Carnegie Mellon University

Health and Wellness 

A fundamental focus of the Task Force on the CMU Experience has been on the expansion of services and prevention efforts that attend to the holistic well-being of every student. 

Group X Classes Offered at No Cost to Faculty and Staff

Following the success of the 2016 initiative to make group exercises free for all students, Group X classes are now available at no cost to faculty and staff. 

A Focus on Mental Health

At the recommendation of student members of the Task Force, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Mental Health@CMU trainings were promoted to a broader section of our community. Since 2016, over 340 students, faculty and staff have participated in MHFA trainings. Over 522 students, faculty and staff have participated in a Mental Health@CMU training.

CaPS

Additional staff and resources were added to Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) to improve access to mental health services for all students. Since 2016, the number of clinical staff at CaPS has increased over 30 percent. CaPS has worked to build a strong network of community referral services and to organize triage and consultation services to ensure students receive same-day crisis care. 

CMU Cares

Updated annually, CMU Cares folders are provided to faculty, academic advisors, teaching assistants and those staff who interact with students in an academic setting. Content includes information on need-specific university resources, key contact by college and general guidelines to help determine if a student needs help. The folders also guide individuals on what level of response is needed.

Visit the Student Affairs website to download this resource.

Headspace

In 2018, Student Affairs Wellness Initiatives began offering CMU students, faculty and staff a free subscription to Headspace. Headspace is an evidence-based mindfulness and meditation app. The application has over 900 hours of content including a 10-day beginner's course called the Basics. Wellness Initiatives is developing a group of Headspace Student Ambassadors to promote and educate the campus community about the app.

Wellness in the Classroom

Since 2016, the provost has encouraged all faculty and graduate student instructors to include wellness language in their syllabi as well as language relating to student accommodations. This messaging, available on the Eberly Center website, signals our support to all students and provides easily accessible information about taking care of themselves and each other. As a result of this effort, the Faculty Senate is leading a process to institutionalize the effort across all syllabi at CMU.

The Jed Foundation Initiative

In 2016, CMU partnered with The Jed Foundation to assess our mental health response programs through a collaborative and consultative model. The effort seeks to drive progress in program and policy that can build upon existing mental health, substance abuse and suicide prevention efforts to ensure quality care that aligns with best practices in the corresponding fields. Topics addressed have included promoting social connectedness, increasing help-seeking behaviors, crisis management and means restriction. Additional topics to be examined will be resiliency programming and messaging, outreach to persons at risk and delivery of substance use and mental health services.

 

Ecosystem of Support

Following an extensive exploration of ways students seek out and connect with wellness resources, the decision was made to develop a one-stop, web-based center for the university community. This resource is currently in development and plans for it include interactive ways for students to create and design their own individualized path to well-being.