Proposal for Mandated Mental Health Policies

An Outcome of Collaborative Innovation

by Mykaela Barnes, Aroldo Orellana, Zobia Quraishi
Executive Summary
Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley are not required to partake in formal mental health training of any
kind. Students of the university are disappointed in the faculty’s lack of consideration of their students’ mental
health and therefore urge the university to facilitate conversations around mental health within academic
departments. We propose multiple solutions to this issue in order to ensure student mental health is accounted for
across academic administrations.

Background
As undergraduates enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley, we feel that university faculty members and
students alike should partake in a more active role in conversations around mental health. There should be an
increased amount of liability placed on the university itself to ensure students’ welfare on campus. Campus culture
here is surrounded by competitive exclusion, and faculty are the main facilitators of this. Faculty impose harsh
expectations on their students, whether it be through lack of flexibility in accommodations or simply reinforcing
testing as the only measure of intelligence, and these directly affect student mental health.

The Associated Student Union of California passed Senate Resolution No. 2018/2019-008 In Support of Mental
Health Resources on Syllabi to mandate that mental health resources must be placed on course syllabi. In our
analysis of 40 syllabi from 13 departments on campus, we found that only 10% of syllabi contained sections in
which campus resources for students in distress were listed. Of Spring 2019 syllabi examined, 13% listed these
resources despite the ASUC’s work to make these resources mandatory. Educating professors on resources available
is a critical initial step in engaging professors in caring for student mental health. Therefore, a faculty-student mental
health policy must regulate Senate Resolution No. 2019/2019-008.

University Health Services and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offer four in-person trainings that
discuss mental wellness: Demystifing CAPS, Gatekeeper training, Question, Persuade, Refer training, and a Stress-
Management and Wellness in a Diverse World workshop. These workshops are rarely utilized by faculty or campus
departments, and are requested by students and student organizations. In the few times that these workshops were
provided for faculty, it followed a situation in which a distressed student approached a faculty/department. The
foundations of these workshops already exist; it is simply a matter of bringing them to faculty. These workshops are
meant to prevent students from experiencing extreme distress, therefore they should not be requested by campus
departments after such a situation. Faculty should be required to engage with these workshops, learn how to utilize
existing resources, and be held accountable for how their classes impact student mental health.

Policy Objectives
1. Implement and regulate mental health resources on syllabi
i. Department chairs must mandate Senate Resolution No. 2018/2019-008
ii. Department chairs must provide open communication in which students may report
professors who do not follow this regulation

2. Required mental health training for all faculty of the University of California, Berkeley
i. Faculty new to the university must complete CPS Gatekeeper training in which the
Gold Folder is introduced and understood
ii. Departments must host yearly mental health trainings that faculty are required to attend

3. Amend semesterly course evaluations to include student input on mental health

i. Students completing course evaluations will have the option to evaluate their
professors’ accommodations, attitude towards mental health, and comment on language
professors use that may contribute to a stress inducing campus climate