Universities must give staff time and resources to prioritise student wellbeing to make campuses more compassionate, a new report says.
The guidance says more should be done to connect different sections of university life to help students feel heard and understood. It says compassion not only recognises discomfort or distress of individuals or groups but takes proactive approaches to alleviate this.
It recommends students are supported to engage with communities in the towns and cities around them. Greater civic engagement can contribute to a sense of belonging and supporting their overall well-being.
The report "Building a More Compassionate Campus" is designed to be used as a checklist for university leaders to ensure people working in all aspects of campus life are involved in prioritising positive mental health. It covers communication, culture and community.
This includes ensuring all students have a named member of staff to contact when they need help and helping them to make connections in the town or city and not just through societies or events.
There should be a recognition that mental health, physical health, living circumstances, and academic outcomes are all intertwined. Where appropriate, different services should be able to share information in a way that works for students, especially to avoid students having to repeatedly re-tell their story.
The report was carried out by academics from the University of Exeter and Kings College London as part of the Nurture-U Project, which is funded by the Medical Research Council as part of the Adolescent Mental Health and Developing Minds funding scheme. It is a national research consortium focusing on finding better ways to support university students with their wellbeing and mental health.
Researchers worked to understand experiences of compassion amongst staff and students on university campuses, where gaps in compassion lie, and to identify examples of good practice with potential for transferable learning.
The report includes "guiding questions" universities can use to ensure a more compassionate campus.
Dr Jemima Dooley, from the University of Exeter, said: "We are very aware of the financial pressures universities are under, and the time constraints on academics and other staff. But a well-resourced and easy to access personal or pastoral care system is the best way of ensuring equitable access to support among all students.
"Student frustrations with support services, including oppressive bureaucracy, long waiting times and limited support options, could be alleviated with more investment and innovation. Increased awareness of students' experiences when accessing support and corresponding action to remedy barriers to effective support would allow for more considerate care.
"Creating an environment around learning that accommodates for the variation in student experiences at university will allow for all students to thrive.
"Support should be tailored to people from different backgrounds and with different needs. Encouraging compassion throughout the university community involves understanding where people may struggle and actively building a society which avoids this."
As well as greater links with the town or city communities around them the report recommends shared living spaces in all types of accommodation to encourage integration.
