This story appeared in the 2022 Fall issue of Onyx Anneau.
By BJ Riley ’16, Director of Marketing
“Life goes on…even when you are a college student,” states Aimee Janssen-Robinson, associate vice president for student affairs at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. SMWC is helping to address the added pressures of college for students this fall through the implementation of a unique consortium. In March 2021, Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded $8 million as a part of an overall $70 million grant to SMWC, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and DePauw University to establish MINDful College Connections. This not-for-profit consortium is designed to expand mental health resources for students.
“This effort will allow us to share clinical services, peer education and preventative care. Then we can better respond to student mental health needs early and empower students to utilize psychoeducation and self-care strategies. The ultimate goal is to support students to help retention and college student’s ability to graduate successfully,” said Janssen-Robinson.
Janet Clark, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs, said of the partnership, “It is very innovative. The expansion of services would be impossible for institutions our size, yet can be accomplished through this type of consortium.” She added, “This is a great example of how higher education partnerships fostered by the Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) can work together to benefit each other.”
The MINDful College Connections board consists of project directors and presidents from SMWC, DePauw and Rose-Hulman. Curtis A. Wiseley, Ph.D., was named as consortium executive director in August. Wiseley’s experience as a director of mental health service operations and the establishment of treatment centers across multiple higher education institutions will be beneficial as the consortium begins the task of servicing the three institutions. Wiseley’s office will be on the campus of DePauw, but he and his staff will regularly visit the campuses of Rose-Hulman and SMWC throughout the school year.
He will oversee the three-institution consortium and its psychiatric nurse. Plans include hiring program coordinators who will provide preventative education to students and additional counselors to help offset the already heavy loads at each institution.
Clark added, “Mental health education and preventative programming can help students not reach a crisis.”
The grant will also help SMWC expand its partnership with TimelyMD, a 24/7 independent telehealth program for students implemented in fall 2020. TimelyMD allows students to receive no-cost medical care, counseling, health coaching and other health services.
Janssen-Robinson said, “All of this combined will provide greater access to mental health resources for all SMWC students including Woods Online and graduate.”
The ultimate goal is to grow the consortium by including other small institutions unable to expand services independently.