Scanlan Center for School Mental Health
Scanlan Center for School Mental Health
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Higher Education

The Higher Education function promotes faculty and staff mental health and well-being through innovative, strengths-focused, and culturally relevant supports.

What We Do

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    Professional Development
    We deliver workshops and master classes to help faculty and staff support students in distress and their own well-being.

    Training

    Training
    We train graduate and undergraduate students in working as campus mental health and well-being professionals.

    Research

    Research
    We conduct proactive research to better equip campuses with actionable best practices.

    Consultation

    Consultation
    We offer organizational and unit consultations to design and enhance mental health and well-being services.

    Collaboration

    Collaboration
    We collaborate with statewide campus mental health and well-being stakeholders to share resources, spark innovation, and develop a higher education mental health/well-being summit.

OUR APPROACH

We take a three-step approach “Caring for Self While Caring for Others” to supporting and engaging in campus mental health and well-being.

Care for Self
Practices for maintaining or improving our own mental health and well-being.

Care for Others
Practices for helping others in maintaining or improving their mental health and well-being.

#1 Prevention
Actions taken to prevent concerns from becoming problems. Example: Regularly available and updated training to assist staff and faculty in recognizing student distress and how best to engage in early interventions.

#2 Intervention
Actions taken to keep problems from escalating to crises.
Example: Readily available variety of mental health and wellbeing online platforms for easy, customizable, and culturally curatable access to supports and services.

#3 Postvention
Actions taken to keep crisis contained.
Example: Easy to access and use protocols for responding with immediacy to campus tragedies for departments, offices, colleges, and other campus units.

Why Support For Faculty Is Needed

50%+
50%+

More than half don’t feel adequately prepared to recognize when a student is exhibiting signs of psychological distress including depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide (58% of faculty/staff and 51% of undergraduate students).

60%+
60%+

More than 60% don’t feel adequately prepared to approach at-risk students to discuss their concern (66% of faculty/staff and 61% of undergraduate students).

87%+
87%+

More than 87% say that it is part of their role as faculty, staff, or student to connect students experiencing psychological distress with mental health support services (95% of faculty/staff and 87% of undergraduate students).

~50%
~50%

At lease half don’t feel adequately prepared to recommend mental health support services to students (49% of faculty/staff and 52% of undergraduate students).

STAFF

Barry A. Schreier
Barry Schreier, Ph.D.
Director of Higher Education Programming,
Scanlan Center for School Mental Health
Clinical Professor of Counseling Psychology,
University of Iowa College of Education
barry-schreier@uiowa.edu
319-335-3500
Monee' Turner
Monee’ Turner, BA
Higher Education Graduate Assistant,
Scanlan Center for School Mental Health
Counseling Psychology Doctoral Program,
University of Iowa
monee-turner@uiowa.edu
Kun Wang
Kun Wang, MS
Higher Education Graduate Assistant,
Scanlan Center for School Mental Health
Counseling Psychology Doctoral Program,
University of Iowa
kun-wang-2@uiowa.edu

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