Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Media

Publications

Long, R,. Kennedy, M., Malloy Spink, K., Lengua, L. J. (2023). Promoting College Student and Staff Well-being Through a Mindfulness-based Coping Program. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine; 8(3): 034.

Long, R., Kennedy, M., Spink, K. M., & Lengua, L. J. (2021). Evaluation of the Implementation of a Well-being Promotion Program for College Students. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12.

Media

UW introduces ‘Five for Flourishing,’ an innovative suite of academic interventions to help students thrive

To confront loneliness and promote student well-being, the UW is piloting a two-year project called “Five for Flourishing” that provides instructors with five simple academic interventions to support students and help them succeed.

UW News // Sept. 2024

 

Teaching: Simple ways to support student mental health in class

“Many students feel disconnected, and being in large-enrollment classes can intensify that feeling. Many professors want to support students’ mental health but need ways to do so that are appropriate and sustainable. A new pilot project at the University of Washington called ‘Five for Flourishing’ is meant to help tackle both issues.”

Chronicle of Higher Education Teaching newsletter // Aug. 2024

 

A collective approach to well-being

In 2015, colleagues at the University of Washington designed a novel framework to promote wellbeing on campus. The UW Resilience Lab aims to cultivate a culture of resilience that goes beyond the individual and reaches across the university’s three campuses and surrounding communities.

Learning Well // April 2024

 

OPINION | Building Resilience in Children at the Start of the New School Year

Megan Kennedy, director of the Resilience Lab, shares insight in helping children build resilience for learning and for life.

South Seattle Emerald // Sept. 2023

 

Be REAL program helps Huskies feel less stressed, more connected

Be REAL (REsilient Attitudes & Living) is a six-week well-being program that combines mindfulness, self-compassion, neuroscience and cognitive-behavioral coping strategies. UW Magazine features how this program is creating systemic change on campus and why that matters.

University of Washington Magazine // Sept. 2023

 

Defining the student experience post-pandemic

Three campus administrators offer their perspectives on the post-pandemic student experience and how to support students through graduation and beyond.

Times Higher Education // May 2022

 

Professors’ Part in Maintaining Student Mental Health

While wellness and mental health initiatives are often thought of as separate from academics on college campuses, the two are strongly connected, because academic outcomes often depend on student well-being.

Inside Higher Ed // May 2022

 

UW Resilience Lab aims to change campus culture toward compassion and mindfulness

There’s a mental health crisis on college campuses across the country. The UW is broadening the way it provides help not just to students, but to faculty and staff as well. Using a broad toolbox of mindfulness, compassion and well-being centered programming, officials are trying to change campus culture.

UW News // Oct. 2021

 

Incorporating Resilience Building and Management into Mental Health Support Services for College Students

Megan Kennedy, director of the Resilience Lab, discusses the role resilience can play in college students’ mental health management – from everyday life, to COVID-19 stressors, racism and more.

togetherall.com // July 2021

 

From ‘distress’ to ‘unscathed’ — mental health of UW students during spring 2020

To understand how the UW’s transition to online-only classes affected college students’ mental health in the spring of 2020, UW researchers surveyed 147 UW undergraduates over the 2020 spring quarter.

UW News // July 2021

 

Mindfulness program in campus dorms, groups improved students’ mental health

As experts nationwide point to a mental health crisis among teens and young adults, a pilot program teaching mindfulness and coping techniques to students at the University of Washington has helped lower stress and improve emotional well-being.

UW News // March 2021

 

A New Resource to Support the Whole Student from the Resilience Lab at UW

The Resilience Lab introduced a new resource: the Well-Being for Life & Learning Guidebook. Combining research, best practices, and personal testimony, the guidebook gives faculty and other instructors concrete ideas and direct input from the UW campus community around supporting the whole student and promoting resilience and compassion.

Nova Edu // Oct. 2020

 

New guidebook helps faculty and instructors support student well-being

The Well-Being for Life and Learning Guidebook is a new resource for instructors to aid them in designing learning environments that promote well-being. Combining research, best practices and personal testimony, the guidebook gives faculty and other instructors concrete ideas and direct input from the campus community around supporting the whole student and promoting resilience and compassion on campus.

Undergraduate Academic Affairs // Oct. 2020