about us
The Institute for Trauma, Adversity, and Resilience in Higher Education
began as an interdisciplinary conference on Trauma and Learning in Post-Secondary Education hosted by MassBay Community College in 2012. MassBay has generously continued its support of the Institute. Additional previous support was received from a United States Department of Education Title III grant. For more information on how to support or partner with us, see the Get In Touch section.
Actions/Activities
The Institute works towards understanding how trauma and adversity impact higher education by means of research, writing, professional development, and internal and external collaboration.
Current and recent work includes:
Workshops and professional development on campus and in the community including campus and conference presentations, workshops, webinars
Development and upcoming implementation of an ACEs style questionnaire that names trauma and systemic adversity in our community
Ongoing curation of an online resource site pertaining to trauma informed higher education.
Ongoing research on trauma, adversity, and resilience in higher education
Development of modules for upcoming internal and external community education
Our Vision
Recognizing and naming how trauma and adversity impact the adult learner generates a critical brain-based perspective and lens through the which the college builds upon skills of resilience to orient pedagogy, support services, and holistic institutional practices encouraging academic access and success for all students.
Our Mission
Promote understanding in higher education and the larger community of the profound impact trauma and adversity have on the learning brain and academic resilience in higher education, as well as how a strengths based, trauma-informed campus and community can productively support development of critical importance to academic and workplace success.