The document provides an overview of the Wellness Project conducted by Eric Hearst. It includes biographical information about Eric Hearst and outlines the main questions and responses from interviews with five schools. Responses indicated common student issues as mental health challenges, difficulties adjusting to college, and lack of cultural competency in support services. Schools reported services like counseling centers and health clinics but noted challenges accessing care. Interviewees suggested the Bonner Foundation provide trainings, continuing education, and identify best practices to enhance student well-being.

1. The Wellness Project:
An Overview
2017 Summer Leadership Institute
Lindsey-Wilson College

2. Biographical Sketch
• Name: Eric J. Hearst
• Howard University (B.S. in Human Development 1996; Master of
Social Work 2002)
• Argosy University (Ed.D. in Educational Leadership 2015)
• Princeton Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity anticipated 2019)
• 13 years of professional practice as a school social worker with
Loudoun County Public Schools in Loudoun County, Virginia
• Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Random fact: Lifelong fan of the “Classic Doctor Who Series” (The
Third Doctor is MY Doctor)

3. The Wellness Project:
Three Main Questions
• Q1: What are some of the issues you are seeing
with your students?
• Q2: What support services are available to your
students on campus and in the surrounding area?
• Q3: How can the Bonner Foundation and Bonner
Network help?
Note: Only five schools participated in the telephone
interviews

4. • Mental health challenges — Depression, Anxiety, Self-
injurious behavior)
• High School – College Transition — Adjusting to
campus culture; Lack of racial/cultural connectedness on
college/university campuses)
• Lack of perceived cultural competency in school-based
counseling and student support services)
• Self-efficacy — Poor coping skills; Lack of resiliency;
Inability to seek out and follow-through with supportive
services on campus).
Summary of Responses:
Q1: What are some of the issues you
are seeing with your students?

5. • Academic skills centers
• Counseling Centers
• Health & Wellness Centers
• Campus Chaplaincies
Summary of Responses:
Q2: What support services are available
to your students on campus and in the
surrounding area?

6. Challenges in accessing support:
• Lack of health insurance/inability to pay for private
treatment;
• Inability to travel to providers (rural, lack of
transportation, etc.);
• Unwillingness to seek help from campus based
supports;
• Concerns about the lack of cultural/racial competency
in campus based supports)
Summary of Responses:
Q2: What support services are available
to your students on campus and in the
surrounding area?

7. • Provide trainings — trauma informed care;
Mental health first aid);
• Continuing education — topics including self-
care, boundary settings for students and
enhancing community support for students);
• Identify best practices from within the
Bonner Network — enhancing student
protective factors/minimizing risk factors on
campuses).
Summary of Responses:
Q3: How can the Bonner Foundation
and Bonner Network help?

8. • Q1: How have you been involved with the Bonner program on your
campus?
• Q2: Think back over all of the years you’ve been involved and tell us
your fondest memory
• Q3: Think back over the past year about the things Bonner did to
promote student wellness in its network. What went particularly
well?
• Q4: What needs improvement?
• Q5: Suppose you could make one change that would make Bonner’s
efforts at promoting student wellness better. What would you do?
• Q6: What can each one of us do to make Bonner’s efforts at
promoting student wellness better?
The Wellness Project:
Focus Group Questions