Student mental-health educators highlight some of UTSA’s wellbeing resources at Kickback at the Union.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 — In observance of National Suicide Prevention Week, UTSA reminds Roadrunners that the university has many resources to provide awareness and prevention of suicide. National Suicide Prevention Week, which begins on September 4 and concludes on September 10, is an annual campaign aimed at educating and informing the public about suicide prevention and the warning signs of suicide.
Recognizing the warning signs of suicide and learning how to approach someone about a suicide-related crisis can make all the difference. During Suicide Prevention Week and throughout the academic year, UTSA Wellbeing Services provides outreach, events and advocacy to reduce stigma and encourage individuals to seek and receive well-being support.
Through programs like Campus Connect and Mental Health First Aid, the university provides training and tools for members of the UTSA community to support someone experiencing distress and to get them connected to assistance from a mental health clinician or service.
Campus Connect is a suicide prevention gatekeeper training session that provides attendees with empirically supported methods for detection, prevention, and intervention. A gatekeeper training is an overview of best practices in responding to someone in distress and how to recognize warning of suicide risk similar to bystander education. Campus Connect will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 7.
Mental Health First Aid is a nationally recognized and evidence-based training course to assist those working with others in a mental-health or substance-use crisis. Mental Health First Aid is a more comprehensive training that teaches about recovery and resiliency and provide more in-depth practice. It centers around the belief that individuals experiencing these challenges can and do get better, and can use their strengths to stay well.
Advocacy and peer interactions are pivotal to encourage a campus climate focused on well-being. Student educators promote well-being resources on campus and encourage their peers to access these resources—including signing up for an individual advocacy session with a mental health peer advocate.
UT Health Wellness 360 counseling center provides students with one-on-one individual interventions. After hours, the Crisis Helpline is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week by calling 210-458-4140 option 2. Students can also receive confidential mental health and well-being support from any location by phone, chat and video support any time day or night on the My Student Support Program (MySSP) app.
“We all play an integral role in the fight for suicide prevention,” said Melissa Hernandez, associate dean of students for wellbeing. “It’s important to learn about the warning signs for suicide and how you can effectively connect someone to supportive mental health services,” said Hernandez.
Understanding the community’s role in connecting students to support is important. Students, faculty and staff can access RowdyLink to learn more about the warning signs of suicide and to sign up for future training opportunities offered by Wellbeing Services.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Día en la Sombrilla, formerly Fiesta UTSA, is a festival hosted each spring as a part of Fiesta® San Antonio events. Sponsored by Roadrunner Productions, the event features music, food, confetti, games, event t-shirts, and more.
Sombrilla Plaza, Main CampusCovidence is a systematic & scoping review tool used to streamline the process of screening and reviewing articles. Using this software, research teams can easily import studies, perform automatic deduplication, and extract data using templates. This workshop will show attendees how to start a review in Covidence, add collaborators, and get started on screening.
Virtual (Zoom)In this workshop, attendees will be introduced to Pandas, a Python tool for working with data easily. It makes it simple to organize and analyze information when data is organized and categorized, like spreadsheets or tables.
Group Spot B, John Peace LibraryEach fall and spring semester, students convene at the Main Campus at UTSA with booths, ideas and prototypes. A crowd of judges, local organizations, students, faculty and sponsors walk around and talk to the students about their projects and ask questions. Students get the real-life experience of "pitching" their project with hopes of getting funding or support to move to the next level.
UTSA Convocation Center, Main CampusJoin the doctoral candidates for the Doctoral Conferreal Ceremony and celebrate their accomplishments.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusCelebrate the graduates from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
AlamodomeCelebrate the graduates from the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
AlamodomeThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.