“HELP” for grieving students: Collaboration advocates for college student bereavement leave policies

A College of Education faculty member has joined a campaign to advocate for student-specific bereavement leave policies at higher education institutions.

Heather Servaty-Seib works most directly with university-level units focused on student success, academic advising, exploratory studies, and summer/winter sessions. Servaty-Seib, professor of counseling psychology in the College’s Department of Educational Studies and senior associate vice provost for teaching and learning in Purdue’s Office of the Provost, is also an established scholar in the field of thanatology (the study of death and dying). Her scholarship has been used to support the development of student bereavement leave policies across the U.S., including Purdue’s policy in 2011.

Grieving a family member while attending an institution of higher education can be an overwhelming life event. Research indicates 25-30% of postsecondary students are within one year of experiencing the death of someone close to them. Servaty-Seib is a member of the team working with the nonprofit organization Evermore to create the Higher Education Leave Policy (HELP) Campaign for student-specific bereavement policies.

Evermore is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit “dedicated to improving the lives of bereaved people.” Evermore advocates for meaningful policy change, advances bereavement science, and cultivates innovative bereavement programming among communities nationwide.

How did the partnership come about? Servaty-Seib connected with Evermore through founder Joyal Mulheron. “What resonated most for us both was our belief that policies at all levels (federal, state, local, and campus–based) have a tangible role in raising awareness, acknowledging the reality, and facilitating support,” Servaty-Seib said.

According to Mulheron, “Partnering with Dr. Servaty-Seib and the other members of the HELP team, is paving the way for those students who are often forgotten and expected to carry on, even during the most distressing life events.” She went on to add, “we can do better.”

The HELP Campaign advocates for university bereavement programs. According to a 2019 study by Servaty-Seib and Chye Hong Liew, only 44 postsecondary institutions at that time had student-specific bereavement programs – including Purdue University. Evermore and the cross-disciplinary HELP Team of scholars and students is creating a comprehensive toolkit that will provide education for organizations on bereavement and offer resources and support for grieving students, university administrators, and professors. The toolkit will launch this Fall on the Higher Education Section of Evermore’s website and will include:

• Templates and examples of current policies
• Resources and strategic approaches to bereavement programs
• A curated database of U.S. institutions potentially open to adopting student-specific bereavement leave policies

Red Douglas, a graduate student on the HELP Team, explained that the campaign is moving forward by contacting student leaders at diverse higher education institutions, including trade schools and community colleges, to help establish more student-specific bereavement programs. The HELP Team plans to collaborate with these student leaders by supporting them in creating campus-specific approaches to establish policies that work best for their students.  Parents, students, faculty and staff will also be offered surveys to garner campus-specific bereavement needs.

Malhar Pagay, HELP Team member and former undergraduate student, offered, “We plan to expand our efforts to consider related issues, such as the financial impact the loss of a parent or caregiver has on students.”

Jena Kirkpatrick, manager of Outreach and Engagement at Evermore, added that the HELP campaign will be shared in the biweekly Evermore Community Newsletter featuring institutions that have implemented successful bereavement policies.

Servaty-Seib emphasized the importance of further research and facilitation of wider education around bereavement policies.

Sources: Heather Servaty-Seib, servaty@purdue.edu; Jena Kirkpatrick, Evermore; Red Douglas, HELP Team Member; Malhar Pagay, HELP Team Member

Writer: Rebekah DeMoss, rdemoss@purdue.edu