PURPOSE

• Monitor physical health and mental health, as well as substance use, academic impacts, and sense of belonging. 
• Clarify what problems take priority in our campus and for specific student demographics to inform resource allocation. 
• Track health trends over time to evaluate the effectiveness of campus wellness initiatives.

CHALLENGE

• Low student response rates reduce representativeness of findings.
• Survey fatigue and lack of awareness affect participation.
• Limited data can hinder accurate identification of health trends.

SOLUTION

• Provide participation incentives (e.g., gift cards, tech prizes).
• Use targeted email campaigns and social media promotion.
• Collaborate with campus partners to boost outreach.

WHY THIS PROJECT MATTERS

• This project matters because it provides systematic, campus-specific data on how student well-being directly impacts academic success and retention. This survey provides us detailed, disaggregated insights needed to understand which student groups are struggling, why they are struggling, and how those struggles affect their academic trajectories. The surveys allow us to move beyond anecdotal evidence and design interventions that are both targeted and data-driven. Without systematic data collection, our assessments of student well-being would rest on a small number of annecdotal, second-hand accounts that are subject to interpretive distortion and other biases. 

IMPACT

• This research provides actionable insights into how student health and well-being. By identifying the most significant barriers to student success—such as mental health challenges, financial stress, or experiences of discrimination—the findings help the university prioritize interventions and allocate resources where they are most needed among the student body. The data also support institutional efforts to close equity gaps and improve academic progression for underrepresented groups. 

WHAT WE ARE DOING

• Conducting the NCHA survey biennially at UCR.
•  Analyzing results to identify trends and needs
•  Applying findings to improve student health services and outreach.

LIMITATIONS

• Low response rates: The ACHA-NCHA survey typically receives less than 10% response at UCR.
• Biased sample: Students who are already more involved on campus or more aware of wellness resources might be overrepresented in the sample. This, among other unobserved confounders, could skew the findings
•  Self-reported data: All findings are based on students’ self-reports, which may be subject to recall bias, social desirability bias, or inaccurate reporting on sensitive topics (e.g., substance use, mental health, discrimination)
• Survey fatigue: The length of the NCHA survey in particular may contribute to incomplete responses or lower engagement with later sections of the survey.