Your social environment plays a key role in your mental health and well-being. At LSA, we understand this dynamic and are working to create a more dedicated community of care on campus.
Mental Health and Well-Being Student Advocates
Our Mental Health and Well-Being Student Advocates seek out and remove barriers to the psychological well-being of students to create a learning environment that prioritizes thriving. We advocate for practices and policies to improve well-being, recognizing that traditional approaches can often be reimagined to become more equitable, enjoyable, and beneficial to all students.
Vision
Our vision is to transform LSA into a thriving, healthier, and equitable student community for this generation and beyond.
Mission Statement
Harnessing our knowledge of the social determinants of health and wellness, the mission of the Mental Health and Well-Being Student Advocates is to create a mentally healthier and psychologically safer community of care for all LSA undergraduate and graduate students by:
- Raising the profile of student mental health experiences among faculty and staff while engaging them in actionable solutions.
- Outreaching to key partners across the university to centralize an approach to systemic changes on behalf of students that also promotes the collective well-being of the broader LSA community.
- Challenging outdated legacy systems that discriminate, cause trauma, and stifle dialogue and action when students seek help.
Together, we work to remove obstacles to wellness so that students can flourish during their time at LSA.
Values
- Empathy and Trust—always increasing our capacity to learn and respect others.
- Joy and Gratitude—infusing both to promote a flourishing environment of well-being.
- Justice—enhancing the college’s capacity to center diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Fidelity and Accountability—staying true to advocacy and action to challenge outdated norms and apathy.
LSA Mental Health and Well-Being Advocate Prospective Partners
As part of a major new effort to improve student well-being on campus, the University of Michigan has adopted the Okanagan Charter and launched a campus-wide Health and Wellness Collective Impact team. In alignment with this mission and our own core values, we have created two Student Mental Health and Well-Being Advocate roles (held by Brandon Bond and Janelle Zora) to act as liaisons between those central resources and LSA staff and faculty. In collaboration with college leadership, they will also develop proposals for new approaches to enhancing student mental health, help implement those plans, and contribute to assessing their outcomes. In short, the Advocates are both change agents and preventative focused at a systems level.
In the coming months, the Mental Health and Well-Being Student Advocates will be identifying stakeholders to conduct listening tours. In order for us to best assist you in this process, and decide next steps and strategies, please complete the form below.
Brandon Bond, MPH, MSW
Brandon has a passion for mental health and well-being, DEI, global perspectives, and human rights advocacy.
Janelle Zora, MPH
Janelle is interested in numerous public health topics, supporting student development, DEI, and social justice.
Well-Being Collective
Well-being is also a priority for the University of Michigan. Visit the university's website for more tools and resources.
