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Wellbeing Mini-Grants, Mental Health Peer Education Program and more

April 12, 2021


Dear Colleagues,

Focusing on the wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff continues to be a top priority for the University. Building on the updates from resultant student and employee-focused projects and resources that we sent last spring and fall, we write to share our most recent updates.

Wellbeing Mini-Grants

During the spring 2021 term, we continued offering wellbeing mini-grants to support registered student organizations and departments/offices across campus. I am pleased to announce that the following 6 registered student organizations were competitively awarded $500 Wellbeing Mini-Grants: Student Art Society; Biomedical Engineering Society; Women in Leadership; Women in Medicine; Dietetic and Nutrition Student Association; and Alpha Epsilon Pi. These student-led projects are targeted towards increasing awareness, knowledge, skills and behaviors around wellbeing.

​Likewise, 6 departments/offices across campus were competitively awarded $1500 Wellbeing Mini-Grants to increase awareness, knowledge level, and skills around wellbeing and increase the likelihood of individuals’ practicing behaviors that promote the dimensions of wellbeing: UTSA Academic Advising; UTSA Libraries; Department of Interdisciplinary Learning & Teaching; Office of Digital Learning; Department of Public Safety; and Student Development, Leadership & Belonging Programs.

Mental Health Peer Education Program

The President’s Enriching Campus Wellbeing Initiative is also funding the development of a mental health peer education program to be overseen by UTSA’s Counseling and Mental Health Services. The program, currently in the development phase, will provide Certified Peer Educator Training, administered by NASPA, to up to 10 student peer educators.  This renowned training prepares students to be listeners, active bystanders and referral agents.  Additionally, counseling staff and the Wellbeing Education and Promotion team will provide supplemental topic-specific training that will prepare the students to deliver educational programs on mental health topics.  The trained mental health peer educators will offer individual peer meetings and educational programs for student groups, for a total of 5-8 hour/week commitment.  The mental health peer education program is scheduled to launch fall 2021.

Mental Health First Aid Training

Mental Health First Aid is a course that teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis.

UTSA will offer pilot trainings in the Spring and Summer 2021.  We are preparing to build a cohort of trained facilitators so the trainings can be offered on demand.   

Wellbeing Support Services

As students transition back to campus, Counseling and Mental Health Services and Student Health Services will offer both in-person and telehealth appointments to students.

Counseling and Mental Health Services is offering teletherapy services to out of state students through a partnership with My SSP. Student Health Services and Counseling Services will increase collaboration, referrals, communication, and efficiencies by utilizing a shared electronic health record. Additionally, 

  • Student Health Services expanded clinic hours: 9am- 7pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays; 9am-5pm on Wednesdays and Fridays; daily appointments during the lunch hour (noon – 1pm) (*reminder: copays are no longer required)  
  • Counseling and Mental Health Services expanded drop-in hours: Monday-Thursday 8-4pm
  • Telemedicine appointments, now available in addition to in-person appointments
  • Teletherapy sessions, available by phone or Zoom
  • Counseling same-day phone consultations: Students can call 210-458-4140, option 2
  • Chronic disease management
  • COVID-19 testing in collaboration with UT School of Nursing, Livingston and Quest diagnostics
  • Self-Reporting Tool for COVID-19 tracking
  • Virtual wellbeing workshops: 16 groups and workshops were added. Students can check Rowdy Link or call CMHS for more information. 
  • Online Training Module: CMHS recently launched this student resource, emphasizing the importance of psychological and emotional wellbeing for student success and offers resources for students to address their mental health and self-care.  

As we get farther into the spring semester, please be mindful of the following additional resources that can assist in managing stress:

We thank our Steering Team and Working Groups for their hard work and commitment to this initiative, and all of campus for engaging in the many wellbeing activities. If you have feedback or ideas, or if you are interested in participating in this initiative in a bigger way, please email wellbeing@utsa.edu.

Sincerely,

LT Robinson   
Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Students

Tammy Wyatt    
Vice Provost for Student Success
Associate Professor of Health Education