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I see that it is the tri-annual festival of bashing universities for not doing enough for student mental health. This is always unbelievably frustrating for those of us whose job it is to try to do the right thing to ensure that all our students succeed in their studies. 1/
I would like broadcasters and commentators to remember that universities are places of education. Our role in student support is to enable students to study, through reasonable adjustments, some counselling support and a lot of advice on how to manage. We are not the NHS 2/
We do work with NHS services, all of which are completely under resourced and overstretched. And the complicating factor of students having multiple addresses in the year makes it all much harder for students who need it to get the right level of help in a timely fashion. 3/
When students aren’t able to access that, we will support them to return home, take a break from studying, to help them recover. What we can’t do is provide extensive clinical services for long-term conditions. In order to do that you’d have to double the tuition fee 4/
And that’s just for students who let us know how they are. I work in a small, friendly university where we have good connections with our students, and even I know that, despite the efforts of academic and support staff, some students just don’t tell us 5/
These are the ones who keep me and my team, and professionals across universities awake at night. The ones we don’t know about. Who for reasons of their own decide not to speak. 6/
And, this isn’t exclusive to students. We know that, for all the stigma-reducing efforts that have gone on, many people in the whole of society simply won’t seek help. They will try to cope. That doesn’t miraculously change because someone is a student. I wish it did 7/
I wish every student who was having a bad day, feeling lost, lonely or isolated, anxious about their studies or their friendships would tell someone. A friend, a tutor, accommodation staff, anyone who could give them some advice, listen and make sure that they’re looked after 8/
Because I know that universities are full of professionals who want to alleviate this distress. Who want to help students develop the skills that will take them not only through their studies but also into their wider life. But we can’t help if we don’t know 9/
And sometimes, occasionally, our not knowing ends in the most tragic circumstances. And they are tragic. Devastating. Anyone who thinks that tutors, accommodation staff, support staff and fellow students don’t ask themselves over and over again, could we have stopped it?’ 10/
Is being grossly unfair. Those (thankfully rare) instances stay with all of us. All the time. Even when coroners find that there was no way of predicting it, or that people did everything they could, they stay with us. We have that in mind every time we see a student 11/
The names and faces of the ones we didn’t reach, or couldn’t help are there. All the time. The lives cut short. The potential unfulfilled. The very purpose for which we all work in higher education snatched away. 12/
Of course, this is nothing compared to the grief of a family. Nothing. Their suffering, anger and despair is unimaginable. They are looking for answers, and we do our best to help them find them if we can. 13/
This doesn’t mean we can’t do better. We can all, in all areas of life, do better all the time. Perhaps those providing commentary from the sidelines would like to spend sometime in a team like mine to see how much effort goes in. To see how seriously we take this 14/
We can’t claim to be perfect, and I know no one who does. But we do care. And we try. We innovate, we recreate, we flex what we do. We try our absolute best. Which is all any of us can ask of anyone. /End
