So far this spring, I have explored the first three “essentials” for workplace mental health and well-being—protection from harm, connection and community, and work-life harmony—in the U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being. The authors of the framework argue that “organizational efforts to invest in workplace well-being . . . can in turn support the development of a happier, healthier, more productive workforce” and, furthermore, “organizations can use this Framework to support their workplaces as engines of mental health and wellbeing” (p. 9). I think higher education can use this framework as a jumping-off point to do the hard work of looking in the mirror to make some strategic and systemic changes to how the sector treats people and accomplishes its mission. In this article, we look at the final two essentials of the framework, mattering at work and opportunity for growth, and how they pertain to higher education.
Character (Still) Counts: Moral Injury and the Case for Character Education
Many academic leaders remember the Character Counts! initiative from the 1990s and early 2000s. It was visible in schools and youth programs nationwide, emphasizing as core values the Six Pillars
Teresa Maggard Stephens
June 15, 2026
