THE NEEDED MENTAL HEALTH CARE REFORM REQUIRES FACULTY SUPPORT
The crisis today (2021) requires the faculty to step forward. Because W&M is a university, and because of what a faculty is (see AAUP 1958), this mental health reform cannot move forward without faculty support. The efforts required to end the crisis at the College must be reviewed and endorsed by the faculty because, among other things, these new programs have educational content and, to some degree, they are educational programs. At a university, the faculty have final authority over such matters, and they cannot pass off this responsibility to anyone else at the college. The faculty must act.
I am stressing this fact because I discovered in recent conversations with students about this crisis that, when they blame "the university" for its uncaring, insensitive, callous attitude, they actually do not know who to blame. Like students at any university, they do not know what a university is, what makes it unique, and how it operates. What needs to be made clear in the current crisis is that the Board, the President, and the Provost are doing their jobs and are quite obviously concerned for the welfare and wellbeing of these students. The petition calling for the firing of the Provost is obviously confused--the provost thought the question was about pass/fail and she was obviously right: look at the question stated right there on the petition. Nonetheless, the students thought it was a question about mental health. The fact that such a petition could gain the signatures of more than 25% of the student body simply reveals how desperate this crisis is. I can assure the students that, as a matter of fact, this Provost is as concerned about student wellbeing as anyone, and if the students had a conversation with her on that topic (rather than on pass/fail), they would learn that very quickly
Also, please understand that, while the president is deeply concerned for student wellbeing, and she is obviously fully engaged in building the capacity to provide the care students need (see "VCU Health at W&M," below), she does not involve herself in programs like the reform being proposed. This reform will unfold in actions that take place at the Vice Presidential level and below, with the faculty playing a supporting role. Problems that come up are to be handled by the Vice President, with the faculty playing a supporting role. At a well-functioning university--and William & Mary under Katherine Rowe is, if nothing else, a well-functioning university--the President does not intervene in programs and policies at the Vice Presidential level. Remember that the Vice President reports to the President. If the President has views, opinions, input, advice, questions, and so forth--and she probably will, when she learns of these reforms--she will raise them in her meetings with the Vice President. If this program is not to the President's liking, there will be changes, but they will be announced and implemented by the Vice President, because the program is hers.
The reform has been explained and designed and discussed for some time (see below). I know that the VP Student Affairs, Ginger Ambler, would be happy to lead this effort, which calls for the creation of a Task Force on Mental Health and Wellness that she will chair. The students, via their campus Active Minds chapter, would be even happier to have the opportunities this reform gives them. The initiative requires no new expenditures. The ONLY question is: Will the faculty do their part? I can tell you from my experience as Faculty Assembly President in 2014-2015 that, the last time students plummeted into a mental health crisis this severe, which was in April 2015, the main problem in addressing that crisis was the lack of faculty action, lack of faculty cooperation, lack of faculty initiative, and lack of faculty engagement.
The task the faculty must play in this reform is not trivial, but it is well within the faculty's capabilities. If this reform is in place when the fall semester begins, the mental health crisis will evaporate the day the students arrive. Mental health will, in an instant, change from a topic causing misery and angst among students to an issue that motivates positive, effective action.
Just remember that, while VP Ambler would be happy to lead this effort, she cannot move forward without the faculty endorsement I have pointed out is necessary.
The crisis today (2021) requires the faculty to step forward. Because W&M is a university, and because of what a faculty is (see AAUP 1958), this mental health reform cannot move forward without faculty support. The efforts required to end the crisis at the College must be reviewed and endorsed by the faculty because, among other things, these new programs have educational content and, to some degree, they are educational programs. At a university, the faculty have final authority over such matters, and they cannot pass off this responsibility to anyone else at the college. The faculty must act.
I am stressing this fact because I discovered in recent conversations with students about this crisis that, when they blame "the university" for its uncaring, insensitive, callous attitude, they actually do not know who to blame. Like students at any university, they do not know what a university is, what makes it unique, and how it operates. What needs to be made clear in the current crisis is that the Board, the President, and the Provost are doing their jobs and are quite obviously concerned for the welfare and wellbeing of these students. The petition calling for the firing of the Provost is obviously confused--the provost thought the question was about pass/fail and she was obviously right: look at the question stated right there on the petition. Nonetheless, the students thought it was a question about mental health. The fact that such a petition could gain the signatures of more than 25% of the student body simply reveals how desperate this crisis is. I can assure the students that, as a matter of fact, this Provost is as concerned about student wellbeing as anyone, and if the students had a conversation with her on that topic (rather than on pass/fail), they would learn that very quickly
Also, please understand that, while the president is deeply concerned for student wellbeing, and she is obviously fully engaged in building the capacity to provide the care students need (see "VCU Health at W&M," below), she does not involve herself in programs like the reform being proposed. This reform will unfold in actions that take place at the Vice Presidential level and below, with the faculty playing a supporting role. Problems that come up are to be handled by the Vice President, with the faculty playing a supporting role. At a well-functioning university--and William & Mary under Katherine Rowe is, if nothing else, a well-functioning university--the President does not intervene in programs and policies at the Vice Presidential level. Remember that the Vice President reports to the President. If the President has views, opinions, input, advice, questions, and so forth--and she probably will, when she learns of these reforms--she will raise them in her meetings with the Vice President. If this program is not to the President's liking, there will be changes, but they will be announced and implemented by the Vice President, because the program is hers.
The reform has been explained and designed and discussed for some time (see below). I know that the VP Student Affairs, Ginger Ambler, would be happy to lead this effort, which calls for the creation of a Task Force on Mental Health and Wellness that she will chair. The students, via their campus Active Minds chapter, would be even happier to have the opportunities this reform gives them. The initiative requires no new expenditures. The ONLY question is: Will the faculty do their part? I can tell you from my experience as Faculty Assembly President in 2014-2015 that, the last time students plummeted into a mental health crisis this severe, which was in April 2015, the main problem in addressing that crisis was the lack of faculty action, lack of faculty cooperation, lack of faculty initiative, and lack of faculty engagement.
The task the faculty must play in this reform is not trivial, but it is well within the faculty's capabilities. If this reform is in place when the fall semester begins, the mental health crisis will evaporate the day the students arrive. Mental health will, in an instant, change from a topic causing misery and angst among students to an issue that motivates positive, effective action.
Just remember that, while VP Ambler would be happy to lead this effort, she cannot move forward without the faculty endorsement I have pointed out is necessary.
WHAT THE REFORMS ENTAIL AND WHY WE SHOULD EXPECT THEM TO BE EFFECTIVE
The reforms to be implemented have been designed and we have good reason to think they will work: they are based on the Student-Faculty Mental Health Initiative announced on Sept 11, 2015. It was, during the seven weeks of its operation, a success that exceeded the expectations of those who planned and approved it. Just the announcement of a mental health conversation on campus--just that--caused excitement and enthusiasm that itself became a story. As the initiative got underway, William & Mary students demonstrated not only that they want to talk about mental health issues, but that they have quite sophisticated views to share and debate. It also showed that students have many healthy beliefs about mental illness: they do not stigmatize, for instance. The student body is a vast untapped potential for mental health care on campus. This was demonstrated--concretely demonstrated--in Sept and Oct 2015.
Of course, 2015 was a long time ago, and the actions planned now have moved well beyond that first idea, which focused only on structuring a conversation. The 2015 initiative ended when I left campus in late Oct 2015. Over the last 4 1/2 years, I have revised that plan in light of changing conditions and new evidence, and it is now a proposal for a genuine reform of the student mental health care system. Of course, it is only a partial reform. For one thing, it does not affect--it leaves untouched, it does not threaten--the existing student mental health care administration at W&M (the Counseling Center and the Dean of Students Office). It also will not alter the plans President Rowe is pursuing at a higher level of administration, which first became visible on April 7 with the opening of "VCU Health at William & Mary" at 332 N. Henry Street. This new reform should be considered a new subsystem that will complement and offer support to what already exists on campus, in particular the system the president is putting into place (which covers much more than mental health, of course). The reason we need a third subsystem is that neither the traditional subsystem nor the new alliance with VCU can respond directly and immediately to the profound crisis the students are reporting. If it is possible to respond to this crisis, we must respond.
The reforms to be implemented are outlined here: https://www.syntirohealth.org/wm-reform.html
This website (Syntiro), the rationale for the reform, and an explanation of how the reform is structured were all reported by the Flat Hat in November and December 2018. No one ever claimed there were problems with the Sept 2015 initiative. It was welcomed by many and criticized by none. No one has said any part of the critique of the current system, published in the Flat Hat on November 27, 2018, was incorrect, unfair, or inaccurate. On the contrary, that piece received a number of positive reviews and comments. Also, while (again) there is important work being done to deliver adequate health care to the students (e.g., VCU Health), the reform plan outlined and explained on the Syntiro website remains the only proposal that offers a direct and immediate response to the students' urgent pleas for better mental health care at the College. Because of our prior experience in 2015, we have every reason to think this planned reform will work, and will work well.
The reforms to be implemented have been designed and we have good reason to think they will work: they are based on the Student-Faculty Mental Health Initiative announced on Sept 11, 2015. It was, during the seven weeks of its operation, a success that exceeded the expectations of those who planned and approved it. Just the announcement of a mental health conversation on campus--just that--caused excitement and enthusiasm that itself became a story. As the initiative got underway, William & Mary students demonstrated not only that they want to talk about mental health issues, but that they have quite sophisticated views to share and debate. It also showed that students have many healthy beliefs about mental illness: they do not stigmatize, for instance. The student body is a vast untapped potential for mental health care on campus. This was demonstrated--concretely demonstrated--in Sept and Oct 2015.
Of course, 2015 was a long time ago, and the actions planned now have moved well beyond that first idea, which focused only on structuring a conversation. The 2015 initiative ended when I left campus in late Oct 2015. Over the last 4 1/2 years, I have revised that plan in light of changing conditions and new evidence, and it is now a proposal for a genuine reform of the student mental health care system. Of course, it is only a partial reform. For one thing, it does not affect--it leaves untouched, it does not threaten--the existing student mental health care administration at W&M (the Counseling Center and the Dean of Students Office). It also will not alter the plans President Rowe is pursuing at a higher level of administration, which first became visible on April 7 with the opening of "VCU Health at William & Mary" at 332 N. Henry Street. This new reform should be considered a new subsystem that will complement and offer support to what already exists on campus, in particular the system the president is putting into place (which covers much more than mental health, of course). The reason we need a third subsystem is that neither the traditional subsystem nor the new alliance with VCU can respond directly and immediately to the profound crisis the students are reporting. If it is possible to respond to this crisis, we must respond.
The reforms to be implemented are outlined here: https://www.syntirohealth.org/wm-reform.html
This website (Syntiro), the rationale for the reform, and an explanation of how the reform is structured were all reported by the Flat Hat in November and December 2018. No one ever claimed there were problems with the Sept 2015 initiative. It was welcomed by many and criticized by none. No one has said any part of the critique of the current system, published in the Flat Hat on November 27, 2018, was incorrect, unfair, or inaccurate. On the contrary, that piece received a number of positive reviews and comments. Also, while (again) there is important work being done to deliver adequate health care to the students (e.g., VCU Health), the reform plan outlined and explained on the Syntiro website remains the only proposal that offers a direct and immediate response to the students' urgent pleas for better mental health care at the College. Because of our prior experience in 2015, we have every reason to think this planned reform will work, and will work well.