College Panel: Review and Improve
We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of our annual College Panel, a consistently well-attended event created and nurtured by NAMI Central Middlesex. It is a program that shifted quite easily in the last two years to the virtual environment, which resulted in an increase in attendance. We have a consistent panel of area college administrators committed to participating in the program, and we have every intention of continuing to offer it. In coming months, we want to step back and take some time to review and potentially refresh the event to make sure we are serving our constituency in a way that works best for them. We are putting together a team to look at the program from all sides: content, target market, outreach to schools, publicity, Zoom format, community partners, etc.
As recommended by high school administrators we offer “Starting the Conversation: College and Your Mental Health” annually in March. We invite parents, high school students, and school counseling staff to join us to learn about starting the conversation about mental health before students leave home. Along with administrators from area colleges our panel includes a recent college grad or current college student who lived with serious mental illness during their time in school. Families learn about privacy laws, what can be communicated by college administrations, how colleges might differ in their supports, advocating for services on campus, the importance of independence skills, and how students and families learn to cope with potential changes in the traditional trajectory toward a college degree.
If you navigated college while living with a mental health condition, supported someone who did, attended a previous College Panel event, or have a history working with high school students, your perspective on a potential revamp of the program would be welcome. The group will meet via Zoom a few times in November and December. Please contact Jennie Payne, jpayne@mulherngroup.org, if you would like to participate in this process.