Announcement of the Boston University Mental Health Task Force
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Mental health and well-being are essential components of student success at Boston University. BU recognizes the vital nature of mental wellness to students’ ability to thrive in their academic and extracurricular activities and to graduate on time. For this reason, our office of Student Health Services has partnered with the nationally recognized Jed Foundation (JED) and its JED Campus program to enhance University programs and systems that support students’ emotional health.
More than 150 colleges, representing over 1.5 million students, currently take part in the JED Campus program, implementing efforts that are tailored to their populations and that educate campus professionals in areas of critical need, from substance abuse to suicide prevention. Boston University believes strongly that a comprehensive, campus-wide approach to mental health and well-being will lead to safer, healthier communities and likely to greater student retention.
In order to best address this campus-wide approach, Dr. Judy Platt, Director of Student Health Services, has convened a Mental Health Task Force, co-chaired by Dr. Carrie Landa, Director of Behavioral Medicine and Associate Director of Clinical Services for Student Health Services, and Katharine Mooney, MPH, Director of Wellness & Prevention Services. Members of the Task Force were selected for their knowledge of various issues surrounding mental health and for their roles at the University engaging students and promoting wellness.
The Mental Health Task Force is being asked to:
- Make recommendations for, and help to implement, life-skills education across campus;
- Review and re-draft, as needed, policies around student wellness, mental health, and substance misuse;
- Collaborate with campus partners to build social connectedness and encourage a healthy campus environment;
- Promote emotional health awareness among those who interact with students regularly;
- Further engage faculty, staff, and students in training opportunities that empower individuals to support students in distress.
The Mental Health Task Force formally began its work in mid-April. It reports directly to Dr. Platt and will plan to share its findings and recommendations with the University community through various channels in the months ahead, both broadly via the internet and social media, and more locally through individual departments and the schools and colleges.
Please join me in thanking Student Health Services for its leadership in this effort and the members of the Mental Health Task Force for the critically important work they are undertaking.
2017-2018 Mental Health Task Force
Co-Chairs:
Carrie Landa, Director, Behavioral Medicine; Associate Director, Student Health Services
Katharine Mooney, Director, Wellness & Prevention Services
Members:
Jennifer Chadburn, Assistant Director, Athletic Training Services
Jennifer Durham-Fowler, Associate Director of Outreach and Prevention, Behavioral Medicine
Amie Grills, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology and Applied Human Development, School of Education
Dori Hutchinson, Director of Services, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation; Associate Clinical Professor of Occupational Therapy, College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College
Steve Jarvi, Associate Dean for Student Academic Life, College of Arts & Sciences
Shiney James, Director of Orientation, Office of the Associate Provost and Dean of Students
Katherine Kennedy, Director, Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground
Erica Schonman, Wellness Program Coordinator, Wellness & Prevention Services
Jack Weldon, Associate Dean of Students
Lorre Wolf, Director, Disability Services
Announcement of the Boston University Mental Health Task Force – 6.15.17