Graduate Student Experience Initiative works to prioritize mental health among students

UNC’s new Graduate Student Experience Initiative, driven by Graduate School Dean Beth Mayer-Davis and charged by Provost Christopher Clemens, aims to prioritize the mental health and well-being of graduate students at the University.

The initiative is made up of a 35-member advisory board, a steering committee, and five working groups. Mayer-Davis is the chair of the steering committee, which is made up of 24 members. Each working group has about 10 members, and there are currently about 112 people involved in the initiative as a whole.

“We know that young adults have a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety now than in past years, starting well before COVID, and that's particularly true of graduate and professional students,” Mayer-Davis said.

There are two teaching assistant working groups — one for basic science, STEM and professional schools and one for arts, humanities and social sciences. There is also a research assistant working group for each field, and the fifth group is dedicated to student life and wellness. 

“We’ve also been attentive to include graduate students from a range of different disciplines because the particular issues play out a little bit differently in those broad disciplinary areas,” Mayer-Davis said.

The working groups will focus on reviewing data to present recommendations to the steering committee. Fourth-year doctoral candidate and President of the Graduate and Professional Student Government Lauren Hawkinson said the working groups will serve as focus groups as well.

The initiative will closely follow how the working conditions of graduate students impact their overall experience and well-being. It also aims to ensure the goals of the initiative are inclusive of all graduate students, whether online, international, master’s or doctoral.

Hawkinson said she views the initiative as shedding light on aspects of the wellness of graduate students that are often overlooked.

“I think graduate students have been taken advantage of for so long,” she said. “I think it’s just kind of become the culture of grad school, you know — long hours, low pay, struggling to gain respect.”

Joseph Moscoso, a fourth-year Ph.D. student and member of the STEM research assistants working group, said the group is drafting recommendations to improve mentor training and promote collaboration between mentees and mentors. Moscoso said he thinks the initiative was inspired by the GSPG and other groups’ work to address the stress that graduate students face.

“When you’re in graduate school, the biggest sources of stress are finances, advisors, your employment and your classes, and everything else is like life," he said. "So we’re really trying to take aim at what we can help relieve stress.”

On Feb. 1, the GSE initiative presented recommendations to the provost that highlighted campus resource navigation, teaching assistant training, mental health assessments and well-being services, and faculty mentor training.

Hawkinson said she is going to bring 2024-25 GPSG President Katie Heath with her to the steering committee meeting in March, right before the transition of power in early April. Hawkinson also said she will continue to support Heath and the initiative until she graduates in May.

Moscoso said the plan for the rest of the academic year is to continue analyzing data and information from the University to draft policies. Next year, he said, the initiative will refine and add recommendations to the provost

“It’s been a long time coming and everybody has put a lot of work into just seeing this happen, so the fact that it started is super exciting,” Moscoso said.

@cormacbaxter

@dailytarheel | university@dailytarheel.com