Abstract
While college remains a pivotal and exciting time for many young adults, the experience may also be stressful, confusing, and emotionally taxing. Exposure to new experiences and people, the availability of contemporary freedoms, and introduction to potentially fraught social climates may increase individuals’ emotional dysregulation. As the body of research documenting increased mental health issues among college students continues to grow, the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these negative mental health experiences to a currently unknown degree. Small colleges in particular are situated on a precipice of decision, needing to balance their resources for reactive measures and proactive planning. While resources and tools for addressing these growing mental health concerns exist, they are often expensive, require time and resources for staff and student training, and are often inflexible in their application. Using easily accessible software, such as Microsoft Power Apps would eliminate many facets of these hindrances and allow schools to tailor the most appropriate prevention and response. The purpose of this research and project is to conceptualize an easily accessible, affordable tool for small colleges to use as a resource to screen for and plan proactive mitigation of student mental health symptoms.
