UNC System published report on student mental health. What’s been done since then?

Editor’s note: This story contains reporting about suicides, a topic that will be disturbing to some readers. Mental health resources are available at the bottom of the story.

After a string of student deaths, including five suicides, at N.C. State University this school year, questions are arising about what programs and resources are being offered on college campuses to support students — and whether enough is being done.

The most recent deaths come almost two years after the UNC System, which includes the state’s 16 public universities, published a report detailing challenges affecting universities’ abilities to support students’ mental health needs, and recommending solutions.

Alongside the 49-page report’s release in May 2021 came an announcement that the university system had been granted $5 million from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund — a federal fund first created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act— to address the issues in the report and “rapidly expand mental health services for students statewide.”

The system has used the one-time funds to pilot key initiatives, Bethany Meighen, the UNC System’s vice president for student affairs, told The News & Observer in an interview. The funds have also been used to expand existing programs offered by the system prior to the GEER grant.

Per GEER guidelines, the UNC System must spend the funds by September of this year — though an additional $7.7 million in federal funding awarded to the university system, announced this week by Gov. Roy Cooper’s office, will provide more support, creating new initiatives and sustaining previous ones.

Here’s a deeper look at the key initiatives the UNC System has allocated these funds to create or expand.

1. Mental Health First Aid training

Mental Health First Aid is an international program that equips participants with the knowledge and skills to recognize and respond to signs of mental illness or substance abuse disorders in people around them.

Using GEER funds, the UNC System contracted with Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) to provide training on campuses. There are two main course types offered through the MHFA program:

▪ Instructor training, a multi-day certification course that trains participants in MHFA and equips them to teach MHFA to others.

▪ Basic MHFA training, an eight-hour course that equips participants with basic skills to recognize and respond to signs of mental illness or substance abuse.

Across the UNC system, 151 people have completed the instructor training program, according to information provided to The N&O by Jane Stancill, the system’s vice president for communications. Instructors have been delivering courses at individual system campuses since October 2020, prior to the launch of a system-wide initiative, and GEER funds allowed the UNC System to further expand the program.

In all, 2,038 faculty, staff and students in the system have participated in basic MHFA courses, according to the information provided by Stancill.

2. After-hours, phone-based mental health support

The UNC System has a contract with ProtoCall, a phone-based service that can be used to connect students to licensed mental health support at any time, including when campus counseling centers are closed.

The service is available at all UNC System schools, and the system says it “is designed to enhance the already robust face-to-face support students can find on every UNC System campus.”

According to information provided by Stancill, more than 250 students have used the service each month since it launched in December 2020.

The UNC System has used its first round of GEER funds to renew its contract with ProtoCall through June, with plans to use additional funds announced this week to extend the contract through the end of the year.

3. Grants for off-campus referrals to additional services

Though system campuses offer counseling and other care services, some students may have needs that are better served off-campus.

The UNC System has used GEER funds to offer “microgrants” to provide financial support to students who may be unable to afford off-campus care.

“Each campus received funding for off-campus referrals, with an allocation formula that weighed campus need, capacity, and size,” information on the program provided by Stancill said. “Campuses decided how to disseminate funds to students, either through direct grants or by setting up independent contracts to provide mental health services to students.”

4. Thriving Campus off-campus referral network

To help connect students with off-campus health services, the UNC System used GEER funds to establish a two-year contract with Thriving Campus, “a comprehensive referral platform” that can connect students with care near their campus or in their hometowns.

Eleven of the system’s 17 schools chose to use the Thriving Campus referral platform. Other schools may use different referral platforms, such as the N.C. State University Counseling Center’s MiResource referral database.

5. ‘Shared telepsychiatry pilot program’

The system used GEER funds to launch a pilot shared telepsychiatry program, which fills gaps in psychiatric care on campuses where there is limited or no access to such services.

“This pilot program provides psychiatric services including neuropsychological testing and medication evaluation and management, to students who otherwise would have no access to the help they need,” information provided by Stancill said.

The program allows psychiatrists to be shared across institutions, reducing the financial burden that funding such positions may cause to a single, smaller campus.

“Trying to create more of a shared service model is going to help us have sustainable programs,” Meighen told The N&O in an interview.

Six universities are participating in the system’s pilot of the program: Winston-Salem State University, Western Carolina University, NC A&T University, Fayetteville State University, UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Pembroke.

Since launching the program in September 2022, more than 100 students have been served, according to information provided by Stancill.

6. Campus behavioral health grants

Some GEER funds were used to launch programs and projects at the campus level at various system schools.

Through a “competitive process,” 12 system schools were awarded funding to launch programs tailored to specific needs on those campuses.

Projects funded through the grant program included implementing a peer support program at UNC-Greensboro and establishing a counselor-in-residence position at UNC-Pembroke.

“It was important that we give campuses the opportunity to apply for funding that met their needs, depending on what their students needed and the resources in the area,” Meighen said.

NC State received $70,000 through the grant program to hire two graduate assistants in the university’s Wellness and Recreation and Prevention Services departments, NC State spokesperson Mick Kulikowski told The N&O in an email.

The graduate assistants “collaborate to facilitate trainings, provide drop-in spaces for marginalized groups, and offer other programming opportunities to support student well-being,” Kulikowski said.

The grant funding will last through June 2023, Kulikowski said. After that time, the university “will assess the impact of the various programs and determine the next steps” of the program.

7. Peer support program

The UNC System used GEER funds to implement, at three schools, Togetherall, an online peer support platform that offers “supplemental mental health support to students whose concerns may not necessitate clinical intervention.”

“Togetherall provides a safe, online community for students to connect with, and support other students with the added benefit and safety of monitoring by licensed mental health clinicians,” information provided by Stancill said.

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Resources

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with someone, dial 988.

• Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. To speak with a trained listener, text HOME to 741741. This free, confidential service is available 24/7.

Resources for NC State Students

N.C. State Wellness and Recreation provides wellness programs and services for students, faculty and staff.

• The Academic Success Center provides free programs and services for students.

• The Counseling Center and Faculty and Staff Assistance Program offer a variety of support services for everyone.