By Izabela Zaluska 

Among the reasons why Emily Hurst (93BA, 05MSW) loves working with University of Iowa students on their mental health and wellness is their willingness to change and try something different.  

She recalled a moment when a student shared how they’ve always wanted to go to therapy, but their parents didn’t believe in it. Now that the student was an adult enrolled in college, they shared how eager they were to try therapy on their own. 

“How brave, right?” Hurst said. “Working on a university campus is so exciting, and it’s so dynamic.”  

After working in University Counseling Service for nearly three years, Hurst joined the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in March as its first student care manager. 

The position is part of the college’s Hawkeyes Helping Hawkeyes, a philanthropic initiative supporting personalized mental health and well-being support to students in CLAS, which is home to more than 14,000 undergraduate students and is the university's largest college. The effort began with a $1 million gift from Claire and Carl Stuart to support mental health initiatives within the college. 

“We understand how important mental health is and want to find innovative ways to support our students,” Dean Sara Sanders said. “In partnership with Student Life, we established this role in CLAS so students will be further connected to resources that can support their academic success and holistic well-being.” 

Hurst is embedded in the CLAS Undergraduate Programs office, which allows her to support students who are referred to her by faculty and staff, typically over email. When a student is referred, Hurst explains her role, the support available, and that connecting with her is voluntary and up to the student. 

A role like this doesn’t exist anywhere else on campus. 

“I can speak to both mental health challenges and academic challenges students who are referred to our office might be experiencing,” Hurst said, adding how she works closely with academic advisors. “I’m also the person that staff, instructors, and faculty can reach out to when they're struggling with a situation with a student that might be related to student well-being.” 

Passion for mental health and well-being 

Hurst, a CLAS alumna, said she’s always had an interest in mental health. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1993 and returned to pursue her master’s in social work, which she received in 2005.  

Since then, Hurst has worked in “almost every social work modality you can think of.” She worked at a mental health center, in schools, an inpatient psychiatric unit at a hospital, as well as provided individual therapy, group therapy, and play therapy. The bulk of her career before coming to the university was in corrections, including the Johnson County Jail Alternatives program. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hurst started thinking about doing something different and knew she was interested in working with college students. She joined University Counseling Services as a clinical case manager.  

When Hurst saw the position in CLAS, she was immediately curious. It was similar to the work she was already doing but would be an opportunity to create something new on campus. She was excited by how “dynamic” the role sounded. 

Hurst now helps students navigate resources on and off campus, as well as provides training for staff and faculty who support students with behavioral health needs in the college. 

Hurst also works closely with Student Care and Assistance within the Division of Student Life. She said this collaboration helps ensure services aren’t being duplicated and has increased communication between Student Care and Assistance and CLAS Undergraduate Programs. 

“My work with that team has been very instructive regarding what students are facing in terms of stressors, as well as what services are available through the Dean of Students,” Hurst said. “I think it’s an exciting partnership.” 

As student care manager, she can also connect students to support in the community. Hurst noted that “not every crisis is a mental health crisis.” For example, a student came in who was about to get their utilities shut off. Hurst was able to get them connected to financial support on campus and in the community. 

“That's where I think I can bring a lot of my expertise to this too because I've worked in this community so long,” Hurst said. “I really think I have a good sense of what's out there, and I try to stay abreast of all the different services because sometimes there might be something that a student really needs.” 

As rewarding as Hurst’s job can be, it can also be challenging at times. To take care of her own mental health, Hurst practices mindfulness and uses the same practices she teaches students, like being present, empathizing with your feelings, and self-compassion. She does yoga, prioritizes time with her friends, and practices setting healthy boundaries. 

“I don’t think you can do this sort of work, professional mental health work, without knowing yourself really well and doing your own work,” Hurst said. 

An increased need for mental health resources 

More than 60% of college students meet the criteria for at least one mental health problem—a nearly 50% increase since 2013, according to a 2023 article from the National Education Association.  

The COVID-19 pandemic “dramatically impacted university students,” including decreased mental health, according to a literature review published in February that explored the pandemic’s effects on mental health. Students experienced increased stress, anxiety, self-reported decreased well-being, and constant worry. 

Hurst said what she’s seeing among CLAS students is constant stress surrounding school. 

Even when students are not in class or doing assignments, they’re thinking about school, she said. Students are feeling overwhelmed with school, stressed about what they’re going to do after graduation, struggling to find community, and not feeling like they have the support they need.  

"Students in college are in this really unique position where their resources are already stretched because of how difficult school can be that when something else happens in their life—illness, relational problems, death in the family—it gets to feel incredibly overwhelming,” Hurst said. 

Hurst said in her role she does a lot of normalizing and validating students’ feelings. She wants them to know they’re not alone in their feelings and in their experience. That what they’re feeling is OK, and it makes sense they’re sad. 

“I talk to students a lot about resiliency and grit, which is not about denying your feelings or that bad things haven't happened to you, but it's really about ‘when things don't go my way or when I encounter struggles, I feel confident that I can get through it,’” Hurst said. “It doesn't have to mean getting through it on your own—maybe you need a whole team of people—but that anything can happen to you, and you will be okay.” 

Hurst said there’s a reduced stigma around mental health, making it easier for students to talk about it. But the system hasn’t been able to respond to that, resulting in issues with capacity and long wait lists, she added. Not only is this challenging for students, but it’s challenging for the people taking the calls and for the providers.  

“It’s hard on everyone within the system,” she said. 

Despite the strains on the mental health system, the university continues to prioritize campus resources for students, including Fresh Check Day. The event is a campus-wide mental health fair that connects students with those important resources in a fun, fair-like atmosphere. This year's event took place in late October. 

Each table had information about services and resources, as well as an activity that related to mental health and wellness. 

Hurst, who represented CLAS at this year’s fair, focused on gratitude at her table. Students wrote on a fall leaf what they were grateful for and placed it on a gratitude tree. By the end of the day, the tree was filled with red, yellow, and orange leaves with what students were grateful for, including “to be able to go to college,” “my support system at Iowa,” “my friends and family,” “mental health resources,” and more. 

‘Culture of wellness’ in CLAS 

Hurst has several ideas on what she’d like to focus on in this role, including creating a “culture of wellness within the college.” That, to her, is not just responding when something is wrong but encouraging people to stay well and building community. She acknowledges it’ll take time, but she’d like to explore what other campuses are doing.

She’d also like to see more peer support and establish a robust peer support program where students can learn from their peers and hear about their experiences. She explained how powerful it can be to have a student talk with fellow students about depression and anxiety resources on campus while sharing their own experiences. 

Providing additional support to faculty and staff in terms of training around mental health and responding to students is among Hurst’s priorities, too. She wants faculty and staff to feel confident responding when students bring concerns to them. 

“These are skills, and anybody can learn them,” Hurst said. “I'm not a wizard. It's not like I have special powers. It’s really about skills and the confidence in using them with students Sometimes that skill is just to be able to say ‘I'm so glad you reached out to me. I'm sorry you’re struggling, and I want to put you in touch with someone who can help you.’” 

If you'd like to support mental health programming in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, please consider making a gift online to support the Hawkeyes Helping Hawkeyes fund.