Universities need be proactive to create ‘positive universities’

To tackle the higher education mental health crisis, Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, says universities need to start supporting students from the moment they accept an offer of a place.

Seldon, along with Buckingham’s dean of psychology Alan Martin, have produced a “blueprint for other higher education institutions”. It is based on their experiences of using positive psychology and mindfulness, and their aim is to launch Buckingham as the the UK’s first “positive university”.

According to The Positive University, published on 21 September by the Higher Education Policy Institute, the approach to mental health at universities should be much more proactive.