Colleges Leverage Tech to Improve Mental Health Options
In a statement issued by Cardona's office, the Department of Education cited examples of mental health projects funded through this mechanism that are already in play:
- Telehealth: Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University in Wisconsin – a tribal college – has used the funding to partner with a mental health platform that allows all students and faculty on-demand, 24/7 access to counselors.
- In-person professionals: Sinclair Community College in Ohio hired a social worker to provide case management to students.
- Gatekeeper training/suicide prevention training: Davidson-Davie Community College in North Carolina provided gatekeeper trainings and materials to over 30 faculty and staff.
- Call/text hotline: University at Albany, part of the State University of New York system, runs a student peer phone hotline to allow students to call with mental health concerns or to talk.
- Suicide prevention coordinating committee: North Carolina Central University – a historically Black university – created a suicide prevention coordinating committee to develop on-campus resources and a suicide response plan.
While HEERF can be a valuable resource for many institutions, in the case of University of Kentucky, Williams said the platforms have been funded by a range of sources including external grants — from organizations like Kentucky's Council on Post-secondary Education — as well as internal funding from the Office for Student Success and the Student Government Association.
It's worth noting, too, that while HEERF provides a temporary funding boost, institutions looking to ramp up student mental health services may be concerned about the long-term costs and risks involved with hiring and expanding staffing, suggested Ed Gaussen, the co-founder and CEO of Mantra Health, a digital mental health services provider. However, he said, colleges and universities can expand their mental health offerings without employing additional full-time clinicians. For example, working with a telehealth provider, schools can offer therapy, psychiatry, 24/7 crisis care, and a diverse group of clinical providers. "Not only do you want gaps in care filled, but you want to meet students' needs properly and quickly to improve mental health conditions," said Gaussen.
"When students are experiencing mental and emotional difficulties, their academic performance and ability to withstand hardship are impacted severely and directly influence student success and retention rates. Colleges and universities must take advantage of this one-time funding to deliver better mental health care to their student body," he added.
Going Solo
The University of Alabama at Birmingham took another approach to the funding dilemma: utilizing in-house IT talent to develop a mobile app for student well-being. The impetus originally came from student leaders who proposed creating an app that could enhance access to existing services and provide connections to additional tools and services. The result is something comparable to the University of Kentucky offering, with access to Kognito and TAO as well as the Student Health Services patient portal, where students can schedule an appointment or contact their counselor.
To put her school's effort in perspective, Rebecca Kennedy, assistant vice president for Student Health and Wellbeing, noted that UAB is part of an international agreement to create "health promoting" universities. So, student mental health is taken seriously. And as the pandemic unfolded, Kennedy said, it became clear that some students were not doing well. In October of 2020, student leaders told the counseling services that an app would be critical to better reaching and serving students.