2017 College Health & Wellness Innovations and Leadership Summit

Crisis on Campus: Addressing the Rising Mental Health Demands of our Nation’s Students

AGENDA and RECORDED SESSIONS

Increasing numbers of students are seeking mental health services, but the demand is outstripping our nation’s universities’ capabilities to deliver the care they need. The result can often be long-wait times or in some cases, unavailability of services. Continued tragic events on campus only serve to reinforce the need for expanded services.

As a nation, it is crucial that we come together to help raise the awareness of mental health on college campuses and work together to identify and promulgate best practices and techniques that can be used to help meet the rising demand for mental health, while at the same time, build a culture of early intervention and prevention.

Institutions of higher learning face budget limitations, staff shortages, and other challenges in addressing the mental health and wellness of their students. Together, students, health professionals, and campus leadership can build awareness, drive public policy, and build innovative solutions ensure the mental health and wellness of our nation’s college students.

The American College Health Association, in partnership with the American College Health Foundation, is pleased to have collaborated with leading mental health and higher education organizations on its inaugural symposium. The goal of the symposium was to bring together university leaders, mental health providers, public policy leaders, students and philanthropists to begin a national dialogue on developing an actionable blueprint for addressing the mental health crisis on campus.

About the Symposium

The symposium took place on November 13, 2017, from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, DC.

This college health symposium was a high-impact gathering of students and leading voices in higher education, public health, public policy, and campus mental health. Panelists and symposium attendees raised awareness of the growing mental health and wellness challenges facing of our nation’s 19 million college students and evaluated trends, research, and innovations.

Partners and Collaborators








Jed Foundation



Mental Health America





Active Minds

Anxiety and Depression Association of America

Center for Collegiate Mental Health

The George Washington University

Healthy Minds Network

NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation