The Reinvention Collaborative hosted a Town Hall featuring Dr. Nance Roy, Chief Clinical Officer of the Jed Foundation, and Dr. José Villalba, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at Wake Forest University. Dr. Roy and Dr. Villalba will discuss how administrators can guide institutions to better support staff and faculty mental health through systemic and tangible change, and the importance of focusing on staff wellness when student and faculty issues garner more attention. Following the town hall discussion and audience Q&A, representatives from RC member campuses present innovative campus programs to support staff and faculty wellness, including the University of Washington-Seattle's Resilience Lab, University of Florida’s Wellness initiatives, and SHIFT at The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Roy serves as the Chief Clinical Officer of the Jed Foundation and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry. She has over 20 years of experience as a psychologist working in college mental health. She served as the Assistant Dean of Health and Wellness at Sarah Lawrence College and most recently was the Associate Dean of Health and Wellness at Rhode Island School of Design. She is a senior advisor for the National College Depression Partnership and publications have focused on effective strategies for treatment and management of at-risk students on college campuses. She has been actively involved in college strategic planning initiatives focusing on a holistic approach to education, crisis management and a public health model for delivery of care on college campuses. Through her work with The Jed Foundation, Dr Roy has worked on mental health initiatives with the former Surgeon General, the Higher Education Mental Health Alliance, the Department of Defense, The Veteran’s Administration, the Clinton Health Matters Initiative and college and university systems across the country. She earned a BS degree from the University of Rhode Island, an MS from the University of North Carolina and an Ed.D. from Harvard University.
Dr. José A. Villalba is the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer. Prior to his current position, he served as Senior Associate Dean for Faculty, Evaluation, and Inclusivity in the Office of the Dean of the College. He also is a professor of Counseling. He has been affiliated with the Department of Counseling since arriving at Wake Forest in 2011, and served as its first coordinator of the Minor in Health and Human Services. Prior to arriving at Wake Forest, he was an associate professor of counseling at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was also an assistant professor of counseling at Indiana State University. He teaches courses in multicultural counseling, career counseling, health and human services, and supervises counseling interns. He has authored or co-authored over 50 manuscripts, book chapters, and editorials about health disparities in Latina/o youth, Latina/o access to and completion of higher education options, and issues related to college access for students from underrepresented groups. Since becoming an administrator, he has facilitated diversity and inclusion efforts for faculty, staff, and students, in an effort to address issues of access and equity across campus.
BE REAL (RESILIENT ATTITUDES AND LIVING) at the University of Washington is a six-week program that supports participants' well-being and mental health. Grounded in dialectical behavior therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction, it equips participants with cognitive behavioral skills to manage emotions and cope with challenging situations, mindfulness skills to strengthen stress management and self-awareness, and practices that promote compassion for themselves and others. At the University of Washington, more than 150 staff and instructors from all three UW campuses have participated in Be REAL — and 65 have completed the facilitator training program, which prepares them to facilitate Be REAL groups for students. Staff and instructors who have participated in Be REAL report that in addition to building their capacity to support students, the program has improved their own well-being and helped them respond more effectively to stress. The Be REAL program and facilitator training curriculum were developed by the UW Center for Child & Family Well-Being (CCFW) in the Department of Psychology with support from the UW Resilience Lab.
SHIFT is an initiative at the University of Texas at Austin that engages the community in dialogue that aims to positively shift the culture of campus substance use from one of misuse to one of well-being. This effort is a unique collaboration between the School of Undergraduate Studies and the Division of Student Affairs, uniting in its approach the holistic experience of a student in and out of the classroom. It is comprised of six pilot initiatives that integrate multi-dimensional approaches to engage our entire UT community. Meaningful and sustainable culture change requires the engagement and participation of all those on (and off) campus. By creating collaborative opportunities to promote wellness and well-being from a strengths-based framework, we hope to see a significant reduction in the negative consequences related to substance misuse and increases in overall student well-being. We will share ways we have embedded protective factors with our Signature Course faculty that support a thriving classroom for both students and faculty members.
Resources
University of Washington Presentation Slides
University of Florida Presentation Slides
JED Overview
JED Higher Ed Programs
JED Comprehensive Approach