You have to love the patchwork society we live in. Trouble spot over here? Throw money at it. Trouble spot over there? Here, have some more money.
So with little discussion or debate, the glorious U.S. Dept. of Education has decided to give Va. Tech nearly …
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You nailed it.
My daughter attends a Virginia university. One of her classmates was seriously ill with an eating disorder, and since my own daughter was recovered from an ED she recognized the problem and wanted to help.
The university did everything it could to AVOID dealing with the problem. At every level from the RA to the Dean there was a belief that mental illness is a choice, and that it was no one’s business. Hiding behind “privacy” laws, they refused to act with the compassion and concern the student needed.
You are right to say this move at Tech is reactive instead of proactive. I’d even go so far as to say it is inactive. They don’t understand mental illness. It is very sad.
Counseling centers at most universities and colleges are simply not setup nor is it a part of their mission to help students with serious mental disorders, even common things like depression, anxiety, bipolar or an eating disorder. They’re really there to help more with life and school problems, like relationships, procrastination, etc.
Ideally, more progressive universities should invest in more serious mental health services and make them available to their students. They already invest in their students via the breadth and depth of courses they offer, athletics, music, theater, etc… So why not focus more on their mental health during a period of most people’s lives where mental health issues are most likely to first appear?
And no university or college should be waiting for a government grant to begin.
I am a student at New College of Florida, the Honors College of Florida. Keep in mind, we are a tiny public liberal arts college. We have less than 800 students and are public, yet we are able to maintain an excellent standard of care. Other universities (even private ones) ought to be ashamed.
At New College, there is a free Counseling and Wellness center, staffed with clinical psychologists with doctorate degrees. You can visit the counseling center as often as you want, with most students who use the services visiting weekly. This is a FREE service; I personally have been using it for two years.
In addition, the school has a deal set up with a local psychiatrist who comes to visit the school one day a week at NO COST TO THE STUDENT.
I consider New College to be a prime example of how university mental health care should work. If we can afford this, any school ought to be able to. These vital services saved my life.