Columbia has closed its student health center and will create a new student wellness center that will consolidate existing counseling services and student relations offices into one location.
The health center, whichoutpatient clinical assessment, treatment of minor illnesses and injuries and triage or referral for more serious illnesses and injuriesclosed on Friday, August 16, after nearly two decades. Columbia already closed its on-campus employee health clinic at the end of 2023 to address a financial deficit that grew to $38 million during the historic part-time faculty strike.
The college announced the closure at the All College Retreat and removed references to the center from the website. Instead, students were instructed to create a profile for TimelyCare, the virtual health care provider. The Chronicle previously reported that TimelyCare would complement Columbia’s personal counseling services.
“The Student Health Center, Counseling Services and Student Relations in those individual, stand-alone offices no longer exist,” Doug Eck said at a college-wide faculty meeting on Friday, Aug. 16.
The new Centre of Student Wellbeing will provide both long-term mental health care and rapid intervention, as well as new facilities such as a decompression room and mental health advice hotline.
The former Counseling Services office, previously located on the fifth floor of 916 S. Wabash, will share new space with the former Student Relations office on the third floor of 623 S. Wabash. The move is intended to make most key student services available on one floor and more easily accessible to students.
“The counseling service that was right over there at 916 and the student services at 623 are together and you could think of us as a hub for mental health,” said Britt Hodgdon, director of counseling services and co-director of the new Center of Wellbeing.
The new center will open on the first day of school on September 3, Eck said.
Mental health needs are addressed through the Center for Student Wellbeing and the virtual provider TimelyCare.
TimelyCare will provide students with mental health support, state-certified counseling, self-help resources and mental health services upon request, said Abby Waldron, senior customer success manager at TimelyCare.
“There is no visit fee to use these services, and this is how we can ensure that everyone can use them when they need them,” Waldron said. Students can log into TimelyCare using their Columbia email address and use the services. When logging in, students do not need to enter their health insurance information. Waldron said the system requires standard information such as name, address and date of birth.
Students can access TimelyCare through both their mobile app and a website link.
“The college knows this is sad,” Hodgdon said at the faculty meeting. When attempts were made to replace the health center with another option, it could not be done “at a cost that the college could afford.”
The health center was located on the fifth floor of 916 S. Wabash. Students pay a Student Health Center fee each semester that helps fund the services provided by the Student Health Center. There is no additional cost to see a doctor or nurse, except for vaccinations.
Tiana Hill, Director of Strategy and Engagement at the Center of Wellbeing, will be the other co-director.
“I want to recognize that students are struggling right now and their mental health is not great, and we want to be there for them and do the due diligence to do meaningful work,” said Hodgdon, who was hired as Columbia’s director of counseling services in 2023. Chronicle previously reported“How do we, as clinicians, manage to do something that we are proud of while also being consistent with the ethics of our field?”
Peara Savath, a final-year film student, has not used any of the services but said combining the programs will help students in need.
“I feel like it’s more practical because the community becomes more united when you’re closer to the needs of the students than when there are very segregated areas on campus,” he said.
Other students, like Cadence Uzarraga, a final year graphic design student, said moving Counseling Services to a busier building will help increase awareness of student services.
“I think it will at least be more useful to get the word out that this is available to students. I feel like everyone has a course at 623, so that could be helpful,” Uzarraga said. “I know a lot more people know about the counseling services than the others, so it could be good to get the word out about the others.”
Before the merger, Columbia’s Counseling Services followed a traditional therapy model, offering 12 individual counseling sessions per academic year and focusing on student mental health. The former Student Support Services focused on helping students with interpersonal conflicts, serving as a communication channel between students and faculty, and connecting students with outside referrals for things like Medicaid, therapists, or psychiatrists. The Office of Counseling Services could also refer students to various resources.
Hodgdon said the new Center of Wellbeing will offer students community building, urban walking and trauma recovery groups.
“We’re going to start a trauma recovery group, so it’s not about processing trauma,” Hodgdon said. “We’re going to talk about how to live with it, breathing exercises, grounding, dealing with overwhelm, dissociation, things like that.”
The Office of Student Relations helped students with financial concerns, as well as housing and food uncertainties, until the intense workload in the student relations area led to the creation of a new position.
“Basically, I’m responsible for any questions or concerns a student may have here at the college, academic or otherwise,” says Kelli Collins, director of Student Services and Community Standards, a solution-focused model for student lifestyle and behavioral issues.
Student Assistance and Community Standards is separate from the new Center of Student Wellbeing, but has worked closely with Counseling Services and Student Relations in the past, as lifestyle issues often impact a student’s mental health and wellbeing. Collins will continue to work with the Center of Student Wellbeing, maintaining the “direct connection” between student success and mental wellbeing, she said.
“With any change comes a little bit of fear,” Collins said. “We have the best interests of the students in mind. If they can work with us and maybe have a little bit of patience while we make sure that this new model is actually one that we believe will work well for the students, that would be helpful.”
Hodgdon said the new center will have a “menu of options” for student wellness, including long-term counseling sessions offered both in person and virtually through the new telehealth program TimelyCare. They will also offer rapid intervention sessions, a concept implemented by the previous counseling services, to see students who did not need long-term therapy.
Acute care services will also be offered at the new center. Acute care, which is different from the crisis care services that have been offered to date, will help students connect with outside health care providers or other wellness providers. It is designed to help students navigate difficult processes required for health services and guide them every step of the way.
“We are trying to reach the people who need it most and be as flexible as possible with them,” Hodgdon said.
Although the center has limited staff resources, Hill said the TimelyCare program and new counseling hotline will maximize the ability to help students. TimelyCare will provide therapists to more students without overbooking in-person counselors.
The counseling center serves as a mental health counseling and support service. Anyone connected to the Columbia community, including relatives, can call the counseling center if they have concerns or questions about the mental health of Columbia students. The counselor can train people on mental wellness strategies, discuss how to interact with someone with mental health issues, and provide wellness checks if the party is concerned about a student. The goal is to “make better mental health advocates out of the larger community where people need that,” Hodgdon said.
A new relaxation room will serve as a “first line of intervention,” according to Hill. It will be equipped with sensory devices, psychotherapy books, coloring books, and noise-cancelling headphones. There will be seating areas, yoga mats, and other stress-relieving options. The relaxation room will be open to all students as a place to relax and feel good.
What makes the decompression room different from other sensory spaces on campus is that it was designed by a therapist with mental wellbeing in mind. They hope the safe space will “belong to the students” and help them feel comfortable interacting with peers and Student Wellbeing staff. The room will also include resources such as Narcan testing kits, healthy sex kits and information on mental and personal health services.
“We want to create a health and safety environment here,” Hill said. “We are the center for student wellness, so we make sure the resources we provide truly meet that goal.”
Editing by Trinity Balboa
