Dartmouth College released a new strategic plan for mental health and well-being, following President Sian Leah Beilock’s inaugural address last month in which she pledged to prioritize the issue.

It outlines steps the college will take — and in some cases already has — to “realize our vision to be a caring, inclusive community that prioritizes mental health and well-being and equips all students with the resources and skills to thrive at Dartmouth and after graduation,” according to a Monday community message from Provost David Kotz.

Kotz, in a Zoom interview earlier this month, said that it isn’t the college’s responsibility to make its students well. Instead, he said, it’s “our responsibility to provide them with the tools they need to become well.”

The “Commitment to Care: Dartmouth’s Strategic Plan for Student Mental Health and Well-Being” articulates five strategic goals: centering well-being; creating an inclusive community; preparing students to navigate both success and failure; supporting students experiencing mental illness; and investing in evidence-based approaches to changing needs.

The strategic plan — most of which is intended to be implemented over the next five years — takes into account feedback from the Jed Foundation, best practices from other institutions, and input from students, staff and faculty. The college engaged the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit working to prevent suicides of young adults, after a spate of student deaths in the 2020-21 school year.

In all, the plan includes 73 specific actions, 35 of which have already been undertaken.

The college earlier had announced several of the initiatives included in the newly released plan, including the 24/7 availability of Uwill teletherapy, the elimination of fees for overnight observation in the college’s infirmary and the launch of a new timeaway policy. The college also has begun training faculty in suicide awareness.

Having people students consider role models acknowledging mental health and developing new skills to better help students can “contribute to that culture where it’s ok” to ask for help, Kiara Ortiz, Dartmouth’s student body vice president, said.

Also ongoing is the recruitment of the college’s first chief health and wellness officer, who will oversee most of the planned initiatives and report directly to Beilock. Kotz said he’s hopeful the new person will be in place by January.

He noted that the position will be responsible for the health and wellness of students as well as employees, taking the helm of “all the programs we already have and then build on that.” Included under the new hire’s purview will be Dick’s House and employee wellness programs.

Also under development is an assessment of the college’s academic calendars. The assessment will include an examination of the undergraduate quarter system, as well as the calendars for the graduate and professional schools. Students have pointed to the condensed academic terms — most colleges have three a year rather than four — as an added stressor, which may affect their well-being.

The study is expected to take more than one year and will consider the idea of adding a designated “Day of Caring” in the middle of each term, Kotz said. The college held one such day last fall following several deaths of students and recent graduates, including at least one by suicide.

Student government has been collecting data through surveys about whether students would like to have a wellness day be a regular part of the Dartmouth schedule. More than 80% of 1,046 students surveyed after last year’s Day of Caring said they thought repeating the day of pausing class es would be somewhat or extremely helpful.

But that in some cases, the day off of classes added stress because of the way work was rearranged to accommodate the day.

Another ongoing discussion is where and how the college might establish a location on campus designated for grieving, Kotz said.

The discussions about creating a memorial come from “wanting to find a way to recognize that (and) also support students in the future,” Kotz said.

The student government leaders said they’re hopeful the college can develop more outdoor spaces on campus where students can take time between classes to breathe, meditate or pray.

The college is looking at ways to use ideas developed by researchers at Dartmouth to improve the way the college supports mental health and wellness.

It’s “not a once and done kind of problem,” Kotz said. It’s an “ongoing effort. As we learn how mental health and wellness works (and the) ways we need to support students in this context, then we’ll need to adapt.”

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