Editorial: Mental health

Recent emails sent by Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun reminded the student body of the resources available from UHS’s Counseling and Psychological Services and encouraged students to “function as a community of care and responsibility” in looking out for one another’s well-being. The Editorial Board commends Vice President Calhoun for the tone of these messages and recognizes the excellent work of CPS, the UMatter campaign, University administrators and many individual students in addressing mental health issues at Princeton. Nevertheless, there is more we can do: the Board suggests a number of measures to help create a safer and more comfortable work environment and to raise awareness about the availability of mental health resources at the University.

An important step would be to give mental health initiatives a more prominent place in the University’s academic calendar. Whereas the University currently sponsors one Mental Health Week per year, the Board suggests there be two such weeks, one per semester. In addition, to increase the visibility of mental health resources when they are needed most, the Board recommends the University place a UMatter table in Frist Campus Center during the two weeks leading up to midterms, as well as during final exam and reading periods. Residential college advisers and the Undergraduate Student Government should time messages on mental health resources and counseling services to coincide with these same segments of the academic year. Although the workload at Princeton unavoidably produces year-round stress, it is clear that certain times pose particular challenges: as these periods roll around, it is worth reminding students of available resources.

The Board would also encourage the University to rethink the availability of due date extensions for students dealing with overwhelming workloads. Students with papers or take-home exams who make appointments with CPS should, by policy, be granted extensions equal in duration to their appointments. This would ensure that no student avoids reaching out for counseling due to concern that he or she will lose much-needed time for work — students should never feel a disincentive to seek psychological support, and certainly not during the weeks of tight deadlines when help is sometimes urgently required. The University should also set up an independent review office within CPS to which students could submit mental health-based extension requests. Extension notes sent to course instructors through this system should be indistinguishable from other health-based extension requests so as to protect the student’s privacy. Students would not be obligated to go through this process; they could always contact course instructors directly. However, the availability of a review office would relieve students’ apprehensions about raising such matters before their deans. Students fear that seeking non-confidential resources for mental health might put them at risk of being forced to withdraw (if only temporarily) from the University.

As Vice President Calhoun explained eloquently in her emails, partnership and community action are crucial. Simple as it may sound, it is worth reminding ourselves that looking out for others — whether in eating clubs, dorms, classes, residential colleges or student groups — can go a long way toward creating a climate in which students feel more comfortable seeking informal support or professional counseling.

TheEditorial Boardis an independent body and decides its opinions separately from the regular staff and editors of The Daily Princetonian. The Board answers only to its Chair, the Opinion Editor and the Editor-in-Chief.