The University of California Board of Regents were presented today (Sep. 20) with the UC Student Mental Health Committee’s recommendations on improving mental health services available to UC students.

In December 2005, UC Provost and Executive Vice President Rory Hume charged the 12-member student mental health committee with examining trends in student mental health, both nationally and at the University of California.

“The committee’s report is an important step toward addressing these critical issues,” said Hume. “We must respond to this rising challenge of student mental health with a comprehensive plan.”

In recent years, college students’ mental health has become a greater concern on campuses across the country as more and more students of all ages and backgrounds have experienced mental health concerns that are qualitatively different and significantly more complex than in previous generations.

Nationally, nearly half of all college students report feeling so depressed at some point that they have trouble functioning. In addition, the committee found that student mental health issues affect academic communities in a variety of ways, from disruptive and hostile behavior to violence in classrooms to suicidal threats or gestures in the residence halls.

After reviewing trends in student mental health and how these trends are being managed nationally and at UC, the committee is recommending in its report [www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/sept06/303attach.pdf] that UC adopt a comprehensive three-tiered plan of action in response to the mental health needs of its students.

The plan would restore critical services, implement targeted interventions and put into place a comprehensive institutional approach to creating healthier learning environments.

Recommendations

The student mental health committee is proposing the following:

- Tier-1 of the plan recommends that UC implement new strategies for managing student crises and increase mental health staffing to meet the national standard for student/staff ratios.

- Tier -2 would enact a comprehensive prevention program that targets intervention programs for more vulnerable students. The reintroduction of key programs would help students manage stress and increase staff levels in the areas most affected by student mental health issues. Programs would focus on students who experience high levels of stress and are most vulnerable.

- Tier-3 recommends that UC expand key academic and learning services to enhance students’ ability to manage academically related stress. Prevention programs would be established that raise awareness about early intervention and treatment, reduce stress, and teach students how to create and maintain healthy, balanced lifestyles.

“We believe our recommendations will be helpful to the regents in their quest to tackle the rising complexity of student mental health,” said Joel E. Dimsdale, a professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego and co-chair of the student mental health committee.

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