Advocacy Campaign Proposal

The problem I will be addressing is student’s mental health in the wake of COVID-19 at the University of Illinois. Mental health on college campuses has been widely discussed, yet I still feel as though the Universities resources are underwhelming-- especially considering the amount of students on campus. While I’m sure most universities across the country could benefit from improving their mental health resources & school environment, I will only be focusing on the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign since this is the school I attend and can therefore speak specifically with confidence and accuracy about what changes I believe need to be made. The specific message is that after a full year of online learning, student mental health is at a low, and the removal of spring break in favor of “wellness days' ' was a harmful, unfair, and borderline negligent decision. Moving forward, the university will need to be much more cognizant of student mental health, even when returning to in-person learning. This is primarily aimed at administrators and professors, as I feel as though they are the people with the power to alleviate the majority of student stress. The actual advocacy campaign I will be proposing is student rallies and demonstrations.

Even prior to COVID-19, mental health has been a serious talking point on college campuses, including UIUC. College students are a part of a demographic with some of the worst mental health, which was only made worse by COVID, “A high proportion of students are dealing with anxiety (82%), followed by social isolation/loneliness (68%), depression (63%), trouble concentrating (62%), and difficulty coping with stress in a healthy way (60%). One in five (19%) students have had suicidal thoughts in the past month.” For many students, myself included, we look forward to a break in the middle of the spring semester for a myriad of reasons, but one being it is our only chance to relax and have some time to ourselves. By taking those away, and by having already abysmal mental health services, the administration is blatantly ignoring students' cries for help.

While I appreciate the administration's efforts to contain COVID by removing a full spring break, The solution of having 3 wellness days is absolutely ridiculous. This coupled with having only 25 clinical counselors for the entire student body means that the University is blatantly disregarding students' mental health. While professors do have some power to reduce workload, or provide some flexibility, now that it is our second full semester of online class, many seem to expect that students are completely adjusted to it, and can work like they would during an in-person class, which is simply not the case.

The schools' tried solution of having a counseling center and wellness days are nothing more than a facade to seem as though they have the resources necessary. I propose at the bare minimum, more funding to the counseling center so it can be adequately staffed with enough trained counselors to fit the student body popoulaiton. For professors, I hope to draw attention to the fact that many students are still struggling with an online semester, and in the future, will likely continue to struggle as we shift back. I want to remind them that they have the power to help students relax.

To reiterate, the primary audience of my advocacy campaign is the administration and professors; people who are in power to alleviate some of the stressors and provide better resources for their students. While I hope to mobilize students as well, as there is strength in numbers, this campaign is more directed for change to be made by those in power. Most students are already aware of this issue, and they are ultimately not the ones with the power to enact change in this instance, so it seems pointless for them to be the primary audience.