Dr. Rae Chresfield, Assistant Vice President for Health and Wellbeing, to Present at Two Conferences

Program proposals by Dr. Rae Chresfield, assistant vice president for health and wellbeing, have been accepted to the 2025 European Conference for Student Affairs and Services, and to the 2025 Advancing School Mental Health Conference.

In November, Dr. Chresfield will attend NASPA’s European Conference for Student Affairs and Services in Porto, Portugal. The conference provides a platform for student services professionals, academics, researchers, and policymakers to discuss innovative programs, practices, models and trends in student affairs. 

Dr. Chresfield will present “Anchored and Adaptive: Embedding Wellbeing, Resilience, and Meaning in the Practice of Student Affairs”: Student Affairs professionals face unprecedented challenges while supporting students through global uncertainty. This innovative session integrates well-being, resilience, and meaning-making as interconnected professional competencies. Participants will engage with practical frameworks: “Four Pillars of Wellbeing,” “Three R' of Resilience,” and meaning cultivation strategies, and develop 30-day implementation plans with peer accountability partnerships.

In December, Dr. Chresfield will attend the Advancing School Mental Health Conference in Orlando, Florida. This premier interdisciplinary conference focuses on school mental health and brings together local, state, national, and international experts to advance knowledge and skills related to school mental health practice, research, training, and policy. It unites educators, counselors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, physicians, mental health leaders, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, family members, advocates, and other partners in the school mental health field to share the latest research and best practices. The conference emphasizes a shared school-family-community agenda to promote mental health, prevent issues, and provide interventions for students and families as part of a multi-tiered system of support. 

Dr. Chresfield will present “Empowering Non-Clinical Staff to Support Student Mental Health”: The rising student mental health crisis necessitates expanding support beyond traditional clinical services. This study examines training non-clinical staff—teachers, administrators, residence advisors, and support personnel—to serve as mental health first responders. Through targeted training in mental health literacy, warning sign identification, and referral protocols, non-clinical staff can effectively bridge gaps between distressed students and professional services.