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University of Minnesota committee highlights rising mental-health needs and expanded student legal services
Summary
The Board of Regents' Special Committee on Student Affairs heard presentations on campus-by-campus student supports, including mental-health care teams, Trio and community-engagement programs, and a sharp increase in immigration-related legal cases; presenters urged continued staffing and funding.
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents' Special Committee on Student Affairs reviewed systemwide student support services at its June 2025 meeting, where campus leaders described growing mental-health demand, expanded legal and immigration-related casework, and longstanding student-parent supports.
Maggie Tao, senior associate vice president for student affairs on the Twin Cities campus, said student affairs funding is a mix of student services fees, operations-and-maintenance funds, gifts, grants and some Department of Education support. "These services are essential to the success of our students," Tao said, noting programs that support first-year, international, first-generation and students with disabilities.
Tao highlighted Student Legal Services on the Twin Cities campus, saying "52% of their cases are related to tenant-landlord issues" and that the unit "saved students more than $1,800,000 on lease-related issues during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic." She also reported the system has "over 500 open cases related to immigration support" and that from Jan. 21 through May 1 the office opened 145 new immigration cases, an increase of about 120% compared with the prior spring semester.
Heidi Anderson Iguelson, associate vice chancellor for student life on the Rochester campus, described campus disability services and supports for international students, noting improvements in assistive technology and attention to invisible disabilities that can require quiet testing spaces, note-taking or extended time on assignments. She also described Rochester's student success coaches, a model that pairs students with staff who provide ongoing academic and personal support.
Presenters described other campus-specific programs: Duluth's international-student services and positive survey ratings; Morris's community-engagement projects and Trio programming (funded by the U.S. Department of Education) that supports low-income, first-generation and disabled students; and the student parent help center on the Twin Cities campus, described as one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind.
Committee members used the presentation to press presenters on capacity and funding. Chair Kenyanya asked what the retiring senior associate vice president saw as the biggest challenge going forward; Tao and others named rising mental-health needs and the need for more staff and recognition for student-affairs roles. "We have many unsung heroes," Tao said, urging more support for part-time and small-FTE offices that provide front-line services.
The presentation closed with board members thanking staff and noting the broader impact of student-support programs on retention and academic outcomes. The committee did not take a formal vote; presenters said the work will continue through administrative and campus channels and, where relevant, in other board committees.
