The holistic health of students, faculty and staff, and their ability to thrive on campus, is of the utmost importance to NC State. As part of an ongoing commitment to strengthen wellness services on campus, the university will increase counseling personnel available to students. These efforts, which began last fall, will continue to grow throughout the year, with continual input from the campus community.
Counselors will be embedded in several of NC State’s colleges, with all positions reporting to the Counseling Center. These counselors will extend and further strengthen the services offered by the Counseling Center.
“We want every single student at NC State to know that we see them, we hear them, and we are here for them,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden. “No one should ever feel like they are alone in what they are experiencing, and we want people to know this by providing them with readily available, accessible options for mental health counseling on campus.”
The College of Engineering has two embedded counselors housed on Centennial Campus who have already started seeing students, connecting with faculty and participating in college events.
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Sciences shares a counselor with office space in Patterson Hall. These colleges maintain drop-in counseling space, and counselors actively meet with faculty, peer mentors and other groups. The Wilson College of Textiles and Graduate School share a counselor who will start on February 20, with office space on Centennial Campus in the Textiles Complex.
The College of Natural Resources and the College of Education will soon hire a shared counselor, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Poole College of Management will soon hire individual counselors as well. The Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost is partnering with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Sciences, Wilson College of Textiles, the Graduate School and the College of Natural Resources and College of Education for embedded counselor positions.
The university is also exploring providing counselor support within various scholarship programs. Each college will share with their respective communities counselor specifics including name, location and processes for making appointments with counselors.
“Our embedded counselors are highly educated and trained individuals with a heart for serving students,” said Monica Osburn, executive director of Counseling and Prevention Services. “We want to do everything we can to support student wellness, and will continue to work with groups and individuals on campus to ensure that we are offering counseling to anyone who needs it.”
In addition to embedded counselors, students can currently access services at NC State’s Counseling Center. Students with acute needs are seen first, and the center’s triage process helps connect students with licensed counselors as quickly as possible. To learn more about the Counseling Center and its offerings, please visit the center’s website.
And, as shared in December, students have access to up to 12 free counseling sessions with AcademicLiveCare, a teletherapy provider. This service provides an alternative to our on-campus counseling services for students who cannot or choose not to access the Counseling Center. Appointments are typically available within 24-48 hours.
University faculty and staff have access to confidential counseling through the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program. State Health Plan members also have access to mental health coverage and can find a provider through the Behavioral Health Resource Center.
In November, Vice Chancellor and Dean Doneka R. Scott of the Division of Academic and Student Affairs charged a Student Mental Health Task Force comprised of students, faculty and staff members, who were responsible for reviewing mental health resources on campus, researching best practices from academic literature and peer institutions, and reviewing NC State’s current policies, rules and regulations surrounding student mental health. The task force is in the process of completing its final report, which will be reviewed by university leadership and then shared with the campus community.
Please remember that tomorrow, Thursday, February 16 is designated as a wellness day at NC State. There will be no classes, and faculty should avoid scheduling tests or deadlines tomorrow, and on Friday, February 17.
For a comprehensive list of mental health resources, please visit the Wolfpack Wellness website. If you are concerned about the wellbeing of a student or colleague, please look into making an online referral through Prevention Services CARES program.
If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, call 988. In the case of a life-threatening emergency, call 911.
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