University of Iowa researchers are studying the mental health and well-being of faculty and staff at college campuses across the state. Barry Schreier, director of higher education programming at the U-I’s Scanlan Center for School Mental Health, says the first phase of the survey was conducted last April in seven community colleges. When the second phase is launched next month, Schreier says it will broaden in scope.
Student mental health is not the focus of this study, he says, as many others are already doing that.
One finding of the survey’s first phase was that nearly 75% of community college staff had referred students to mental health resources in the previous year, which he says was an unexpected and large percentage.
The survey also quizzed faculty and staff about whether they considered themselves “flourishing,” and most did, but 30% also reported feeling burned out.
The Scanlan Center is considered the state’s hub for school-based mental health research, training, professional learning, and clinical services.
