Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute to Launch the First Minding College Minds Learning Community to Increase Mental Health Services at Texas Community Colleges

September 10, 2024 – The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, in partnership with the Texas Success Center at the Texas Association of Community Colleges, announced today the launch of the Minding College Minds Learning Community, a first-of-its-kind initiative supporting mental health needs of 225,000 community college students from the Rio Grande Valley to North Texas.

This statewide learning community leverages the Meadows Institute’s Minding College Minds Framework for Postsecondary Mental Health, which was developed to address the increasing demand for student mental health support on higher education campuses. While studies have shown that postsecondary mental health and wellbeing play a substantial role in student success and persistence in higher education, it has historically been challenging for community colleges to implement mental health supports for students without a comprehensive guiding framework.

This groundbreaking partnership connects the Meadows Institute’s Minding College Minds framework, a blueprint for implementing a system that supports campuswide mental health, with the Texas Success Center’s foundational Talent Strong Texas Pathways strategy supporting postsecondary credential completion. By aligning these two statewide initiatives, Texas community colleges will have a consistent guiding framework that they will use to develop a concrete Minding College Minds action plan for supporting student success through bolstering the mental health and wellbeing of each student they serve.

“The Minding College Minds Learning Community helps community colleges address important gaps in their mental health services for students. By providing a comprehensive framework, technical assistance, and curated opportunities for peer learning, member colleges will walk away prepared to build robust systems supporting campuswide mental health and wellbeing,” said Michelle Harper, the executive director of the Center for Child and Family Wellness at the Meadows Institute. “Our communities are strengthened when higher education institutions are equipped to foster environments where every student can thrive.”

Thirteen community colleges were selected to participate in the inaugural learning community, and they were chosen for their commitment to supporting student, faculty, and staff mental health and wellbeing. The campuses encompass urban, rural, and suburban colleges, many of whom have been recognized as minority-serving institutions, which will inform learnings that the Meadows Institute and TSC will elevate to the wider postsecondary community.

The members of the first-ever Minding College Minds Learning Community are:

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

“We know that mental health and wellbeing is a key factor in student success outcomes. Trellis Foundation is thrilled to collaborate with some of our most valued partners to address the mental health needs of community college students, faculty, and staff,” said Kristin Boyer, the executive director of Trellis Foundation. “The Minding College Minds initiative will serve as a model for enhancing mental health support on college campuses.”

The Minding College Minds 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 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.

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