CRUCH's Commission on University Coexistence and Mental Health defines its 2024 work plan

Generating public policy proposals, designing materials and publications, and carrying out reflection and dissemination activities are the emphases that the Commission's working groups defined for 2024 in the face-to-face plenary session on October 23.

The working session included interventions from the authorities in charge of the Commission: Rosa Devés, Rector of the University of Chile (UChile); Ignacio Sánchez, Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC); Valentina Bahamondes, Director of Student Affairs of the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences (UMCE), representing Rector Elisa Araya; and the words of Sandra Gaete, Academic Vice-Rector of the Metropolitan Technological University (UTEM), where the plenary session was held.

One year after its implementation, the Commission on Coexistence and Mental Health The Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), created in July 2022 with the objective of carrying out a diagnosis of the current university scenario and proposing strategies to effectively address the issues within its competence, met in person to evaluate what was done during 2023 and define its work plan for next year.

The meeting was attended by the authorities in charge of the Commission: the Rector of the University of Chile (UChile), Rosa Devés; the Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University (UC), Ignacio Sánchez; and the Director of Student Affairs of the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences (UMCE), Valentina Bahamondes, representing Rector Elisa Araya; who highlighted the importance of the work being carried out by the 24 members of the Commission, from 21 universities of the CRUCH.

“You have done an extraordinary job in terms of your commitment and the work you have done. I believe that sharing practices, sharing solutions, helps us a great deal (…) We must commit to opening up the discussion, not just talking about the problems, but also to prevention, providing extensive education, and, of course, focusing clinical care on those who need it most. So thank you for what you are doing,” said Rector Sánchez.

For her part, Rector Devés highlighted the collaborative work between institutions and emphasized that “the issue of mental health actually affects everyone, the entire community, not just students, but the whole university community in general. We have to understand as a community that we all have to take care of each other.”.

Meanwhile, Valentina Bahamondes, Director of Student Affairs at the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences (UMCE), who attended on behalf of Rector Elisa Araya, shared her institution's experience. Given the complexity and vulnerability of its students and its limited resources, the university addressed mental health issues from a community perspective. “Teachers are trained not only to teach subjects but also to build communities. That gave us the key to knowing we were on the right track,” Bahamondes commented.

This first in-person plenary session, which follows the virtual plenary sessions held in January and August of this year and the regular meetings of the Subcommittee on Coexistence and the Subcommittee on Mental Health, took place on October 23 at the Metropolitan Technological University (UTEM). Sandra Gaete, Academic Vice-Rector of UTEM, representing Rector Marisol Durán, expressed her pleasure at welcoming the Commission to the university and emphasized the importance of the work it is carrying out.

2024 planning and working groups

Led by Rosa María Olave, Director of the Mediation and Conflict Resolution Program at Alberto Hurtado University (UAH), and Bertha Escobar, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Catholic University of Temuco (UCT), the Commission carried out several activities during 2023, among which the following stand out: a series of conversations about student coexistence and mental health with Directors of Student Affairs (DAE) (See note); and the holding of a call for proposals (See note), and a subsequent seminar on “Good Student Practices for the Promotion and Prevention of Mental Health and Coexistence in the CRUCH University Community”, an event in which 15 initiatives from groups of students and graduates from CRUCH universities were presented (See note).

By 2024, the planning includes the subdivision into three working groups: design of public policy proposals on university coexistence and mental health for Chilean universities; reflection and dissemination activities; and materials and publications.

The first group, composed of Valeska Grau (UC), Pamela Díaz-Romero (UChile), Cecilia Pérez (UdeC), Verónica Aravena (UMAG), Elena Cuadro (UDP) and Marcela Abarzúa (UTEM), will be dedicated to preparing the public policy guidelines document, whose process hopes to invite a national debate around principles, strategic objectives, critical issues and recommendations.

On the other hand, the reflection and dissemination activities group, composed of Rosa María Olave (UAH), Patricia Astroza (ULS), Bertha Escobar (UCT), Daphne Sandoval (ULagos), and Valentina Bahamondes (UMCE), will hold a Summer School during January to promote leadership development in university life and mental health across the various sectors of the CRUCH universities. Registration will take place during November.

Meanwhile, the materials and publications group, composed of Irene Léniz (UOH), Manuel Cuevas (UMCE) and Ana María Moraga (Head of Studies CRUCH), will work on the development of manuals, teaching guides and protocols based on evidence and activities promoted by the Commission, with the aim of producing situated knowledge in relation to the most recent findings on university coexistence and mental health.

Text and photosCRUCH Communications