This introductory chapter sets out the need for a handbook of university mental health. It considers the health of staff alongside that of students, and that does not presume American systems of education and healthcare. Far more of the UK population expects to attend university, with a consequent expansion in the size and numbers of institutions. Financial constraints mean that universities can no longer run as elite communities of self-governing scholars, but are now governed according to business models, with implications for the wellbeing of all involved. In the context of population-wide increases in mental disorder and demand for treatment, more students than ever now disclose a psychiatric diagnosis. The recent COVID pandemic and lockdown disproportionately threatened the well-being of students and may have changed for good some of the ways in which education and healthcare are delivered. The author summarises her own personal and professional of UK university life and describes the motivation for embarking on the production of a single author handbook on this topic. A wide readership is welcomed to the book, which will provide a series of interlinked but standalone chapters to be consulted piecemeal as well as read as a whole.