UT System creates wellness office metrics, adopts common health survey and expands student wellness work

Dr. Jesse, the system chief wellness officer, presented the student mental‑health and wellness report and described the office’s work since the 2019 comptroller performance audit.

Jesse said mental‑health concerns remain elevated compared with pre‑pandemic years, noting severe anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts persist on campuses. He told trustees that, in response to audit recommendations emphasizing cross‑system collaboration and data, the system created a mental‑health task force and appointed a chief wellness officer.

He said the system is rolling out the same student wellness survey—the National College Health Assessment—on all five campuses for the first time and has identified 38 key metrics to be reported regularly to his office, including counseling center visits and campus suicide counts. Jesse said the goal is to use these metrics and a student wellness advisory council to guide interventions and communications.

Jesse highlighted evidence‑based programs, noting four campuses completed the JED Campus suicide‑prevention program and the system aims to bring the newest campus into that program within a year. He emphasized centering student voice through the advisory council and described local campus examples—from late‑night outreach events and bingo nights with wellness conversations at UT Martin to a new counseling partnership at UTC that expanded evening and weekend capacity.

Trustees and chancellors praised the work and asked questions about survey timing, data comparability across years and local interventions; Jesse said the office will continue aligning metrics and supporting campus innovations.