From next academic year, university deans will be able to grant extensions to students with mental health conditions.
Caitlin Polley
staff reporter
Lucas Holt, Senior Photographer
In November, the Yale Board of Trustees passed a proposal encouraging the Yale Dean's Office to allow residential school deans to allow mental health issues as a valid reason for extensions. The proposal is now being implemented.
YCC's resolution comes in response to pressure on campus to prioritize mental health as an issue that students are most concerned about, which was featured in a report conducted in January in the search for Yale's next president. It was issued.
Through a collaboration with the Yale University Board of Trustees, the Yale Student Mental Health Association, and the Yale Dean's Office, students will be able to request a dean's extension for the 2024-25 academic year, citing mental health as a valid reason. Dean Pericles-Lewis confirmed to the News on Tuesday that changes will be made to next year's rules following the recommendation and support of the YCC.
“Mental health reform is a priority for YCC and other campus groups,” Yale University Board of Trustees Vice President Maya Fongkeu ’25 wrote in the News. “We have seen firsthand how poor support systems negatively impact the mental health of students, faculty, staff, and community members. We are happy to say we are moving in the right direction towards building.”
In 2019, the official guidelines for work missed during a semester in the Yale University Study Program changed from “disabling illness” to “disabling illness or condition of any kind” in an effort to incorporate mental health. said Yale University Board of Trustees Sophomore President and Health Officer. Accessibility Director Mimi Papathanasopoulos ’26 told the News.
However, the previous dean's extension policy lacked clear language, and the extension of mental health crisis grants varied across residential colleges.
“[It’s important] what to say in writing [that] Mental health is also covered here,” Ellis Member for Rachel Zach Dugues told the News. “The strength of the decentralized dean system is also its weakness. [can be] different. ”
The proposal also cites other universities, including Stanford University and the University of Edinburgh, which have adopted clear policies on extending mental health in academics.
Stanford University offers an extension system for “students experiencing fluctuating and unpredictable periods of deterioration due to chronic illness or mental health disorders.”
The University of Edinburgh is offering tuition extensions to students dealing with a “recent short-term mental illness” or a “long-term or chronic mental health condition that has recently worsened temporarily or permanently.”
Papathanasopoulos said that since the proposal was passed in November, students have begun meeting with administrators to urge them to formally implement the proposal, emphasizing the importance of mental health in performing their jobs. did.
“We applaud these important changes that reassure students that mental health issues will be taken seriously,” member of Ellis for Rachel Paul Johansen ’88 told the News. Ta.
Yale Mental Health and Counseling is located at 55 Lock St.
