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Promoting student participation, as well as generating inputs and guidelines for a policy of coexistence and mental health in universities, are some of the challenges that were defined during the plenary session.
Almost a year after the University Coexistence and Mental Health Commission first met, its members met remotely on August 18 to take stock of their work and define the main areas of focus until May 2024.
The commission, made up of 24 representatives from universities of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), met for the first time on September 21, 2022 and since then progress has been significant.
For Rosa María Olave, president of the University Coexistence sub-committee, one of the most noteworthy aspects is the “spirit of collaborative work present in the committee. All the people who participate have a great interest and motivation to contribute to mental health and university coexistence,” commented the academic and director of the Conflict Resolution Program at Alberto Hurtado University.
Regarding the challenges identified during the plenary session, Rosa María Olave pointed out that the main one is “promoting student participation and coordination with them in the commission's initiatives. In other words, working for and with the students.” She added that another challenge is for “the commission to generate input and guidelines for a policy on coexistence and mental health in universities.”.
Commission Milestones
In the plenary session, six of the most relevant milestones to date were shared, among which the launch of the commission stands out, within the framework of the Master Conference “Mental Health and University Students”, by Dr. Ricardo Araya, National Prize for Applied Sciences (November 2022).
Subsequently, the discussion “Mental Health Models: Understanding and application from a University of Araucanía” was organized (March 2023); the meeting with Dr. Leticia García Villaluenga, from the Complutense University of Madrid, to learn about her experience in mediation and alternative conflict resolution in university contexts (April 2023); and the Seminar “How is the mental health of our university student communities?”, in conjunction with the Millennium Nucleus to Improve the Mental Health of Adolescents and Young People, Imhay (June 2023).
Another initiative of the commission was the “Series of Conversations with Student Welfare/Development Offices,” which took place during June and included the participation of 28 CRUCH universities. The purpose was to obtain an updated characterization of the approaches and problems related to student coexistence, considering their connection to mental health.
Upcoming activities
The committee has two activities planned for the coming months. One of them is the webinar “Good Student Practices for Promoting and Preventing Mental Health and Coexistence in the University Community. Caring for Coexistence and Mental Health: Challenges and Lessons Learned from Student Initiatives,” which will take place on October 4.
The objective of this first seminar is to provide a space for learning and exchanging best practices among students, where participants can share and value their knowledge and experiences, with the aim of promoting mental health and improving coexistence within the university environment. To this end, an open call will be issued to students from CRUCH universities, and the selected practices will be presented in audiovisual format.
The other scheduled activity is the first in-person plenary session, which will take place on October 23 with the objective of planning the work of the commission and specifying the tasks for the three established working groups: materials and publications; reflection and dissemination activities; and drafting of public policy proposals.
The commission
The commission, created by agreement of the CRUCH plenary in July 2022 (session No. 635), is led by the rectors of the University of Chile, Rosa Devés, and the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences, Elisa Araya, and by the rector of the Catholic University of Chile, Ignacio Sánchez. It also has two co-chairs who coordinate the commission's work: Rosa María Olave, from the University Coexistence subcommittee and an academic at Alberto Hurtado University, and Bertha Escobar, from the Mental Health subcommittee and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Catholic University of Temuco.
The experts are: Pamela Díaz-Romero, Director of Student Affairs, University of Chile; Valeska Grau, Student Mediator, Ombuds Office, Catholic University of Chile; David Letelier, Director of Student Affairs, Catholic University of Valparaíso; Mónica Guzmán, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Catholic University of the North; Patricia Astroza, Coordinator of the Student Welfare Department, University of La Serena; Manuel Ortiz, Director of the Stress and Health Laboratory, University of La Frontera; Adriana Barrientos, Director of Student Affairs, University of Magallanes; Karina Martinic, Acting Director of Student Affairs, University of Magallanes; Manuel Cuevas, Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences; Marcela Abarzúa, Community Development of the Student Development Directorate, Metropolitan Technological University; Paola Núñez, Director of Student Support, Catholic University of the Holy Conception; Irene Leniz, Director of Mental Health, University of O'Higgins; Pamela Ellis, Head of Psychological Wellbeing, University of the Andes; Daniela Fernández, Head of Human Resources Development, University of Aysén; Elena Cuadro, Director of Student Affairs, Diego Portales University; Carolina Zambrano, Director of Student Affairs, Austral University of Chile; Juana Pérez, Head of Welfare, University of Los Lagos; Luz Angélica Molina, Head of the Organizational Development Unit, University of Los Lagos; Stefanie San Martín, Head of the Human Resources Development Department, University of Talca; Cecilia Pérez, Director of Student Services, University of Concepción; Rodrigo Rojas, Academic, School of Psychology, University of Santiago, Chile; Javiera Arancibia, psychologist at the Directorate of Gender, Diversity and Equity, University of Santiago, Chile.
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