Should Universities Have Mental Health Facilities

[Caracal]

I'd like to hear from people who voted "yes" to the survey. Is this level of on-campus mental health services sufficient, or should treatment for more serious issues be provided on campus (other than through a medical school)?

I voted yes, but I don't think it's realistic to expect every university to have a full-blown mental health facility, so I was really only expecting something with basic services akin to a student health clinic or urgent care.

It's different when the university's enrollment is substantial relative to the size of the host city (think Texas A&M in College Station), in which case the university should reasonably be expected to take greater responsibility for offering such mental health services, as offloading it to the community would overwhelm the community level resources.

That's how it works, mostly. If a student hurts their elbow playing basketball, they go to the student health center. Someone takes a look at it there. If the doctor or nurse practitioner there thinks it might be more than a bruise, they set up an appointment for the student somewhere else where they can get an X-Ray. Same thing as my GP would do.

The analogy isn't perfect, but counseling is sort of the front line of mental health care. Most of the students who come to counseling services are not dealing with life threatening or dangerous mental health crises. However, those services can identify students who are facing those issues, others may benefit from medication, and that usually involves going to outside providers-although schools often contract with psychologists to streamline the process. Many students don't need any of this and just could use a trained person to talk through things with.

[apl68]

Student counseling services aren't anything new.  My SLAC alma mater had a counselor on staff in the 1980s.  The R1 where I went to grad school in the 1990s had a staff of counselors.  And apparently somebody who could prescribe--they had a reputation for handing out Prozac (The standard miracle pill of the day) like candy.

The analogy of universities to small towns needing access to whatever services are needed in a small town makes sense.

[mleok]

For those who still don't get it, I have sat at a meeting and listened to a universally chancellor state flatly 'adjunct faculty in the university will never get health insurance here.'

I think you're conflating the issue of the existence of mental health facilities with the question of how services are paid for. It is entirely possible for a student health center to accept various types of insurance, including the required student health insurance. Oftentimes, that student health center serves as a primary care facility, and the student health insurance requires referrals from the health center in order for any specialist procedures to be covered.

[downer]

1. The best universities have counseling and mental health services.
2. All universities should strive to be as good as possible.
Conclusion: All universities should have counseling and mental health services.

[marshwiggle]

1. The best universities have counseling and mental health services.
2. All universities should strive to be as good as possible.
Conclusion: All universities should have counseling and mental health services.

A Hummer and a Smart Car can both provide "transportation services", but most people would probably argue that one or the other is more appropriate in a given situation.

[mahagonny]

For those who still don't get it, I have sat at a meeting and listened to a universally chancellor state flatly 'adjunct faculty in the university will never get health insurance here.'

I think you're conflating the issue of the existence of mental health facilities with the question of how services are paid for. It is entirely possible for a student health center to accept various types of insurance, including the required student health insurance. Oftentimes, that student health center serves as a primary care facility, and the student health insurance requires referrals from the health center in order for any specialist procedures to be covered.

I don't think so. I'm more objecting to calling a university or a college a community. It's much more of an insider versus outsider scene where hiring practices and employment  contracts (of starkly different types) are concerned. To call this a community is not plausible.
I don't begrudge students getting needed care. Without them there's no butter on our bread. I can certainly be practical about retention concerns, like anyone else.

ETA: Matter of fact, though I voted 'no' I'm beginning to rethink my position. If, as I and many others suspect, the woke cult emanating from academia is making students mentally unhealthy, perhaps it should be, especially, responsibility of the school to treat the condition. So I guess I'd prefer to vote 'maybe' at this point.

[Anon1787]

1. The best universities have counseling and mental health services.
2. All universities should strive to be as good as possible.
Conclusion: All universities should have counseling and mental health services.

1 & 2 are unsubstantiated assertions. Ergo, conclusion does not follow.

[downer]

1. The best universities have counseling and mental health services.
2. All universities should strive to be as good as possible.
Conclusion: All universities should have counseling and mental health services.

1 & 2 are unsubstantiated assertions. Ergo, conclusion does not follow.

Evidence for 1.
At least the top 50 of https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities have counseling services.

2 is plainly true, though it may lack substance. "Good" may need to be better defined.

[marshwiggle]

1. The best universities have counseling and mental health services.
2. All universities should strive to be as good as possible.
Conclusion: All universities should have counseling and mental health services.

1 & 2 are unsubstantiated assertions. Ergo, conclusion does not follow.

Evidence for 1.
At least the top 50 of https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities have counseling services.

2 is plainly true, though it may lack substance. "Good" may need to be better defined.

So must "possible".  It has to include what is realistic financially given the size, location, etc. of the institution.

[Anon1787]

1. The best universities have counseling and mental health services.
2. All universities should strive to be as good as possible.
Conclusion: All universities should have counseling and mental health services.

1 & 2 are unsubstantiated assertions. Ergo, conclusion does not follow.

Evidence for 1.
At least the top 50 of https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities have counseling services.

2 is plainly true, though it may lack substance. "Good" may need to be better defined.

1. U.S. News is the arbiter of "best" universities?
2. The obligation of all universities to try to copy the "best" universities doesn't seem to be plainly true unless the "best" university is a homogeneous Platonic form that all universities seek to approximate.

[dismalist]

1. The best universities have counseling and mental health services.
2. All universities should strive to be as good as possible.
Conclusion: All universities should have counseling and mental health services.

1 & 2 are unsubstantiated assertions. Ergo, conclusion does not follow.

Evidence for 1.
At least the top 50 of https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities have counseling services.

2 is plainly true, though it may lack substance. "Good" may need to be better defined.

1. U.S. News is the arbiter of "best" universities?
2. The obligation of all universities to try to copy the "best" universities doesn't seem to be plainly true unless the "best" university is a homogeneous Platonic form that all universities seek to approximate.

Ad 1: Here is a post by a Columbia U mathematician about Columbia's fake data for US News and World Report: https://www.math.columbia.edu/~thaddeus/ranking/investigation.html It's long and detailed.  The conclusion is worthwhile:

No one should try to reform or rehabilitate the ranking. It is irredeemable. In Colin Diver's memorable formulation, "Trying to rank institutions of higher education is a little like trying to rank religions or philosophies. The entire enterprise is flawed, not only in detail but also in conception."

Read the whole conclusion.

Ad 2: The best? Must I buy a Merc to replace my VW? Must anyone else?

[downer]

1. The best universities have counseling and mental health services.
2. All universities should strive to be as good as possible.
Conclusion: All universities should have counseling and mental health services.

1 & 2 are unsubstantiated assertions. Ergo, conclusion does not follow.

Evidence for 1.
At least the top 50 of https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities have counseling services.

2 is plainly true, though it may lack substance. "Good" may need to be better defined.

1. U.S. News is the arbiter of "best" universities?
2. The obligation of all universities to try to copy the "best" universities doesn't seem to be plainly true unless the "best" university is a homogeneous Platonic form that all universities seek to approximate.

1. It's not a terrible place to start. If you have a different list you prefer, let's see whether their top 50 have counseling and mental health services. I think they will.
2. That is a fair point. So why isn't the discussion separating out different kinds of universities? And other colleges? But even if we do, how different are they going to be? Will there be any that are not well served by having counseling and mental services?

[Hibush]

The discussion of where mental health services should be housed and how they should be paid for is both principled and practical.

In my state, taxpayers are not eager to pay for mental health services and a bunch of other social programs. But they are willing to pay for education. As a result, childhood food insecurity is addressed by feeding children in the local public school. Child physical disabilities are addressed by services through the school. Counseling for family dysfunction and lesser mental-health issues is through the school. The cost per student in high school is more than what we pay for public college. But only a small part of that cost is for teaching. On principle, that is nuts. But as a practical solution to having taxpayers cover legitimate societal needs it works. 

[marshwiggle]

The discussion of where mental health services should be housed and how they should be paid for is both principled and practical.

In my state, taxpayers are not eager to pay for mental health services and a bunch of other social programs. But they are willing to pay for education. As a result, childhood food insecurity is addressed by feeding children in the local public school. Child physical disabilities are addressed by services through the school. Counseling for family dysfunction and lesser mental-health issues is through the school. The cost per student in high school is more than what we pay for public college. But only a small part of that cost is for teaching. On principle, that is nuts. But as a practical solution to having taxpayers cover legitimate societal needs it works.

The big problem is that over time the situation overall gets worse, because the public's perceptions are increasingly disconnected from reality. The short-term pragmatic solution continued indefinitely leads to a looming problem down the road.

[Puget]

The discussion of where mental health services should be housed and how they should be paid for is both principled and practical.

In my state, taxpayers are not eager to pay for mental health services and a bunch of other social programs. But they are willing to pay for education. As a result, childhood food insecurity is addressed by feeding children in the local public school. Child physical disabilities are addressed by services through the school. Counseling for family dysfunction and lesser mental-health issues is through the school. The cost per student in high school is more than what we pay for public college. But only a small part of that cost is for teaching. On principle, that is nuts. But as a practical solution to having taxpayers cover legitimate societal needs it works.

I think it is overall a pretty good strategy to run wrap-around services for families through the schools, as long as they are getting the funding and support to do it well. In the US, school is the one place kids legally have to be (unless they are home schooled, but that's a different topic), so providing the services there makes sure they actually get them and don't miss out because parents don't have the time, resources, understanding or motivation to connect with services outside of school. Schools are also a place most parents know and trust, so experiments with co-locating additional services there (like community health clinics, GED and other adult ed classes, etc.) have been quite successful.

This relates to the original topic of the thread through the theme of accessibility. Put the services where the people needing them already are, and are comfortable with. Here, the counseling center really gets that and has put staff were the students are for drop-in hours every week-- in the dorms, in the gym, in the international student center, etc. This catches a lot of students who might never go to the counseling center (because it seems stigmatizing, or scary to do so), but e.g., can just pop in to talk to someone after practice.