The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE), along with Gov. Jared Polis and partners from Young Invincibles, Hunger Free Colorado, the Colorado Department of Human Services and Metropolitan State University of Denver this week released the Department’s Hunger Free and Healthy Minds Campus Checklists to encourage the state’s postsecondary intuitions of higher education to apply for Hunger Free and Healthy Minds campus designations.
The checklists aim to improve the health and academic success of students by ensuring that schools have the resources they need to help end hunger and promote mental health services and resources.
“At a time when too many of Colorado’s students worry about how they can afford to eat or pay rent, and struggle with mental health, these checklists are a welcome resource for campuses and a solid step toward erasing hunger and stigmas around mental health,” said Gov. Polis.
The state’s master plan for higher education, Colorado Rises, calls for 66 percent of adults to earn a certificate or degree by 2025. To get there, Colorado must address the barriers to student success some of which are highlighted above.
“Our goal as a state is to have at least seven of our postsecondary institutions of higher education earn a hunger free and healthy minds designation by the end of the year,” said Dr. Angie Paccione, CDHE executive director. “Various social determinants can significantly impact a student’s ability to progress through a postsecondary education program. Addressing these can help propel student success by meeting students where they are and by better addressing their needs.”
Colorado colleges and universities can use the checklists to implement four core programs and six focused initiatives to receive a “hunger free” or “healthy minds” designation. The institutions can also highlight innovative and impactful programs schools already have and may use them as one of the two required programs in each category.
For more information, visit https://highered.colorado.gov/social-determinants-of-student-success.