Our Investments in Mental Health

We are grateful for the dedication and passion of everyone involved in our collective effort to prioritize mental health. Together, we are creating a stronger, more supportive campus community where all Terps can thrive.

Darryll J. Pines

President

New Investments

48%

increase in clinical staff in 3 years

100%

increase in weekly initial assessments

8-2-1

New Initial Access Clinicians, Care Managers & Crisis Response Clinician

Our Recent Progress

Building a Comprehensive System of Care: Significant expansion of clinicians in the Counseling Center, increased collaboration between the Counseling Center and Health Center, expansion of prevention and educational efforts and new comprehensive system of care for students in crisis.
Creating an Initial Access Team: The Counseling Center’s new Initial Access Team provides for quicker and more efficient access to care. With eight clinicians, it has doubled the number of weekly initial assessments and significantly lowered the wait to see a clinician. The primary function of this team is to improve and expedite access to treatment and develop new treatment options that meet students' evolving mental health needs.
Establishing Comprehensive System of Care for Students in Crisis: The Counseling Center, University Health Center and University of Maryland Police Department are together ensuring that students in crisis receive comprehensive and effective care from the moment they need transportation to an emergency room for a mental health emergency to their return to campus life. This includes a new Mental Health Emergency Assessment and Response Team with funding to hire four specially trained clinicians who will co-respond with the Police overnight and on weekends. Hiring is underway. Agreements have been secured with local health facilities and hospitals to help students receive streamlined and effective care. And, a new comprehensive care management system supports students returning to campus from mental health emergencies requiring hospitalization.
Piloting an Embedded Clinicians Program: In partnership with the Provost’s Office and four colleges and schools, a new embedded clinicians program is being piloted with three new clinicians located in the academic units, providing more customized care.
Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care: Many primary care visits at the University Health Center can involve mental health issues, but medical professionals may not have special training for this. To help, a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner can now be consulted during these regular visits. A new service also follows up with some of these patients for depression and anxiety with surveys and proactively contacts them if symptoms worsen, helping to spot and treat mental health problems earlier.
Increasing Faculty Staff Assistance Program Staffing: A third staff position has been added to the two existing professional staff which will significantly increase the support this unit provides to the faculty and staff community.

Messages from Campus Leadership

Investing in Mental Health and Well-being

A Message from President Pines and Director of the University Counseling Center Chetan Joshi