and books, and through campus-based programs like the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, with 125 chapters on campuses across the United States. But the stories emerging from communities like Mirabella and The Woodlands suggest a broader definition. Perhaps the most enduring lesson these communities offer is that lifelong learning isn't just the pursuit of new knowledge. It is remaining part of a community where curiosity, generosity, and perspective continue to shape us, regardless of age.



Ten years after meeting Jeanne Christie, Ezra Hall still meets her for lunch almost every week. He continues to be influenced by the vitality of her mind, and through his career path at The Woodlands, he plays a role in future students having personal relationships of their own with future seniors.&nbsp;



“Retirees still have a lot to offer. Retirement has changed in recent years. No one wants a rocking chair on the porch anymore,” Brackett said. “Students get to see how active and engaged you can be into your 80s and 90s, if you stay healthy and still contributing to a community. It’s inspiring, and it’s a new roadmap for the students going forward.”

Learning for the Ages

This spring, a few months after starting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jane Laurence deleted all her social media accounts.



For years, she’d tried different strategies to limit her screen time, including taking intermittent breaks from various apps. But her habits continued to be consuming and compulsive. When she finally managed to wipe the slate clean, she was stunned by the amount of time freed up on the other side. “It felt,” she said, “like quitting a part-time job.”



It’s no secret that college students around the country are struggling to reclaim their time from technologies powered by the ability to capture and retain people’s attention. What’s less clear is how or whether institutions might be able to intervene in this slippery “attention economy,” which appears to be threatening engagement not only in the classroom but, well, everywhere.



At U.N.C., a new initiative called&nbsp;<a href="https://tarheels.live/attention/">Educating for the Virtues of Attention</a>&nbsp;(EVA) has set out to be that intervention. Unlike typical digital detoxes, EVA is less about eliminating the distraction than it is centering what’s truly worthy of our attention. The goal is to help students reflect on their habits of attention and build more intentional ones through opportunities for deep in-person engagement across campus.&nbsp;



Funded by&nbsp;<a href="https://college.unc.edu/2025/07/educating-virtues-attention/">a nearly $800,000 grant</a>&nbsp;from the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University, which supports character education efforts at colleges and universities nationwide, EVA is rooted in the idea that the ability to pay attention is a critical character virtue and one in need of cultivating now more than ever.&nbsp;



An inconvenient virtue



Today, conversations about attention tend to center ideas about technology and productivity. But long before the invention of the smartphones or concerns about short-form media content, philosophers were thinking about human attention as a character virtue.



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Long before the invention of the smartphones or concerns about short-form media content, philosophers were thinking about human attention as a character virtue.
</blockquote>



Michael Vazquez is a teaching assistant professor in U.N.C.’s philosophy department and has been one of the leaders of EVA since its launch a year ago. He explained how the understandings of attention promoted by two particular 20th century philosophers, Simone Weil and Iris Murdoch, underpin EVA’s guiding principles.



“I think one way to put it is they [Weil and Murdoch] both think there’s a reality and a world that’s much bigger than us, and attending is a matter of seeing that reality as it really is — the reality of other people, the reality of the world, the natural world, and so on,” Vazquez said.&nbsp;



In other words, to attend is to be more active participants in the world outside ourselves. And the more we attend, the more likely we are to become people who understand and care about that existence beyond us.&nbsp;



Of course, the fickle thing about virtues is that they’re famously difficult to acquire, not to mention maintain. That pattern holds true when it comes to developing attentional habits, which requires leaving the safety of our controlled internal reality to confront a far less predictable and potentially less pleasant one beyond.&nbsp;



“They're comfortable illusions, they're self-reinforcing, and they tend to be convenient,” Vazquez said of our inward tendencies. “It is awfully inconvenient to build attentional habits that make you susceptible to the reality of other people because that challenges your assumptions, your desires, your projects.”



Still, there’s a silver lining. Attending may demand more work than not, but the payoff can be quite satisfying for those who manage it, especially young people less accustomed to trying.



“It turns out if you just put the phones away and you have analog experiences with other people, whether you're looking at art together or reading a book, you tend to feel pretty good about it,” Vazquez said.&nbsp;



Perhaps a single in-person experience isn’t enough to make us virtuous right away, Vazquez added, but there are reassuring signs that it’s still the way to deeper feelings of purpose and meaning. That attending can improve not only the lives of others but our own is what he called “the icing on the cake.”&nbsp;



Campus arteries



Vazquez described EVA programming as having three pillars: faculty and staff programming, student curricular programming, and student extracurricular programming.&nbsp;



For faculty and staff, the main activity is communities of practice. These are opportunities for educators who apply to come together and discuss, as Vazquez put it, “the place of attention in the classroom.”



While the parameters of these conversations are left purposely broad, Vazquez said faculty veer towards using the forum to talk about how they’re seeing students struggle attentionally, as well as to workshop possible interventions.



“Does it seem like students are more distracted?” Vazquez said professors ask each other. “Does it seem like these technologies are not enabling or facilitating but actually inhibiting what happens in the classroom? Longform reading, is it on the decline?”&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img src="https://live-learningwell-wp.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_8380-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3867" style="width:667px;height:auto"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">EVA communities of practice unite faculty to discuss attentional issues in the classroom. Photo courtesy of Michael Vazquez</figcaption></figure>



One particular community of practice is designated for the instructors of a class called College Thriving. All first-years at U.N.C. are required to take this one-credit, intro-to-college course, which offers resources and strategies for academic success and, especially, personal wellbeing.



College Thriving is also the junction where EVA’s work with faculty and staff bleeds into efforts to impact student curricula. A major goal of the instructors’ community of practice is to think about ways to incorporate lessons and exercises around attentional habits into the course content.&nbsp;



Devon Almond, a U.N.C. advisor and College Thriving instructor, helps lead the community of practice for his colleagues. He said there’s no single, standardized way the instructors are meant to bring attention-minded content into their class, nor is any staff member who teaches the course forced to be part of the discussion group.



But attention practices are important to Almond, who came to U.N.C. after working in an alternative college setting that focused on contemplative practices like meditation. That background has made him attuned to the prevailing culture at Chapel Hill that prizes constant movement and pressure to be productive.&nbsp;



“There's all of this noise and activity and socialization and competitive scarcity that comes at the expense of recognizing the stillness, the silence, the solitude, and the slowness that gives rise to a steadfastness,” Almond said.



The buzz of a college campus can be exciting, Almond added, but he likes to use College Thriving as an opportunity to encourage students to slow down. He often hosts sessions outside the typical classroom, like at the campus museum or planetarium, where students can observe new spaces with time and intentionality that are rare for their packed daily schedules. “The campus is our canvas,” he said.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
Attending may demand more work than not, but the payoff can be quite satisfying for those who manage it, especially young people less accustomed to trying.
</blockquote>



Other class activities include a deep listening exercise for students to do in pairs, where one talks for four minutes straight and the other cannot interrupt or contribute in any way — just listen. And at the start of every class, students place a tented card in front of them that lists not only their name but their hometown and a few of the class themes and larger world causes they care about most.&nbsp;



“It's attending — it's caring — to who and what is in front of you as well as what's within you and the environments and the settings that create that,” Almond said.



The most focal component of EVA, though, is the extracurricular one. This involves both creating and incentivizing opportunities across campus for students to engage deeply with each other and new spaces and activities.&nbsp;



At this point, EVA has forged partnerships with most of the “major arteries” on campus, Vazquez said. Last year, the events ranged from a professional Shakespeare production at the performing arts center to a guided exhibition tour at the art museum to a reflective exercise in the botanical garden. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img src="https://live-learningwell-wp.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_8467-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-3869" style="width:665px;height:auto"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">EVA activities place students in new environments to pause and reflect. Photo courtesy of Michael Vazquez</figcaption></figure>



The point isn’t just to get students to participate in activities. Each event also features what Vazquez calls additional “scaffolding” to ensure the students understand exactly how they’re practicing attentional habits and why they’re important.



“Because you can go to the orchestra and you can have an intentional experience and you may even grow in your attentional capacities in some way or other, but you might not be able to name it yet,” Vazquez said. “You might not be able to think of attention as a skill that you can develop until you're given a vocabulary.”



As for getting students to show up, EVA has cultivated a few strategies. For one, EVA events are accredited with a program called Campus Life Experiences. These include a variety of events, from resume writing workshops at the career center to open mic nights with the music department, of which all new U.N.C. students need to complete a certain number each semester.&nbsp;



In terms of more intrinsic incentives, Vazquez said the most important is ensuring the main EVA activity is fundamentally interesting to students. That appeal, he added, requires that events are always free of cost and, of course, involve some kind of food.&nbsp;



Carolina Unplugged



Now coming up on its second year, EVA will continue to run the main programming it started in the first, as well as build out some additional projects.



One of these additions will be Carolina Unplugged, another community of practice-style forum that will bring together groups of students to try out or reflect on different attentional efforts that counter time on their phones.&nbsp;



Right now, Vazquez plans for one cohort of students to agree to use Bricks, which are physical devices that attach to smartphones to block distracting apps, throughout the semester and meet weekly to discuss the impact.



Another group he has in mind would similarly gather weekly but instead engage in in-person activities, like cooking or reading, that simply allow them to be present in each other’s company.



Jane Laurence, the soon-to-be-sophomore who recently deleted all her social media apps, is looking forward to being involved in Carolina Unplugged and EVA broadly as a research associate. She will assist Vazquez and the larger EVA data collection team working to both determine the program’s impact on students who participate and analyze general trends in how people approach and build attentional habits.



“I don't think that these platforms are going away, so how can we develop better relationships around them? What types of people can or can't?” Laurence said of her research interests. “What's the impact of a community that's trying to have different types of conversations about social media usage?”&nbsp;



Another student, Diya Kayaleh, is a rising junior who will help coordinate the Carolina Unplugged groups. She, too, is especially excited to see how even smaller cohort-based work can influence the larger student body.



“Okay, there's this group of people on campus doing something with attention,” she imagines even uninvolved students will begin to think. “What kind of reflection does that call within me?”



Often, Kayaleh added, she thinks there’s a tendency to underestimate the value young people place on in-person experiences and their desire to be active and offline.



“We want to collect those experiences, and there's no reason that we shouldn't,” she said. “It's not that we're so fundamentally broken or far gone that we can't. We absolutely can.”



You can reach LearningWell Reporter Mollie Ames at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mames@learningwellmag.org">mames@learningwellmag.org</a>&nbsp;with comments, ideas, or tips.

Focus and Flourish

Dr. Bvunzawabaya is the director of Integrated Care Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania's Student Health and Counseling.



Students' summer experiences can vary widely. For many, a break from school means travel or a resume-building internship. For others, it may mean losing access to critical campus resources such as housing, community, and social connection. Summer represents an essential opportunity for some students to earn as much income as possible through work.



While institutions often view college as a temporary place where students learn, build relationships, and prepare for future careers, some students navigate campus differently. For them, coming to college is an opportunity to create a new home. Being away at school can provide a haven where they feel safe exploring different aspects of their identity. Ideally, students regard their campus as a secure and supportive environment where they can engage in activities that support their development and help them achieve academic success.&nbsp;



Mental health is central to this process. When students prioritize their mental health and wellbeing, it enables them to build meaningful relationships, immerse themselves in their academic work, and recognize areas for growth. Some students arrive on campus having successfully managed existing mental health challenges. For others, mental health concerns may emerge or intensify during their time at school. When these concerns go unaddressed, they can affect every aspect of a student's wellbeing. As a result, the summer months can be an important time to regain stability. Being away from academic pressures may reduce symptoms of anxiety or depression, lessen concerns related to eating and body image, ease feelings of loneliness, reduce distressing trauma-related experiences, or make mood fluctuations more manageable.&nbsp;



However, these challenges may be compounded by expectations from loved ones to contribute financially to the household, care for elderly or ill family members, or provide emotional support during difficult family circumstances. In short, many students are grappling with complex pressures that extend well beyond the classroom for which viable solutions may not be readily available. The hope is that rest and support over the summer will help alleviate students’ stress.&nbsp;



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Do they see campus solely as a place to learn before returning home, or has it become their primary community and source of support?
</blockquote>



With students soon returning to campus, now is a good time to reflect on the importance summer breaks play in students’ lives and on their mental health. Do they see campus solely as a place to learn before returning home, or has it become their primary community and source of support? Keep in mind that even when students rely on their college or university, they may not necessarily trust it, which can make seeking help more challenging. Recognizing this distinction can help campuses better anticipate and respond to student needs. A student's ability to use the summer as a period of recovery is influenced by several factors, including the proximity and availability of family and social support, financial resources, their willingness to seek help, and access to appropriate treatment.&nbsp;



Higher education institutions need to figure out how to support their students during the summer when their routines change. While the academic calendar changes, the need for connection, support, and trusted resources continues throughout the summer.&nbsp;



<ol start="1" class="wp-block-list">
<li>Communicate institutional expectations, values, and opportunities clearly. By recognizing the diverse experiences students may encounter during their time on campus, colleges and universities can provide meaningful guidance, foster supportive environments, and help students understand what they can expect from their institution. Higher education institutions play a critical role in helping students develop the confidence to handle academic and social challenges. This support should extend through the summer months, allowingstudents to remain connected to campus. Institutions can also direct students to year-round digital resources that reinforce coping strategies, self-reflection, and help-seeking behaviors throughout the summer. (<a href="https://stevefund.org/mydigitalsanctuary/">My </a><a href="https://stevefund.org/mydigitalsanctuary/">Digital Sanctuary</a>)</li>
</ol>



<ol start="2" class="wp-block-list">
<li>Ask students early in the spring semester about their summer plans. Academic advisors, coaches, housing staff, and other student-facing professionals should be encouraged and trained to have these conversations, helping students identify needs and connect with available support. These discussions also provide a chance to establish realistic expectations regarding the services and resources a campus can offer. Consistent messaging that encourages early help-seeking and promotes awareness of signs of distress can further support student wellbeing. </li>
</ol>



<ol start="3" class="wp-block-list">
<li>Provide students with a comprehensive list of campus and community resources. These resources may include career services, on- and off-campus employment opportunities, local food pantries, housing and shelter resources, and mental health services. Information about low-cost or sliding-scale counseling options may also benefit students and perhaps their family members. In addition, share resources designed specifically for families, such as<a href="https://stevefund.org/family-corner/?utm_source=chatgpt.com"> </a><a href="https://stevefund.org/family-corner/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">The Steve Fund's Family Corner</a>, which offers practical guidance, conversation starters, and tools to help families support students' mental health and wellbeing throughout their college journey. </li>
</ol>



Regardless of differences in summer experiences among students, they can all be successful. To achieve this goal, colleges and universities need to be creative in problem-solving and demonstrate year-round institutional commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of all students.



Dr. Batsirai Bvunzawabaya is a counseling psychologist with a small private practice in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She has been working with The Steve Fund as a mental health consultant for over five years. She is also the director of Integrated Care Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania's Student Health and Counseling. Dr. Bvunzawabaya is originally from Zimbabwe, and she is a proud graduate of Alabama A&amp;M University, where she was a member of the women’s tennis team. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Auburn University. She is the current president of Section I (Psychology of Black Women) of the Society for the Psychology of Women (APA Division 35) and past president of the Association for University College Counseling Center Outreach.

Beyond the Academic Calendar: How to Support Student Mental Health Year-Round 

Exploring the Purpose of Higher Education

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At a recent talk at Villanova University, the author and commentator David Brooks told students, “Know what you want. Want it well and want the things that are truly worth wanting.” The advice was not original to Brooks but rather to St. Augustine, who believed that knowing what you’re passionate about is critical in a world where human beings are driven more by desire than by reasoning.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Interpreting the wisdom of St. Augustine is, in many ways, the&nbsp;raison d'être&nbsp;of Villanova. The Catholic university in Pennsylvania is considered the world’s premier institution for Augustinian scholarship. Pope Leo XIV is among its graduates. But while Villanova’s Augustinian roots run deep, one might ask: What does the work of the late fourth century Christian theologian really mean to a modern university with 21st century students?&nbsp;



This is the underlying question behind a new character education initiative at Villanova called Pilgrim Virtues. The name refers to a central pillar in Augustine’s work — that human life is a pilgrimage. The program seeks to highlight what is distinctly Augustinian about character education at Villanova and share that with the campus community as well as others working in this field.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
“I think the character movement has really tapped into something real, something essential in higher education, and we wanted to become a part of that from our own distinct tradition."
</blockquote>



The initiative began two years ago with a Capacity-Building Grant from the Educating Character Initiative (E.C.I.) at Wake Forest University’s Center for Leadership and Character. In 2025, Villanova received an Institutional Impact Grant of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.villanova.edu/university/media/press-releases/2025/educating-augustinian-character.html">$822,258</a>&nbsp;from Wake Forest to build out an institution-wide series of character education programs, aligned with Augustinian teaching, both curricular and co-curricular. The idea was to coordinate, catalyze and accelerate the many character education activities that were taking place within three areas at the university: the Department of the Humanities, the Honors Program, and the Augustinian Institute.&nbsp;



“I think the character movement has really tapped into something real, something essential in higher education, and we wanted to become a part of that from our own distinct tradition,” said Anna Moreland, who heads the Honors Program.&nbsp;



Moreland and her colleague Michael Tomko, the chair of the&nbsp;Humanities Department, are the driving force and guiding spirit behind Pilgrim Virtues. Moreland’s sought-after “Shaping Initiative” course series (“Shaping a College Life,” “Shaping a Work Life,” and “Shaping an Adult Life”) helps students transition to college and walk through the experience intentionally, thinking deeply about their professional callings and their life beyond campus.&nbsp;



Courses in the Department of Humanities study the questions that matter most for living a good and deeply human life.&nbsp;&nbsp;Indeed, much of the work Moreland and Tomko were doing in their classrooms already bore the imprint of both Augustine’s teaching and the character education movement. They were curious about how to connect the two and scale the work so that it touched everyone on campus. But the challenge included engaging an audience that may only be tangentially aware of, or influenced by, the saint himself. First year students are required to read Augustine’s seminal work, “Confessions,” but for many, that will be their only exposure. And while Villanova is a Catholic university, a good percentage of the students are not, or are not practicing.&nbsp;



To explore all of these considerations more deeply, Moreland did something unusual in higher education: She looked outside her university for partners. There, she “stumbled” upon the E.C.I. “We work in our silos so effectively that sometimes we reinvent the wheel,” she said. “But through the E.C.I., I realized there are all these good people around the country who are doing similar work. What we needed to do was get to know one another.”&nbsp;



Moreland and Tomko drew on the expertise of the E.C.I. to examine other character education customs, including the more recognized Aristotelian tradition. In doing so, they quickly realized they had something to offer as well as to gain. “Through our work with the E.C.I., we were able to bring the Augustinian framework — those insights and experiences — to the broader field of character education,” Tomko said. 



The leaders believed that the examination of what Villanova had to offer required introspection and input from a wide cross-section of the university. Fortunately, the Capacity-Building Grant Villanova received covered a faculty and staff workshop pilot that would be the first foray into bringing diverse voices together on campus to revitalize Augustine’s teachings in a meaningful and visible way. The method they used was emblematic of the tradition they were reawakening.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We were drawing on the knowledge and inspiration of this group we had assembled,” Tomko said. “We not only had ideas but also the practical experience of how to live well in community.” Moreland said coming together to understand what it meant to teach character at an institution like Villanova was the most profound experience she had had at the university. “We brought our whole selves to those conversations,” she said.&nbsp;



An important voice in the discussions was Paul Camacho, the associate director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova and an associate professor of philosophy in the Humanities Department. The institute exists to&nbsp;promote the study of Augustine and his legacy&nbsp;within the pedagogy at the university. As an Augustinian scholar, Camacho helped clarify the distinctions within traditions.&nbsp;



“A lot of what has emerged in character education is based on Greek philosophy, which sometimes presents a list of virtues that could be somehow obtained like credentials, as Benjamin Franklin famously attempted in his virtues checklist,” Camacho said. “Augustine reminds us that virtue is not something that you acquire but rather is a dramatic and dialogical narrative unfolding across the whole of your life.”&nbsp;



St. Augustine of Hippo was a Late Antique philosopher, theologian, and bishop known for his insights into the human condition and one’s relationship with God. He argued that human beings are fundamentally desiring&nbsp;rather than reasoning creatures and that we are shaped by what we love. Augustine’s pilgrimage through life, his self-examination and conversion as captured in the “Confessions,” is perhaps his defining characteristic.&nbsp;



“Augustine believed the good that we are striving for is always something that’s in process, always on the move, and always in relationship with other people,” Camacho said. “The task of being human is never really accomplished.”&nbsp;



It was this journey through life that resonated most with the Villanova community and its students navigating their own education and personal growth. In identifying the pilgrimage theme, the initiative’s leaders explored what virtues would be critical for students traveling this road. If, for Augustine, love is the beginning and the end, what do you need along the way?&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
“Augustine believed the good that we are striving for is always something that’s in process, always on the move, and always in relationship with other people."
</blockquote>



The five virtues they arrived on are: humility, forgiveness, patience, wonder, and conviviality. While the first three are more easily understood, wonder and conviviality, as seen through an Augustinian lens, merit definitions. Wonder, for Augustine, was an impassioned search for beauty “so ancient and so new,” as written in “Confessions.”&nbsp;Conviviality, from the Latin term&nbsp;con-vivere&nbsp;or ‘to live together’ binds its members in a common project, toward a shared goal.



The Journey Continues&nbsp;



As the early work of the initiative laid the philosophical groundwork for the pilgrim virtues, the Institutional Impact Grant is bringing theory to practice. The new grant covers a series of programs, courses, lectures, and fellowships that are all ultimately student-facing. This fall, a new course called “Augustine the Pilgrim,” to be led by Camacho, will follow the footsteps of Augustine’s life, culminating in an actual pilgrimage to Italy.&nbsp;



The faculty and staff workshop pilot is now an established program with a waiting list. The year-long workshop supports professors and practitioners in incorporating the virtue framework into classrooms and co-curricular activities. In bringing together diverse professionals from all areas of the university, the workshops have yielded positive results, both intended and unintended.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Sunny Gaye Hallowell, a professor in Villanova’s nursing school, often wondered what the world was like for her colleagues in the humanities. She felt her students, while proficient at the scientific material, had limited opportunities to connect the meaning of nursing practice to who they were becoming as adults. When she heard of the Pilgrim Virtues workshop, she was the first to sign up.



“In my discipline, we teach to competency-based learning objectives. We give students&nbsp;challenging&nbsp;questions and case studies, so they can develop&nbsp;necessary skills&nbsp;to become amazing nurses,” Hallowell said. “But what are we doing in the classroom to cultivate a human being?&nbsp;I wanted to blend art and science to help students explore the human experience of health and healthcare through the eyes of both patients and providers, and to help them form a professional identity.”&nbsp;



Hallowell&nbsp;said attending the workshop and learning the virtues gave her the language and structure to do that. Exposure to colleagues across multiple disciplines was an added benefit. “The chance to cultivate a classroom where we can walk through the virtues&nbsp;to&nbsp;think and engage independent of our own disciplines has been transformative,” she said. “It has given us a point of connection as faculty, and it has&nbsp;introduced me to&nbsp;colleagues and friends that reinforced&nbsp;the presence of an academic community I belong to.”



An important goal of the initiative is the direct engagement of students, both through the classroom and through programs like Augustinian Ambassadors, which was introduced through the Capacity Building Grant. Modeled after the faculty and staff workshops, the Augustinian Ambassadors program brings together interested students to deepen their understanding of Augustine’s teachings through texts and reflection.&nbsp;



Kate DiLella was one of the first Ambassadors and will continue in the program this upcoming year. The rising senior was originally drawn to the Ambassador role because of her Catholic faith and interest in deepening her understanding of Augustinian character, and she believes the program has the potential to benefit anyone on campus. “Many of the students in the program seem to have a similar idea of what we are striving for, but through studying St. Augustine, we are reminded that life is a pilgrimage and part of the beauty is that we can’t foresee all the bumps that will come along the way.”



Once they have become reintroduced to Augustinian virtues, Ambassadors are expected to encourage their peers to participate in numerous ways. The well-attended David Brooks lecture was one option. The hope in offering these character-building onramps is that students may be particularly receptive to them at this point in their lives.&nbsp;



Camacho has a theory on the subject based on what he sees as most prevalent in today’s students: a desire for security. “The culture, their parents, the job market are all telling them, ‘Everything is precarious out there.’ So the decisions they are making are based on fear,” he said. “But when you do that, you become smaller. You are no longer curious, and your relationships with other people become temporary.”&nbsp;



Camacho said the pilgrim virtues offer another way of relating to the unknown. “These virtues tell us we are all on this journey together. If we are willing to grant that we fall short and that other people fall short and have the humility to accept that, we can loosen up a bit. Character formation isn’t another checklist of perfection but instead this wonderful opportunity to expand our attention to become curious about the world and what we love.”&nbsp;



Asked if she believes that exploring the kinds of questions that lead to character development is unusual for students of her generation, Kate DiLella said, “I think questions about life and purpose and who we are and who we are called to be are likely on more students' minds than it may seem, and through Educating Augustinian Character, students are guided in how to think about these bigger questions in life.”



You can reach LearningWell Editor Marjorie Malpiede at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org">mmalpiede@learningwellmag.org</a>&nbsp;with&nbsp;comments, ideas, or tips.

What We Bring with Us 

This spring, Harvard announced its decision to begin limiting the number of A’s faculty can grant in any given class. Starting in 2027, only 20 percent of students in a course, plus four additional ones, will be eligible to receive the top mark.&nbsp;



The move is the result of long-standing concerns about the rise of grade inflation at America’s oldest college. Since the pandemic, Harvard students have been more likely to receive an A than any other grade. In the 2024 to 2025 year, more than 60 percent of grades were A’s, up from around 25 percent in the 2005 to 2006 year.&nbsp;



The upwards trend of A’s is undeniable, and not just in Cambridge. But where there’s less consensus is about what, if anything, to do about it. The debate is complicated because the crux isn’t really how many A’s is too many, but whether the modern grading system as a whole is functioning as it should. And answering that question first requires settling another: What is the purpose of grading?&nbsp;



Jack Schneider, the director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has a few ideas on this topic. His 2023 book, “Off the Mark,” which he co-authored with Ethan Hutt of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explores the various goals of academic assessment, as well as new ways of approaching it.



According to Schneider and Hutt, there are three central purposes of grading: motivation — to incentivize students to complete their work and do their best; communication — to provide feedback on student performance for students and others, like employers; and synchronization&nbsp; — to be able to compare students across programs and institutions.



Each of these functions of grading has importance, Schneider and Hutt suggest. The trouble is, there may not be any one system that can accomplish them all. “We don’t think that trying to assess student learning is the problem,” the pair writes. “We think the problem is that our present technologies are too clumsy for the work we want them to do.”



In other words, landing on a single approach to grading requires some weighing of priorities. Focusing on one function, Schneider said, may well end up undermining others.



This is the problem Schneider imagines Harvard encountering. The cap on A’s elevates a particular purpose — distinguishing between students — but also opens up new vulnerabilities. It could de-motivate students who no longer see the point in striving towards A’s that feel unattainable. It could give students information about their learning relative to their peers, but not necessarily beyond that.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
“Not even 50 percent of a class should achieve extraordinary distinction, if those words are to have meaning.”
</blockquote>



Harvard would contend there’s more to gain from distinctions than to lose. By raising the standard for excellence, refined distinctions send students stronger messages about what they're truly good at or, more often, when there’s room to grow.



“Not every student can achieve extraordinary distinction,” said Alisha Holland, a government professor at Harvard who served on the subcommittee that helped craft the new grading policy. “Probably not even 50 percent of a class should achieve extraordinary distinction, if those words are to have meaning.”



Others struggle to see the point in these distinctions at all. For Peter Felten, the executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University, the most important part of grading is communicating quality feedback to students. Comparing or ranking students, by contrast, doesn’t signify much.



In an ideal world, Felten said he could even let go of traditional grading altogether. “Personally, I think grades are not particularly effective means of feedback. They're too blunt. They're not formative enough. And they tend to be a single mark in time.”



In many ways, people’s stances on grading tend to come down to whether they think it’s possible to motivate learning intrinsically, or just extrinsically. Can students be inspired without the promise of outside recognition, like grades? What would it take for them to be driven more by a personal desire for knowledge and growth?&nbsp;



In the age of A.I., the prospect of intrinsic learning takes on additional weight. After all, students who don’t see the value of working for the sake of broadening their minds seem more apt to offload their burdens to a robot helper.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The truth is, of course, that students are extrinsically motivated, as well as quite clear-eyed about that fact. The most energizing reason to perform well in a class, many students agree, is to earn the type of grade that will look good on their transcript.&nbsp;



One rising Harvard junior offered her thoughts on the recent grading policy change on the condition of anonymity. Generally more than any other concern, she said, her peers are worried about the way the cap on A’s will affect their future.&nbsp;



“At the end of the day, that’s, I think, why people care so much about their grades,” she said. “It's not necessarily about how confident it makes them feel or things like that or how validated they feel because they got an A versus an A minus. I think it’s, ‘How is this going to set me up for success?’”



Arbaaz Karim, who graduated from Harvard this spring, affirmed that grades were always most important to him in so far as they informed his competitiveness for an uncompromising job market. Since May, he’s relocated to San Francisco to work at Mercor, the startup helping major AI labs train their models and currently looking at a $20 billion valuation.



“In a perfect world, of course we would want learning to be the main priority,” Karim said. “But unfortunately the way that the real world is going to work is that jobs and employers or even grad schools are going to be looking at your academic history and how well you did.”



Peter Felten is perhaps daunted but not defeated by what he recognizes to be students’ more extrinsically-minded goals. He said his role, however herculean, is to help cultivate the sense that the learning process is as meaningful as any results.&nbsp;



“I wouldn’t say, ‘This class is hard, and not very many of you are going to get an A,’” Felten said. “I’m going to say, ‘This class is hard. You’re going to learn things. You’re going to think. You’re going to develop skills and capacities that you didn’t have before.’”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
"The best courses I've ever taught, students earned A’s because they cared, not because they were going to get an A."
</blockquote>



Felten is willing to lower the emphasis on grades in favor of lifting up the importance of the course content itself. He still wants students to strive at the highest level, but he wants them to do it for the right reasons. He knows this shift isn’t impossible, nor futile, because he’s seen it happen and felt the impact in real time.



“The best courses I've ever taught, students earned A’s in that course because they were working so hard and they cared so much and they did such good work — because they cared, not because they were going to get an A,” Felten said.



The work of intrinsic motivation is notably more difficult for both faculty and students. Teachers need to think through the kind of materials and assignments that will immerse students deeply and challenge them thoroughly. Students won’t find shortcuts or workarounds for engagement.



Jack Schneider maintains it’s never going to be a single, standardized grading rule or system that places the ultimate emphasis on learning while motivating students at the same time. That’s why he’s reluctant to call grading a problem, as opposed to a dilemma.&nbsp;



“Problems have solutions,” he said. “But dilemmas can only be managed.”&nbsp;



You can reach LearningWell Reporter Mollie Ames at <a href="mailto:mames@learningwellmag.org">mames@learningwellmag.org</a> with comments, ideas, or tips.

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