Mental Health Initiatives

Campus-wide committees

• Cornell Well-being Council: Senior administration provides oversight of Cornell’s efforts to become a health-promoting campus in the spirit of the Mental Health Review.
• Coalition on Mental Health: Staff, faculty, graduate and undergraduate student leaders inform the development of the university’s mental health strategies. 
• Coalition on Sexual Violence Prevention: Staff, faculty, and students examine the campus environment, prevention strategies, policies, procedures, and services related to sexual and interpersonal violence and explore opportunities for fostering culture change, reducing risks, and increasing support for affected community members.
• Student Assembly Health and Wellness Committee: Addresses student quality of life issues, making sure that these are considered in planning of mental health strategies and policies.

Leadership statements

• Clear leadership messages from senior university officials and student leaders provide a philosophical foundation for Cornell’s comprehensive approach to mental health and well-being.

Strategic plan

• The Cornell Strategic Plan includes the following goal in service of Educational Excellence: “Promote the health and well-being of students (undergraduate, graduate, and professional) as a foundation for academic and life success” (see especially pp. 23 and 25).

Policy initiatives

• Participation in JED Campus initiative: Assess and enhance mental health-related systems, programs, and policies.
• Examination of Simon Fraser University model: Identify possibilities for creating conditions for well-being in the learning environment.
• Academic policy initiatives: Several recommendations from the campus Mental Health Review suggested policy changes currently under consideration.

Campus climate strategies

• Multiple initiatives address climate issues that negatively impact mental health and well-being, including alcohol abuse, bias, hazing, and sexual violence.

Disability services

• Services, accommodations, and advocacy assist students with disabilities to experience the same educational and other opportunities as peers without disabilities. 

Programs & initiatives

• Resilience programs: Workshops such as “Thrive@Cornell” and “Let’s CU Sleep” help students develop the capacity to adapt to and bounce back from the stressors inherent in college life.

• “Let’s Meditate” Guided Mindfulness Meditation Series: Co-sponsored by Cornell Health and multiple offices and departments across campus, Let's Meditate sessions are open to Cornell students, faculty, and staff of all ages, genders, sizes, shapes, and abilities to promote individual resilience through community practice of this restorative technique supported by scientific research.

• Cornell Minds Matter: This student mental health advocacy group promotes the overall mental and emotional health of all Cornell students, works to reduce the stigma of mental illness, and holds educational and social events open to the entire Cornell community that foster a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

• EARS outreach programs: Peer-led interactive workshops on a range of topics (e.g., personal growth,     communication, relationships, mindfulness to relieve stress and anxiety).

• Learning Strategies Center (LSC) support: The LSC provides time management and study skills tools, workshops and individual coaching to support student success.

• NatureRx @Cornell: An initiative involving faculty, staff, and student organizations to endorse spending time in nature to reduce unhealthy levels of stress, and improve mood, cognitive ability, social connectedness.

• Alcohol education: All incoming first-year students are expected to complete an online educational program before arriving on campus.

• Online resources: Mental health self- assessments and stress management materials help students develop coping strategies and learn when and where to turn for help.

Promotion of social connections

• Residential and community initiatives: Campus and Community Engagement, Housing and Residential Life, and the West Campus House System provide a welcoming and inclusive environment that respects individuals while promoting community values. Residential staff and faculty help students thrive in all stages of their Cornell career through student organization involvement, living and learning opportunities, and a multitude of leadership and engagement experiences.

• Diversity programs: Multiple efforts (e.g., Resource Centers, college diversity offices, Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives, program houses, the Pre-Freshman Summer Program, and new student orientation programs) seek to foster inclusiveness and promote student well-being. 

• Media communication: Posters, advertisements, social media, resource cards, and web pages promote stress management and strengthening personal resilience along with availability of campus resources and attentiveness to others in distress.

• Mental Health at Cornell website: This site is Cornell’s gateway to information about campus and local resources, events, and news in support of campus health and well-being. 

• EARS (Empathy, Assistance, and Referral Services): Student volunteers (advised by the Skorton Center for Health Initiatives) provide the campus with active listening skills training and peer mentoring to help refer students to campus resources.

• Parent education: Web resources and Parent & Family Programs (e.g., Orientation Resource Fair, Convocation, Family Weekend programs) inform parents about mental health issues and services.

Gatekeeper and bystander education

• Notice & Respond: Assisting Students in Distress: helps faculty departments, TAs, and staff workgroups explore how to recognize and respond when a student is in emotional distress. Related web materials provide additional support [health.cornell.edu/notice].
• Notice & Respond: Friend 2 Friend: helps students learn to recognize and reach out to other students in emotional distress, as well as normalizing help seeking. This program is provided to first year students in college seminar classes, peer advisors and mentors, and other student groups and organizations.
• Intervene: An award-winning Cornell video entitled “Intervene” (offered online and in workshops) educates students about how to identify and effectively assist peers facing sexual assault or harassment, bias, hazing, emotional distress, intimate partner violence, and alcohol emergencies.
• Cornell Health outreach to incoming students: First-year and transfer students complete a health history form and receive relevant information about services and support available at Cornell before arriving on campus.
• Primary care mental health screening: Medical patients are assessed at the time of their visit. Mental health resources for self-care are available to all students. Those indicating high levels of distress receive brief interventions or referral to mental health services.
• BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students): A service of Cornell Health for students to explore their alcohol and other drug use. Students are referred to the program by judicial administrators and health care providers, as well as by self-referral.

Care Team

• Staff members from key campus departments meet weekly to discuss situations (often pre-crisis) involving students whose behavior or well-being is of concern to others.

Academic deans and advisors

• Staff members from academic advising and student services offices within the undergraduate colleges coordinate strategies and share best practices related to student support.

Victim advocacy / SHARE Office

• The university’s Victim Advocacy Program, within the SHARE Office, provides confidential assistance to members of the Cornell community who have experienced harmful, threatening, or violent incidents.

Cornell Health

Interdisciplinary staff is committed to a collaborative approach to caring for the  physical and mental health of patients. Medical and counseling professionals collaborate to provide care for students with complex health issues (e.g., eating disorders, chronic illness).

Primary care: Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, nurses, and care managers treat students’ integrated physical, mental health and social needs, and engage with students in triage and treatment of primary medical and mental health issues. These often include students who are:

• Experiencing emotional distress related to medical problems
• Not yet aware of an emotional cause or psychological component of physical symptoms
• Not comfortable with or ready to access mental health care

Behavioral health consultation: Mental health professionals provide rapid access to early, brief, focused behavioral interventions.

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS): Counseling and psychiatry staff provide in-person and telehealth services for students, including individual and group counseling, same day triage and emergency care, and referral to community providers for off-campus and specialty care.

Let’s Talk: Drop-in consultations with Cornell Health counselors (in-person and in Zoom) increases access to services, particularly for students unlikely to come in for traditional counseling.

• Cornell Health phone consultation: 24/7 phone consultation with a medical or mental health provider for students and people with concerns about a student’s well-being.

• Cornell Police: 24/7 emergency response from Cornell University Police and local law enforcement agencies.

• Crisis Managers: Staff members are on-call at all times to coordinate the university’s response to crisis situations.  

• Community Support Team: Staff members from across the university provide support for individuals and groups in the aftermath of tragedies or other crises.

• National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 24/7 support anywhere in the U.S. Call, text, or chat 988. (Service also provided to Ithaca community through the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services. 800-273-TALK).

• Cayuga Medical Center: Inpatient mental health care for individuals in crisis.

• Laboratory chemicals and equipment are secured.
• Firearms are restricted on campus.
• Means restriction on campus-area bridges reduce the risk of suicide jumps.