University psychological services: pandemic experience and development prospects

The article deals with the issues of caring for the psychological well-being of students, the relevance of which has increased significantly due to the experience of living and learning in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Adolescents and young people of student age turned out to be one of the most psychologically vulnerable social groups. Studies of the psychological well-being of student youth have shown that 20-25% of them need professional psychological help. It is confirmed that the psychological well-being of students has an impact on the motivation for learning, the ability for successful learning, commitment to an educational institution, which in turn directly affects the performance indicators of an educational institution. In this regard, the role and responsibility of universities in organizing a system of psychological support and developing psychological services is emphasized. It is proposed not to limit efforts only to the creation of a specialized service, assigning solely responsibility for the psychological well-being of students and employees, but given the acuteness and relevance of mental health and psychological well-being of all participants in the educational process, to direct significant efforts to create a psychologically supporting ecosystem of the university. The main elements of the ecosystem are listed; the creation and development of which includes all participants in the educational process such as administrative staff and all university services.