Coverage of February 18 Council Meeting |
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At the February 18 University Council meeting, the co-chairs of the Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare presented their findings: Rebecca Bushnell, School of Arts & Sciences Board of Overseers Professor of English and former dean of SAS, suggested that everyone read the complete report (Almanac February 17, 2015). Anthony Rostain, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and director of education for the department of psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine, stressed that mental illness is real and impacts young people.
Dr. Bushnell noted some of Penn’s strengths and challenges. She noted that there is a comprehensive set of educational programs, outreach, treatment and intervention, and a caring, engaged community, but it is a highly competitive environment that can lead some students to be distressed. The link between success and psychological health must be communicated, she added. Information must be centralized and education about warning signs needs to be widely available and resources must be used to optimize effectiveness.
Dr. Rostain added that while most college students are ready for the academic rigors of college, many are not ready for the emotional and other challenges of dealing with the college environment. He said that mental health is a public health issue that is a concern nationwide. He pointed out that there has been an increase in the number of students making appointments at Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) but that the wait time has decreased since four new staff members were recently added to their staff and they moved to larger quarters (Almanac Demember 16, 2014).
The HELP Line, (215) 898-HELP (215-898-4357), that was established in December, was one of the recommendations of the Task Force to be implemented before the report was completed (Almanac December 9, 2014).
The report included several recommendations including some around enhancing and improving communication. The Task Force suggested engaging faculty, staff and family members, especially at high stress times of the year, and making the CAPS mental health module of I CARE training more widely available to all members of the Penn community.
Some of the next steps would involve implementing the recommendations, tasks that will be left to those in the various departments.
In response to a question about the possibility of a help line that has a texting feature, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said that if members of the Penn community go to the Penn Guardian website, there is a text option available.
Dr. Rostain said, “it is ok not to be ok.” There is a need to de-stigmatize using a leave of absence.
Provost Vincent Price expressed the administration’s appreciation for the work of the Task Force and all those in the community who participated in the working groups. Dr. Price said that the administration fully intends to implement the recommendations and will pursue them with extraordinary vigor.
The Open Forum was then held; it consisted of the following issues raised predominantly by Penn students:
1. student support systems in place at the Veterinary School; by Jonathan Ferrari, Vet’17
2. mental health support at Penn and suggestions for improvement; by Kim Quick, LPS’15
3. access for LPS students; by Matthew Harman, LPS’15
4. Penn’s policy on sponsorship for US Permanent Resident Status for staff positions; by Karthik Raj, research specialist, Vet School
5. Penn's No-Loan Policy, loan debt accumulation and its effects on low income students; by Breanna Moore, C’15
6. Penn’s commitment to financial aid and the No-Loan Policy; by Tunmise Fawole, C’17
7. funding for MUSC 056; by David Scollan, C’17
8. the condition of dining and food service facilities on this campus; by Chikezie Wood, C’16
9. political discrimination on campus; by Avivah Hotimsky, W’16
10. resources for international students; by Michael Karam, C’17
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