Minding College Minds Inaugural Learning Community

Year after year, studies show that postsecondary mental health and wellbeing play a substantial role in student success and persistence in higher education. While community college leaders recognize the critical role that mental health supports play on their campuses, it has historically been challenging to transition from why supports are needed to how they should be implemented. Without a comprehensive framework to guide their approach, postsecondary mental health services are often introduced in a piecemeal fashion and without a sustainability plan in place, which renders them less effective. 

In response to the need for strategic support, the Meadows Institute and Texas Success Center partnered to launch a series of Minding College Minds Learning Communities for Texas community colleges. Through participation in these learning communities, colleges will:

1. Understand essential components of a comprehensive postsecondary mental health and wellbeing system under the Minding College Minds Framework.
2. Design individualized Minding College Minds action plans that will guide efforts to implement mental health and wellbeing supports under each component.
3. Engage in peer-learning with colleges of similar sizes and regional backgrounds to share effective practices for supporting campuswide mental health that are unique to their contexts.
4. Embed their Minding College Minds action plans into their institution’s Talent Strong Texas Pathways strategy, aligning efforts to support campuswide mental health with strategies that promote postsecondary credential completion.

This inaugural learning community marks the first of a series offered to Texas community colleges through this partnership, with the goal of helping every Texas community college better support student, faculty, and staff mental health and wellbeing. This learning community and the larger body of statewide postsecondary work under the Minding College Minds Initiative is generously supported by Trellis Foundation, Greater Texas Foundation, Texas Pioneer Foundation, Ascendium, and ECMC Foundation.

Minding College Minds
Learning Community Members (2024-25)

• Alamo Colleges 
• Central Texas College 
• Dallas College 
• Del Mar College 
• Grayson College 
• Kilgore College 
• Laredo College 
• North Central Texas College 
• Northeast Texas Community College 
• Paris Junior College 
• San Jacinto College 
• Trinity Valley Community College 
• Victoria College