This has been a tumultuous year for higher education, shaped by intensifying political tensions, deepening skepticism about the value of a degree, and a continued rise in student mental health needs. Institutions have responded by scaling up student services and counseling. Far less attention, however, has gone to a parallel challenge: the well-being of the faculty and staff who hold these institutions together.

According to a recent survey from NCFDD, nearly two-thirds of faculty report their well-being has declined over the past year, including more than one in four who say it has declined substantially. At the same time, more than three-quarters report a high need for support, yet just 10% say their institution is making a strong investment in it.

Positioned on the front lines of student support, faculty and staff are themselves experiencing deep and sustained strain.

Faculty well-being and student well-being are tightly linked. When instructors are overextended, burned out, and unsupported, their capacity to mentor, teach, and respond to students’ needs diminishes. Better supporting students requires confronting this parallel crisis.

Here are four steps colleges can take to help faculty and staff reduce burnout and strengthen their well-being.

1. Clarify the role faculty play

Despite their best efforts, faculty cannot be everything to everybody. Institutions can help by defining, in concrete terms, what falls within the faculty role and what does not.

This is especially true when it comes to student mental health and support. Today, about 80% of faculty say they have one-on-one conversations with students about their mental health.

Clear boundaries allow faculty to support students effectively without absorbing responsibilities that belong to other professionals who specialize in the area. Some institutions have started to define these boundaries explicitly.

Boston College, for example, publishes a faculty and staff guide that spells out what faculty and staff are expected to do—listen, note specific behaviors, connect students to campus resources, and follow up—while making clear that promising confidentiality, diagnosing the problem, or managing it alone fall outside their role.

2. Reinforce time and availability boundaries

Faculty routinely work far beyond standard hours, with research showing they put in an average of 50 to 60 hours per week. They hesitate to close their laptops, even at 10 p.m. They keep their office doors open for an endless parade of “just one more student.”

Over time, this culture of constant availability becomes normalized and expected. It also becomes emotionally and physically draining. More than 70% identify work-life balance and time management as major challenges affecting their teaching quality.

Institutions should set and reinforce norms around availability. That includes defining reasonable response times, encouraging faculty to establish and maintain strict office hours, and making clear that constant accessibility is not a requirement for effective student service.

Without these signals, faculty will continue to default to overwork, regardless of what their official work calendars say.

3. Better support emotional health.

Faculty are doing more emotional labor than ever before. Nearly two-thirds now report experiencing significant stress from supporting students’ mental health and other non-academic needs. Yet few receive formal training or institutional support for this work.

Colleges have historically relied on employee assistance programs to support faculty and staff mental health. In practice, however, employee assistance programs are little more than a reactive phone line. They are often underutilized due to wait times for care and a lack of clinical depth.

A small but growing number of institutions are beginning to close that gap by recognizing the emotional labor required of faculty and staff involved in student support—and by investing in their own mental health and well-being.

Every faculty member at an Alabama Community College, for example, now has access to teletherapy options, licensed counselors matched to their specific needs, and a range of other wellness resources designed to support their emotional health and well-being in a more holistic way, as well as help them manage the demands of work.

These kinds of programs treat faculty well-being as institutional infrastructure rather than a matter faculty must figure out on their own. When institutions fail to support emotional labor, they shift the burden onto individuals—and accelerate burnout.

4. Foster a healthier team culture

Burnout thrives in isolation. A healthier team culture recognizes that supporting students—and one another—is a shared responsibility.

Being a strong team member does not mean shouldering the entire load; it means knowing when to pass the ball to someone with the right expertise, capacity, or role.

Institutions should reinforce that message from the top. Departments should normalize referrals to advising and counseling staff, create structured opportunities for peer support, and ensure that collaboration is the default expectation.

Student success and well-being efforts cannot succeed if the people delivering that support are burned out. Institutions that ignore this reality risk undermining both faculty retention and student success.