Executive Summary:

Trinity Western University (TWU) proposes an investment of $100,000 for the implementation of the Student Success Plan (SSP), directly impacting the mental health and wellness of at least 600 students from early 2018 to Spring 2019. Once implemented, SSP will have residual impact on thousands of freshman TWU students for years to come. SSP has been designed in response to the student mental health crisis being experienced across North America. It is a collaborative and balanced approach to providing both remedial student care and proactive faculty training in wellness best practices. The eventual impact will be, but not limited to, increased counseling capacity to eliminate current wait times and measurable increases in student well-being and academic success.

An alarming trend in higher education is the steady rise of students struggling with mental health, including record levels of anxiety, depression, and suicide. Many respected voices are calling these skyrocketing rates on campuses a crisis of mental health. Over the past six years, the number of students seeking counseling has grown by an average of 30 percent, five times the average rate of enrollment growth. A recent Canadian survey of more than 25,000 students found 65% reported feeling overwhelming anxiety in the previous year, 46% felt so depressed it was hard to function, 13% had seriously considered suicide, while 9% had attempted suicide. TWU has also been affected by this phenomenon, reporting an increase of 239 counseling visits year-on-year, a 2 to 6 week waiting list for counseling, and 20 students on suicide watch.

Representing a partnership of 8 TWU offices, SSP will accomplish:

1) Expansion of TWU’s Wellness Centre

– Hire at least 2 additional part-time counselors, making counseling available to 10 more students per day. Eliminate current wait times

– Recruit an additional nurse to focus on wellness promotion as opposed to crisis reaction

– Implement social media messaging, host Wellness Workshops, conduct a campus-wide Wellness Needs Assessment, and launch a Wellness Fair

– Partner with Student Life to develop student leadership who promote health and well-being outside of the Wellness Centre

– Expand physical space of Wellness Centre through the addition of at least 2 sound-proofed offices and 1 group therapy room

2) Implementation of Health and Wellness Curriculum

– Conduct a 2-day training to familiarize 10 TWU faculty with FNDN 102 Human Flourishing curriculum, team-teaching strategies, and concepts of student wellness

– 10 faculty demonstrate increased awareness of how to support student wellness in their existing courses

– 10 sections of FNDN 102 are team-taught, facilitating faculty cross-disciplinary collaboration

– 400 students are enrolled in FNDN 102, supporting increased success, persistence, and graduation

– 80% of students who successfully complete FNDN 102 demonstrate comprehensive and evident improvements in personal well-being

Measurable Outcomes:

1) Hire 1 part-time intake counselor, 1 Wellness Nurse, create a de-stress quiet space, add 2 counseling offices and 1 group therapy room. Eliminate counseling wait time for at-risk students through improved screening and support. Launch a campus-wide Wellness Needs Assessment, a Wellness Fair, monthly social media messaging, quarterly workshops, and Student Leadership development.

2) Train at least 10 TWU faculty in our newly developed “Foundations 102 Human Flourishing” (FNDN 102) curriculum, team-teaching strategies, and concepts of student wellness; 400 students will have enrolled in FNDN 102 with 80% of those who successfully complete the course able to: a) articulate a philosophical and theological understanding of self and well-being, b) apply the psychological/cognitive skills required to increase a sense of well-being, and c) demonstrate a comprehensive, self-chosen mode of meaning, purpose, and morality in relation to the TWU Christian community.