Addressing need for mental health assessment

After the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in January and the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, many colleges recognized the need for mechanisms to assess students’ psychological health.

Currently, over half of the 4,500 colleges across the country assess students’ mental health in some capacity to prevent such tragedy on their campuses, according to The New York Times. This is sometimes done through threat assessment teams, which are multidisciplinary groups that ensure students do not harm themselves or others, according to Marisa Randazzo, director of Threat Assessment Resources International, a consulting group.

At least ten states have task forces on campus safety that aim to create these teams on college campuses, Randazzo added.

At Penn, Student Intervention Services in the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life collaborates with on-campus organizations such as Counseling and Psychological Services and the Division of Public Safety to help students get through periods of distress and mental instability.

Friends, professors and advisors who are concerned about a student can refer them to the service to create an individualized plan to help them cope with personal struggles.

Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs Ajay Nair wrote in an e-mail that the SIS “campus-wide approach to student support and crisis intervention” considers whether a student poses a threat to himself or others.

CAPS director William Alexander said that SIS has a “case conference” system in place to evaluate the stability of students who are going through difficult situations, such as the death of a family member or financial struggles.

Alexander wrote in an e-mail that Penn’s case conference system has been in place longer than that of most colleges, and that the committee meets seven to eight times each week, though not all students are identified as those who may pose a threat to others.

Randazzo said that while a threat assessment team reaches out to students, it is “not a punitive group.” She added that in the wake of a tragedy, “people get this impression that [students with mental health problems] are sociopaths. They are not.”

Additionally, she said that teams are necessary to help people cope with multiple losses or recognize a mental health disorder, as many do not present symptoms until they are of college-age.

College junior Anthony Francomacaro, who is on the executive board of the Reach-A-Peer Helpline — an anonymous peer support service — said that though his group frequently refers people to CAPS, the Weingarten Learning Resources Center and the Office of Student Life, they don’t work directly with SIS.

While many academic and mental health groups already collaborate, he said groups must “work together to get their names out there.”

He added that there seems to be a “do it on your own mentality” about students’ psychological health.

Julie Sternbach, a Nursing sophomore and co-chairwoman of peer health group CogWell, said that while people in stressful situations may go to CAPS, many are unaware of other resources on campus. Her organization is trying to “create, support and encourage” a peer-to-peer network, so that students will be able to better assist friends who are in need.

Gary Margolis of Margolis, Healy & Associates — a professional services firm specializing in higher education safety and security — said that though threat assessment teams have become well known only in recent years, they are now a standard operating procedure at most colleges. “It’s just the way you do business,” he said.

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