Supporting Student Learning and Development through Trauma-Informed Campuses

Abstract

Many students come to higher education with a history of trauma. College life may also expose students to traumatizing events. While the past decade has witnessed greater discussion of trauma-informed frameworks, it has not regularly been applied to the college environment. We advance the concept of a trauma-informed campus, where administrators, faculty, staff, and students from diverse disciplines create an environment that recognizes the widespread nature of trauma, integrates knowledge about trauma into practices and procedures, and minimizes further re-traumatization for all community members. A trauma-informed campus is prepared for students’ past or future traumatic experiences, while also recognizing and responding to structural and historical harms. In addition, it recognizes the role of the surrounding community challenges, particularly how violence, substance use, hunger, poverty, and housing insecurity may contribute to further trauma or negatively impact healing. We use an ecological model to frame and shape the construct of trauma-informed campuses.

Introduction

The transition to an institution of higher education can be a challenging time for any student, whether moving from a high school to a two-year or four-year institution or returning to education later in life. In addition to the academic challenges, there is a range of potential ecological challenges, including developing relationships with peers, adapting to social climates on campus, as well as challenges associated with other new environments and responsibilities.¹ For individuals who have experienced traumatic events in the past, these challenges can be amplified. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the literature on trauma within higher education settings and advance the concept of a trauma-informed campus – a setting where administrators, faculty, staff, and students create an environment that actively centers past and present harms in the context of student development. We aim to offer an interdisciplinary and systems-focused perspective on how universities can create a more trauma-informed environment amidst growing attention on student mental health at campuses nationwide.

Traumatic Event Exposure

A broad range of traumatic events may impact students in higher education. Traumatic events may occur early in life, prior to their arrival on campus, or during the higher education experience. Trauma may arise from diverse events, experiences, and circumstances. One type of traumatic event that impacts many incoming students is childhood adversity. Childhood adversity is a broad term that refers to a range of circumstances or events that pose a serious threat to physical or psychological well-being. Childhood adversity is often operationalized as “adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs). Estimates of ACEs prevalence vary across populations, though most suggest at least half to two-thirds of individuals have experienced one or more ACEs.^2–8 ACEs often include situations of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, physical and emotional neglect, as well as exposure to household stressors including family member’s substance use, mental illness, incarceration, intimate partner violence, divorce/separation, or death.⁹ Students may also have been exposed to ACEs or trauma outside of the household such as bullying, sexual assault, gun violence, or identity-based discrimination. These personal or relational events, paired with historical and community harm individuals may experience (e.g. political violence, forced displacement, structural racism, community violence) can create experiences of complex or unaddressed trauma,¹⁰ impacting an individual’s feelings of safety and security within academic institutions and beyond.⁷

The majority of American adults report experiencing at least one traumatic event in their life.^2,11 While events can certainly perpetuate traumatic symptoms, what ultimately determines whether or not an event is traumatic is how the individual experiences the event and how the event impacts the individual’s functioning and wellbeing.¹² Signs and symptoms of trauma, therefore, are highly varied depending on one’s developmental history, cognitive appraisal of the event, social environment, as well as beliefs, and values.¹³ For example, some students may come to campus with formal diagnoses of Acute Stress Disorder, where symptoms of anxiety, increased arousal, avoidance, and re-experiencing occur within the first 4 weeks and last for less than one month. Others may have a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), where the aforementioned symptoms last for more than a month. One study estimated that 9% of college students meet the criteria for PTSD.¹⁴ Among college students who have experienced trauma, 34–59% meet the criteria for PTSD.^15,16 There may also be many other students who have experienced some form of trauma but have never been formally diagnosed or treated. These individuals may not have formally processed their traumatic histories or may be in ongoing situations of violence. Regardless of the source, previous or current traumas can have significant negative impacts on academic performance and social integration.

Student Development in Higher Education

Student development is an underlying contributor to the success or failure of students in their academic careers. Not only are students working to understand new material, but they are also learning to become independent, mature in their thinking and actions, and learn how to engage in new social contexts. Student development theory posits that students attending institutions of higher education are moving through a series of stages including 1) developing competence; 2) managing emotions; 3) moving through autonomy toward interdependence; 4) developing mature interpersonal relationships; 5) establishing identity; 6) developing purpose, and 7) developing integrity.¹⁷ These stages develop within the classroom setting and beyond. However, traumatic event exposure without proper support can negatively impact student development throughout these stages.

Impact of Trauma on Student Development

The long-term consequences of trauma exposure on physical, mental, and psychosocial wellbeing have been well established.^3,18–23 In educational settings, the symptoms associated with these health impacts can affect students’ cognitive processes and behaviors, interfering with their ability to learn and engage with didactic material in the classroom and develop social skills outside the classroom.¹³ For example, exposure to trauma can impact the reactivity of the prefrontal cortex’s threat and fear responses, perpetuating prolonged or sudden stress reactions even if danger is no longer present.²⁴ This can decrease students’ abilities to manage their emotions, build trusting relationships, and adapt to stressful educational environments. Additional impacts may include heightened stress reactivity, emotion dysregulation, impaired memory, impulse control, attention issues, and strained interpersonal relationships.^25,26 These symptoms can interfere with cognitive, academic, and social-behavioral functioning in educational settings, ultimately impacting academic success.¹³ In the classroom, internalizing (characterized by sadness, depression, anxiety, or withdrawal) and externalizing (characterized by disruption, aggression, hyperactivity, or defiance) behaviors can be exhibited as a consequence of traumatic exposure, presenting further learning and engagement challenges. Further effects of trauma may include school drop-out, substance use-related problems, violence perpetration, and suicide, which are already prevalent among students in higher education.^3,27

The transition to higher education may create stressors that aggravate past trauma or trigger trauma-related symptoms. These transitions can be even more challenging for first-generation, international, or “non-traditional” university students such as military veterans. For many students, the transition to college, including potential relocation to a new area, disruption of former social support networks, expectations of identity formation and greater autonomy, financial costs associated with tuition and living expenses, and pressure to succeed academically in challenging courses, can exacerbate current or past traumatic experiences. This may result in lower rates of school engagement, retention, progression, and even on-time graduation – factors that are important to administrators as they can impact tuition revenue, reputation, and rankings of the institution (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Model of the potential impact of student trauma on educational outcomes

While trauma can present a variety of learning challenges, educational environments can also create opportunities for escape from household trauma, increasing feelings of safety and support.²⁸ Reaching educational milestones, achieving personal and career goals, as well as meeting other students with similar histories can promote healing for individuals who have been exposed to trauma or violence.^29,30 Many may feel comfortable addressing their traumatic histories for the first time while in college, due to increased access to supportive adults, trauma-related education, free and confidential resources, as well as potential separation from stressors at home or within their neighborhood. In addition, students may find peers with similar experiences, thus creating a sense of shared experience and community. This reveals an important opportunity for universities to create supportive healing environments for all students, to mitigate the impact of trauma on educational attainment and promote personal learning and growth beyond the classroom setting.

Acknowledging Person-Centered Trauma within Collegiate Environments

Within higher education, there is a focus on using person-first language and universal design approaches to ensure inclusion for all learners regardless of characteristics or previous experiences. The same approach can hold for a student who experienced trauma. A transition to a trauma-informed campus environment must be embedded within a broader awareness of how systems and structures of higher education may reenact or perpetuate trauma. This will allow for a more trauma-informed and healing-centered university climate for students to thrive in. To do this, several facts need to be acknowledged.

College often involves increased exposure to potentially traumatic events.^31,32 Recent nationally representative analyses of college students estimated that 66% of the students have experienced at least one traumatic event since entering college,¹⁴ with one study finding that roughly half of their undergraduate student sample was exposed to a potentially traumatic event during their first year of college alone.³² For example, university students are at an increased risk for sexual assault and community violence.³³ Outside of interpersonal harm, other commonly reported traumatic events during one’s time at university includes experiencing life-threatening illness, the sudden death of a loved one, alcohol-related accidents, and experiencing natural disaster or fires. While many students survive these traumatic experiences, some do not, creating additional ripples of trauma across university communities.³⁴ In addition, the last decade has led to a greater awareness that a large percentage of college students are challenged by housing, financial, or food insecurity which can be exacerbated by investment in higher education, leading students to leave school prematurely, accumulate debt, and experience greater hardship.³⁵

Some students may have previous histories of trauma in educational environments which may impact the way they interact with faculty and staff. Such histories must be considered when supporting student survivors of trauma as they transition and learn within higher education environments. For example, many educational settings employ “zero-tolerance” policies for student behavioral issues (e.g. truancy, substance use, emotional outbursts).³⁶ These policies disproportionately impact those with trauma histories, particularly Black, Indigenous, and students of color through discriminatory application.³⁷ Additionally, students may have previously been exposed to systems and school-based professionals who struggled to understand the impact of trauma on their life and learning, making it difficult for them to reach out to receive additional academic support and accommodations. This can perpetuate further re-traumatization, a lack of trust in the educational system, additional learning barriers, and alienation from others.

Universities may exacerbate previous traumas, or perpetuate systems of oppression, particularly for students with marginalized identities. Structural racism in higher education can create significant barriers for students of color.³⁸ For example, one study found that trauma-exposed, African American women are more likely than their peers to leave college before the end of their second year, particularly at predominantly white institutions.³⁹ In addition, on college campuses, women and non-binary students are significantly more likely to experience sexual or intimate partner violence.^40,41 These events correlate to higher transfer and college dropout rates, as well as challenges in relation to academic success, social and professional relationships, and long-term professional and career success.^41–45

Students with disabilities may face unique traumas in campus settings, as many are responsible for managing their accommodations along with their academic coursework. Many receive messages that they do not belong in advanced degree programs because they require specific services or recognize a general lack of familiarity among faculty with campus disability supports, causing a lack of disability disclosure altogether.^42,46 This can perpetuate further potential trauma due to a lack of validation, acknowledgment, and support. Students who have engaged with the foster care system, veterans, those with histories of housing insecurity, international students, Indigenous students, as well as LBGTQ+ students also disproportionately experience increased trauma on college campuses.⁴⁷

The Need for Trauma-informed Campus Environments

The widespread prevalence of trauma exposure, coupled with the potential for traumatic experiences during college and trauma’s potentially harmful effects on the higher education experience, highlights the need to consider how well college campuses are prepared to address issues of trauma among the student body. Mitigating the effects of trauma among college students primarily falls on campus mental health, advising, and student services professionals.⁴⁸ However, these programs are often understaffed and underfunded and, as a result, often need to employ waitlists for their services, often leading them to be unable to serve all students who seek support or to be unable to build trusting relationships. Student-led groups can provide a level of support, but the number of college students with a history of traumatic experiences, or who experience trauma while on campus, makes it clear that new and professionally delivered approaches are needed. Moreover, existing supports often focus on responses following a traumatic event, rather than addressing structural harms and creating restorative spaces as a way to balance response efforts with greater prevention efforts.

Given the above, a trauma-informed approach is needed to recognize common traumatic stress symptoms and reactions to ensure the safety and educational support of all students who may be in varying stages of their processing and healing. The college campus, by necessity, becomes a safety net for all students enrolled. As such, institutions of higher education must be deliberate in planning for interventions and the creation of a culture and climate that addresses trauma and supports students working through trauma.

A Trauma-informed Care Approach

Trauma-informed care is an approach that recognizes the widespread impact of trauma and delivers care and services in a manner that promotes healing and avoids re-traumatization.¹² Trauma-informed care is centered on six principles: safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment, voice, and choice; and cultural, historical, and gender issues. The principles inform practices, rather than dictate specific strategies.¹²

Trauma-informed care principles can be applied at the organizational-level. Implementation of a trauma-informed approach within a large organization is a journey; the process is complex and necessitates systems-level change and integration. The application of trauma-informed approaches should be guided by the peer-review literature, developed and applied in partnership with individuals with relevant expertise, and initiated with strong support from institutional leadership.^49,50 An organization’s embrace of a trauma-informed approach does not entail simply isolated service delivery, but requires broader shift in values, belief, and culture that leads to the creation of shared meaning.⁵⁰ Incomplete or poor implementation of trauma-informed approaches at the organizational level can lead to more harm than benefit, potentially leading leading to mistrust, disengagement, or feelings of betrayal.⁴⁹

Established frameworks, such as the Missouri Model, the Trauma-informed Systems Model, and the Trauma-Informed Framework for Higher Education can guide an organization’s application of trauma-informed principles.^49–51 For example, the Missouri Model highlights that becoming trauma-informed is a process that includes stages of being trauma-aware, trauma-sensitive, trauma-responsive, and finally being trauma-informed.⁴⁹ At each stage of the process, the model identifies target tasks, organizational processes, benchmarks of success, and relevant resources. Collectively, the process is conceptualized as an iterative continuum in which steps may be revisited or repeated as necessary. The model highlights that throughout the journey of becoming a trauma-informed organization, approaches must be guided by clear language and heed attention to focused goals and progress evaluation.

Similarly, the Trauma-Informed Systems Model is grounded in principles such as understanding trauma and stress, compassion and dependability, safety and stability, collaboration and empowerment, cultural humility and responsiveness, and resilience and recovery.⁵⁰ Each principle is associated with specific change efforts. Similar to the Missouri Model, the Trauma-Informed Systems Model reflects a process-based approach that includes structured plans for evaluation. Additionally, it requires alignment of efforts across levels as well as investment by leadership.

The Trauma-Informed Framework for Higher Education embodies a similar approach to both the aforementioned frameworks, but is tailored specifically to institutions of higher education and predominantly young adults. It provides targets for trauma-informed approaches related to knowledge, application, and attitudes relevant to high education professionals, as well as guidance related for institutional-level strategies.⁵¹

Implementation of any of the three models can be supported through repositories that provide relevant resources (e.g., Trauma-informed Oregon, Trauma-informed Care Implementation Resource Center, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Substance Use and Mental Healthcare).^52–55 Such models and resources are an important tool for supporting an organization’s – including a campus’ – efforts to embody trauma-informed approaches.

Trauma-informed approaches have received less discussion with respect to larger environments, but the adoption of these principles have been used in both educational and community settings. For example, given the acknowledgment of structural harms perpetuated by secondary education systems and “zero tolerance” policies, some public school districts in the United States have adapted trauma-informed practices to reduce school disciplinary actions and mitigate the growing “trauma to prison pipeline.”³⁶ In addition, many community organizations that work with survivors of harm have similarly strove to adopt trauma-informed principles.⁵⁶ Trauma-informed teaching practices are also receiving increasing attention.^57,58 Trauma-informed approaches have been less common in university settings as a whole, however.

Building a Trauma-Informed Campus

In order to be a trauma-informed organization, individuals at all levels of the university should be trained in trauma-informed approaches. This includes the classroom, campus build environment, university culture, and policies and procedures as a whole. We employ an ecological model to describe this framework (See Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Multiple levels of a trauma-informed campus

Our framework reflects the emerging evidence-base and complements existing approaches for addressing trauma that are currently in practice on college campuses. For example, many universities provide student mental health resources, offer programming to reduce risk of sexual violence, and examine how aspects of the campus (e.g., statues, building namesakes) can be reconsidered to create a more inclusive environment. We acknowledge the existence and importance of these efforts, while also advocating for and proposing strategies to help support a broad, comprehensive approach that re-imagines a whole campus as a trauma-informed environment. Examples of how the trauma-informed campus strategies we propose align with a trauma-informed approach are detailed in figure 3.

Figure 3.

Examples of how proposed trauma-informed campus strategies align with principles of trauma-informed care

Individual

At the individual level, students should be provided with educational opportunities to learn about trauma and its impact, for those who have experienced trauma and those who have not. They should also be provided with resources that they could use to support peers who are struggling, as many students turn to friends before seeking out more formal university supports. In addition, faculty and staff members should identify and work to mitigate biases that may perpetuate retraumatizing and discriminatory practices. They should also be trained on how to respond to disclosures of trauma and to be transparent about their reporting responsibilities with students, as research shows that the responses one receives from others can drastically impact their healing trajectory.⁵⁹ Finally, faculty and staff should strive to be actively accountable when they perpetuate harms, centering the impact rather than focusing on intentions.

Interpersonal or Classroom

A trauma-informed classroom employs teaching strategies which strive to mitigate power dynamics, provide transparency, voice, and choice when possible, and sensitively address and provide adequate warning for challenging topics that may trigger traumatic responses. Trauma-informed classrooms should provide clear and consistent expectations, as well as a resource list for relevant campus services on their syllabi, to ensure their students are aware of the university supports available to them. A trauma-informed classroom should also create clear channels for student feedback to consistently allow for responsiveness, approach improvement, and creativity based on varying course requirements.

For some, reading about or discussing controversial historical or current events may be re-traumatizing. Psychology, nursing, medical, or social work courses that focus on the etiology of psychopathologies such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, self-injurious behavior, or suicide may catalyze re-experiencing or distress. Faculty should be prepared to check in with students following the presentation of such emotionally charged content, make themselves available for individual meetings with students, and direct them to campus or community resources. Faculty should also be mindful of the language they use when discussing these topics and should resist pathologizing or victim-blaming attitudes. Faculty should also consider discussing the possibility of healing and evidence-based approaches to recovery when teaching about these topics, to build hope amongst students who may be affected by these experiences that healing is possible.

Faculty that teach trauma-related content in their classrooms may experience an increased amount of student disclosures of traumatic experiences compared to their other faculty peers. Despite best intentions, faculty should not blur the line of the faculty-student relationship by serving as an informal therapist, meeting with students in off-campus settings, or providing tangible resources such as financial support. They can be supportive and prepared to listen, but then refer students to appropriate campus resources. For those students with a history of trauma that involves inappropriate behavior by an adult, such gestures can further confuse the student’s understanding of healthy boundaries in adult relationships. Ultimately, consistent faculty training and support is critical to ensure they have the tools they need to listen, support, be transparent with what they will do with the information shared in the classroom, and appropriately connect students to the resources they may need.

Campus and Culture

Universities’ physical built environment, including campus and neighborhood-level characteristics, may impact the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of students affected by trauma. A trauma-informed campus could translate knowledge from therapeutic landscape theory and the emerging ideas of trauma-informed building design to the campus setting, such as by including gardens and green spaces, ensuring privacy and security measures, having dedicated spaces as quiet zones, providing warm and inviting social spaces, and including natural light, soft colors, and biophilia in indoor buildings.^60–66 Additionally, ensuring university buildings are accessible for people with disabilities and removing university statues and landmarks that glorify individuals who caused historical harm can make the campus environment a more inclusive and welcoming place for individuals of diverse backgrounds. Finally, being mindful of the triggering presence of fraternities may be particularly important for schools with Greek life, and having visible mental health and trauma-related infrastructure can increase student engagement with these services.

The creation of a trauma-informed campus also must consider the culture of the campus. While student groups and programming has focused on the misuse of drug, alcohol, and sexual misconduct over the past several decades, these issues remain ubiquitous. Thus, expanding programming to focus on a culture of accountability, rather than solely on individual behaviors, may be necessary. Over the past decades, several of the country’s colleges and universities have grossly mismanaged trauma inflicted on students by faculty, staff, or fellow students.⁶⁷ These harms must be addressed at the university level with concrete, corrective action items to improve trust amongst the student body. Relatedly, campus organizations that serve individuals who have experienced harm within the university (e.g., sexual assault centers, counseling centers) should be staffed appropriately and advertised widely, to ensure visibility of the university’s commitment to reducing violence and harm on its campus.

Universities can also actively work to create a culture that prevents and minimizes harm by fostering campus spaces inclusive of all identities, being actively accountable for actions that perpetuate trauma, and building community amongst students before harm occurs. In addition, serious events such as gun violence, the death of a campus member, natural disasters, and other community harms should be addressed appropriately by higher leadership and spaces should be held to actively process these situations as a community for those who are interested. There exists growing attention to traumas beyond the individual- and family-level much as community violence, historical trauma, or racial trauma, but many colleges still are grounded in systems that do not yet address those traumas or those who actively perpetuate structural violence. Thus, building a campus that feels trauma-informed might not happen overnight. Ultimately, a trauma-informed university culture must appreciate how trauma impacts learning, support students to feel safe, connect students to the school community, and be responsive and adaptive to changing needs.

Policies and Procedures

At a policy and procedural level, universities should acknowledge and actively address historical harm and cultivate supportive environments by equipping students with the skills necessary to respond to traumatic stress symptoms with patience and empathy rather than judgment. Student behaviors must be contextualized within the structures they interact with that may perpetuate harm and provide opportunities for mutual understanding, accountability, and healing. Prior work has proposed several campus-level education strategies,⁴⁷ including education of administrators, faculty, and staff in trauma-informed practices at employee orientation and annual training. Such training can prepare university employees to supportively work with students disclosing trauma, normalize feelings and experiences, aid in understanding the relationship between past trauma and current feelings, empower healthy management of those feelings, and promote engagement in healthy self-care behavior.^68–70

Universities should also consider the way harm is addressed on their campus and should strive to adopt a trauma-informed and survivor-centered approach. For example, some university processes (e.g. Title IX) have faced opposition from survivors in recent years due to the lack of choice and control given to those who experienced harm through the process.⁷¹ In order to be survivor-centered, students must have a menu of options to address harm beyond typical disciplinary responses. For example, restorative justice approaches have recently been adopted by some universities for many different situations of harm voluntarily (e.g. discrimination, sexual violence, alcohol-related incidents, physical assaults).^72,73 These approaches show great promise. For example, the Student Accountability and Restorative Research (STARR) Project, a multi-campus study of college student disciplinary practices, found that restorative approaches led to increased student learning by centering harm and fostering active accountability.⁷³ Additional research into best practices and investment in restorative training for university leaders is needed, however, as poor delivery of restorative processes can lead to additional harm and traumatization. If universities are meant to provide learning opportunities for students, however, transforming the conduct process and channeling efforts to make it more student-centered might be another way to promote student growth. Additionally, campus counselors and administrators who facilitate accommodations for students can also develop new policies and procedures to develop accommodations for students experiencing trauma.

The Need for a Community-Engaged Approach

The development of a trauma-informed campus should take a student and community-engaged approach, involving stakeholders from all relevant groups - students, faculty, staff, administration, and representatives from communities around campus. Groups can provide an opportunity for students who have experienced trauma to find a community with whom they feel engaged, welcome, and valued, and in which their voices are centered. These groups should work together to identify factors that may be traumatizing and those that may be healing. Borrowing from a population health approach, these stakeholders should consider how elements of the ecological model (campus culture, social, and built environment) can be applied to a concept often thought of at the individual level (trauma). Variables of race/ethnicity, culture, socioeconomics, sexuality, and gender are important to consider and careful attention to how power dynamics have shaped and can shape a college’s response to trauma must be considered. Professionals from a range of disciplines - including public health, social work, nursing, psychology, education, and health policy, among others - likely have the relevant knowledge to contribute to the development of these approaches.

Conclusions

Universities are currently experiencing a time of great transition as they emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, which provides a key opportunity to directly address the trauma students, faculty, and staff have experienced by prioritizing a trauma-informed approach. Trauma-affected students can thrive as models of resilience and success in higher education - if the campus community works together with a sense of shared responsibility for their physical, social, emotional, and academic well-being. Given the ubiquitous nature of trauma, both historical and contemporary, among college-age individuals and its potential lifelong effects on physical and mental health, universities owe a commitment to rectifying past harms and centering healing for campus communities. If we truly believe that our role as educators involves positively influencing lives beyond our specific areas of content expertise, we owe it to ourselves as well.