BPE-Track 4: Phase I: The Engineering Wellness Center: Redefining success for engineering students

This project will stand up the Engineering Wellness Center (EWC) at the UK Pigman College of Engineering (COE). The EWC seeks to improve engineering students' mental health and well-being by providing and investigating the impact of increased access to resources that enhance social development, emotional well-being, and sense of belonging. The increasing prevalence of mental health challenges among college engineering students poses a threat to broader engineering workforce development and retention efforts by impacting student academic performance. In turn, these impacts extend into industry, where engineers are leaving the sector due to mental health challenges such as burnout. Acknowledging the critical link between mental health and the success of engineers, this project emphasizes a proactive approach to mental health, encompassing well-being beyond the absence of illness to include sense of belonging and social-emotional skills that are vital to student achievement. Integrating this skill development into engineering education is crucial for cultivating well-rounded, successful engineers prepared to navigate diverse professional settings. Further, the EWC will ensure that all engineering students have the structural support necessary to prioritize their mental health as undergraduate engineering students. This project will enable the EWC to translate research to practice with a goal of enhancing students’ mental health as they navigate their experience within the COE at UK. The EWC will be a welcoming environment within the COE where all students feel supported and empowered to proactively identify their needs and access resources to meet them. Ultimately, we hope to catalyze a culture change to redefine what it means to be a successful engineering student by prioritizing the development of technical, social and emotional skills that not only improve student mental health but also their effectiveness as engineers. This evidence-based EWC will tailor activities to the unique needs of engineering students, informed by specific research on their mental health. The project will measure the impact of these interventions on both mental health and academic outcomes, addressing a critical gap in mental health intervention literature within engineering. By promoting evidence-based interventions, this project aims to reshape engineering identity to prioritize mental health, supporting student success both in academia and the workplace. The EWC is expected to have a strong impact on those students who are historically underserved in engineering that are at highest risk for mental health distress and are least likely to seek professional support for their mental health. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.