Student Wellbeing from the Institutional Perspective: A New Method of Assessment

Students’ wellbeing can affect their retention, GPA, mental and physical health, and learning. Although institutions cannot control the levels of individual wellbeing that students bring with them to college, they can control the supports provided to students post-enrollment. Butler University has developed a survey that allows institutions to collect student perceptions on areas of strength and opportunity in institutional support for various aspects of their wellbeing while they are on campus. Session attendees will learn about the Student Wellbeing Institutional Support Survey (SWISS), the research base on which it is built, and how it can be used at other institutions.

Learning Objective(s)

Program attendees will learn about empirical research that illustrates why institutions should emphasize multifaceted support for student wellbeing.
Program attendees will learn about why an institution-level survey tool is necessary to provide actionable information for student wellbeing interventions.
Program attendees will learn about how results from SWISS can provide a roadmap for institutions to create a campus environment more focused on student wellbeing.

Core Competencies:

Research & Evaluation

CEUs:

Erin O'Sullivan

Director of Advocacy & Strategic Partnerships

NIRSA Headquarters

Bridget Yuhas

Director of Student Affairs Assessment and Planning

Butler University

Dr. Bridget Yuhas has worked in student affairs functional areas such as student activities, alumni engagement, development, housing, and assessment. She also spent five years at the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) where she frequently wrote experimental item sets for NSSE’s partner survey, the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement. Since arriving at Butler University in 2018, Dr. Yuhas has created ways to measure the efficacy of BU|BeWell, Butler’s framework for student wellbeing, and share results of those measurements to inform stakeholders’ practices across campus. She has presented original research on student wellbeing at NASPA Strategies, NASPA Annual Conference, Assessment Institute, NIRSA Annual Conference, and NIRSA’s Summer of Learning; and is currently partnering with the National Wellness Institute to study professional wellbeing practitioner competencies both within and outside of higher education.