Three Lowcountry colleges discuss efforts to better student health across campuses

Three Lowcountry colleges discuss efforts to better student health across campuses

CHARLESTON, S.C. – College student health and well-being are major concerns for Lowcountry college campuses. The Charleston Health and Wellbeing Consortium includes the College of Charleston, the Citadel, and the Medical University of South Carolina. The institutions are working to support student health and well-being across their campuses by discussing local to national information and data. The schools are using the feedback from Tuesday’s conference to improve support spaces, programs, and services.

The conference runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the School of Science, Mathematics and Engineering building at the College of Charleston Tuesday. Officials say 135 school representatives including faculty, staff, and counselors will attend the meeting. This year will see participation from Trident Technical College and Charleston Southern University. The discussion focuses on training, education and networking opportunities for the administration that provides safe spaces for students across campuses. Representatives will experience small group discussions on areas of interest like medical, mental health, and accommodation issues across schools.

Guest Speakers and Panels

This year’s meeting will have new guests to help campuses learn the changes that can be made. Speakers such as the Action Network of Equitable Well-being at New York University will discuss national levels of student health. The discussion helps campuses meet the national changes in students to better their current academics and programs.

According to The National Education Association, the majority of students nationally suffer from at least one mental health issue. The Association says students are losing positive health spaces as counselor centers face burnout. School representatives will hear from a student panel of speakers across different campuses to discuss their well-being throughout their college journeys. Officials say the opportunity gives faculty advice from student perspectives.

MUSC will hold a panel to discuss strategies to support students who need help. Executive Vice President of Student Affairs Alicia Caudill says they are excited to have these additions that schools can use. “We also have a panel coming from the Medical University of South Carolina to talk about specific strategies to support students that might have experienced racism or trauma or other types of conditions created in their life that could affect their wellness and well-being,” Caudill says.

Collaboration and Foundation for Success

The conference began as a collaboration of the three founding colleges. The collaboration looked for ways to serve the students in the Lowcountry. “It has been a growing and evolving topic for not just our college students but certainly our greater community,” Caudill says. “We were in conversations about students accessing resources in our community to support their mental health and well-being.”

Caudill says this work is critical in building the foundation for students to be successful.