Mental and Behavioral Health
In an op-ed in the Daily Texan, Sanika Nayak, a student at University of Texas Austin, wrote that students can and should seek help at the center for mental health and counseling for a variety of issues, not simply if they have a diagnosable mental illness. Nayak wrote that the center provides a wide array of services such as short term individual counseling, group counseling, medication and psychiatric services and crisis appointments.
As part of Invest Syracuse, a $100 million fundraising initiative to improve Syracuse University‘s academics and student experience, the school is adding staff members, extending hours, and offering two group therapy session, one to help students with anxiety, and another called “Building Resilience,” to help students develop life skills.
The partnerships between University of North Texas and JED Campus, a nonprofit that partners with schools to help with mental health programming, is nearing the end of its second year. Teresa McKinney, the assistant vice president for student affairs said that following the launch of a mental health task force, partnering with JED Campus was seen as the next tier in UNT’s “quest for improved mental health services so that we can have a comprehensive approach to mental health on our campus.” Through JED Campus, UNT has access to webinar trainings, an online library and a network of participating schools.
As student demand for mental health services grows, colleges are increasingly turning to technology platforms to help address student “wellness.” But experts told Inside Higher Ed that these tools should supplement, not replace, in-person services. Kevin Kruger, president of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, said that colleges are thinking more intentionally about how to promote wellness on campus, since happy and healthy students are more likely to graduate. According to Kruger, over the last seven years, colleges have been increasing mental health staff, “But there’s an acknowledgment that you can’t hire enough counselors. That’s why there’s interest in taking a sort of public health approach — looking at what you can do to proactively address wellness issues in a broader way.” One example featured was YOU at College — a platform that gives students information on how to recognize mental health issues and access resources on campus that might help them.
Eric M. Coles, a second-year doctor of public health candidate at the Harvard University T. H. Chan School of Public Health, writes in the Crimson that although he’s seen improvements in the way the University addresses mental health, more must be done. According to Coles, Harvard should be a global leader in addressing student mental health. The Harvard Chan Mental Health Student Alliance at the School of Public Health has made three recommendations for improving mental health on campus: promote a culture of wellness that prioritizes healthy habits, hold open discussions with students about structural barriers and how to overcome them, and institutionalize a mental health survey managed by the school.
California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill which would have mandated a minimum ratio of mental health counselors to students across all California state universities — at least one full-time mental health counselor per 1,500 students. Brown said in his address to the Senate he vetoed the bill because every university has different budget needs, so specific ratios should remain under the jurisdiction of local campuses rather than be determined by the state. According to an analysis by the state Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill would have cost the UC about $10 million per year by its fifth year of operation.
The Hilinski’s Hope Foundation, an advocacy and awareness group that formed following the death by suicide of former Washington State University quarterback Tyler Hilinski, has raised $28,000 in its first fundraiser. The Foundation was started by the Hilinski family to raise money for programs that help educate, advocate and destigmatize mental illness among student athletes. The Foundation partnered with Be Bottle, which manufactures and sells insulated water bottles, to release a new special edition bottle, dedicating 100 percent of the profits to the foundation.
A University of Southern California student group, Trojan Support, will launch in October to serve as a supplement to the Engemann Student Health Center’s counseling services. Trojan Support President and Founder Armand Amini decided to create the organization after realizing the need for a peer group for those uncomfortable with seeking professional help. “[I wanted to provide a space] for individuals who want to speak with someone their own age [who] they can actually relate to at a similar time in their lives [and] they can feel comfortable [with],” Amini said.
Northwestern University is partnering with parents, families and students to promote emotional well-being and suicide prevention after a number of student deaths last academic year. In a release announcing the initiative, University President Morton Schapiro said, “Raising awareness about the resources and support available to community members is a key part of a public health approach to mental health and wellness.” In the release, Schapiro and other administrators said that in addition to University resources, students need parents, families and the entire campus community to be alert to and in support of students who are visibly struggling. Patricia Telles-Irvin, vice president for student affairs, addressed a letter to parents and families of undergraduates to discuss the various mental health resources available to students. “Parents and families are important partners as we promote student wellbeing, and our desire is always to be proactive in reaching our student community with prevention efforts,” Telles-Irvin said in the release.
Stony Brook University’s Center for Prevention and Outreach (CPO) was awarded the 2018 Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The $300,000 grant will be used to advance mental health awareness and suicide prevention initiatives at Stony Brook over the course of three years. Majumdar Das, Director of the CPO, said “Our grant is going ‘beyond the couch.’ We were thinking about if mental treatments have to be face to face, and individually, or can we start looking at prevention much earlier on?” The “beyond the couch” approach to prevention and treatment will include implementing web-based services such as telecounseling and early screenings. These services will utilize behavioral science to try and present options for students that may assist them in seeking help. This includes giving students the option to have a counseling session over the phone or by computer instead of in an office.
According to the Hechinger Report, a growing number of colleges are formalizing the role of faculty in identifying and addressing students struggling with things like isolation, withdrawal and depression. While a small minority of colleges and universities explicitly include faculty in this work and train them in it, that number is beginning to grow. Financial and other realities are precipitating this change. According to a review by the Educational Policy Institute, students who leave school cost colleges $16.5 billion a year, collectively, in foregone tuition. Students are also getting harder to replace in the midst of an enrollment drop that has seen the number of college students decline by 2.9 million since 2011, the National Student Clearinghouse reports. Carrie Espinosa, director of the Center for Student Success at Carthage College, which has a new early-alert system and puts faculty through a training program twice a year, said that while there is a “moral piece” to having faculty assist struggling students, “it’s also for the good of the institution. The more students you can retain, the more revenue you have.” In an article in the Chronicle, Charlie Nutt, executive director of Nacada, an association for academic advisers, says that faculty should become experts in the art of the referral, sending students to the appropriate person or office if they experience health, housing, career, financial-aid, work-study, campus security, and other problems.