To: Ben Locke, Ph.D.

Senior Director of CAPS

Pennsylvania State University, University Park
bdl10@psu.edu

From: stateofmind2018.psu@gmail.com

Date: 03/13/2018

Subject: State of Mind Post Deliberation Report

Good afternoon Dr. Locke,

On February 23rd, twelve members of the Rhetoric and Civic Life course hosted a public deliberation
entitled “State of Mind: A Group Deliberation Discussing Mental Health on Campus.” Throughout
this guided discussion, we touched on several issues that are generally believed to be creating an
unhealthy, stigmatized culture of mental health on Penn State’s campus. While addressing these
issues, we reached a variety of conclusions as a group that could evolve into potential solutions to the
problems plaguing the mental health culture on this campus.

As no CAPS representatives were able to attend our event, we are reaching out to you today to invite
you to read our post deliberation report that encompasses the possible solutions that we debated at our
group discussion. In this report, we have broken down the three approaches we talked about,
including CAPS awareness and improvement, creating an accepting environment, and promoting
general mental health. Within the respective approach sections, the conclusions and solutions we
proposed as a group are broken down in more detail.

We invite you to read our report, which was compiled according to the following breakdown:
Overview Team: Carlos Abarca, Jarred Vasinko, and Vivek Anand
Approach One Team: Pritika Singh and Kate Kirk
Approach Two Team: Kiki Daffan and Henry Deteskey
Approach Three Team: Kerry Abello and Anushka Shah
Team Summary and Conclusion: Caitlin Williams, Ruiqi Yin, and Ava Self

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We are looking forward to working with you to
develop a healthier attitude towards mental health on Penn State’s Campus.

Sincerely,

The State of Mind Team

 State of Mind: A Group Deliberation Addressing Mental Health on Campus
February 23, 2018
Post Deliberation Report

State of Mind: A Group Deliberation Addressing Mental Health on Campus

Overview: The Concern to Discuss

 Mental health is an issue that everyone encounters either directly or indirectly. This is
especially true on a college campus where students are quickly overwhelmed by the rigorous
demands of academics, future plans, and financial and social issues. This can oftentimes lead to
mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and mood disorders. Currently here at Penn State,
the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, provides students with resources
such as counseling and support groups to help with mental health issues. While these services are
present on campus, their accessibility to students is unsatisfactory. This along with the negative
environment surrounding mental health has led to the issue at hand: How can mental health on
campus be improved? During the deliberation three approaches were discussed:
● CAPS Awareness and Improvement
● Creating an Accepting Environment
● Promoting General Mental Health
The deliberation members were made up of mostly fellow honors students taking English 138
this semester, but one UPUA member attended as well, and there was online communication with
Kelsey Wettig, a recent Penn State alum who is interested in mental health.
Less than half of those who attended were aware of CAPS and the mental health resources
available on campus. They expressed concern regarding the issue and came in with a positive attitude,
ready to discuss solutions.

Approach 1 : Penn State CAPS Awareness and Improvement

Through the discussion of CAPS services on campus, we were able to better understand how
students personally feel about the current programs the Penn State administration offers to students
seeking mental health services. From our post deliberation survey, we found that 20% of students in
attendance have attempted to contact CAPS prior to the event. Other students in attendance shared
experiences their friends had, where many could not get an appointment with a counselor for almost
six weeks. Students in attendance agreed that Penn State should allocate funds to CAPS, to increase
the number of available counselors, ensuring that students that are seeking help, receive the
counseling they need within at most two weeks after their initial phone consultation with CAPS.
Students also hoped to see improvement in the general layout of the CAPS website (CAPS,
2017). One student in attendance mentioned that she herself struggled to use the website, and felt
frustrated and overwhelmed when attempting to find specific information of the services provided by
the program. Students agreed that the redesign provided a solution that would be cost effective, and
could help students be better informed on university sponsored help.
From the information we have collected from the deliberation, as well as our prior research on
CAPS, we find that approaching administration with the idea of a website redesign would be
extremely impactful for students, simplifying the process for finding information on help.
Additionally, approaching administration with a proposal for a greater consideration for CAPS for
increased funding could drastically improve the ease and quality of mental health services students at
Penn State are able to receive.

Approach 2: Creating an Accepting Environment

Are you saying the environment isn’t already accepting? It’s Penn State!
Stigmas involving mental health are present across all communities, especially college
campuses. The emphasis of this approach was on how to remove the mental health stigma and create
an environment that strives not only to forge support for people struggling with mental health issues,
but also promotes, fosters and benefits students’ mental health. The issues guide offered opportunities
to create empathy through the methods of storytelling, additional campus organizations, influential
speakers on campus, bringing national programs to campus, and a social media campaign.
A common theme of the discussion was student involvement in organizations that promote
mental health improvement and spread mental health awareness. A large concern was whether or not
students would join these organizations if the university had them; it was our goal to examine student
interest in various forms of mental health organizations. As one student put it, “everyone gets
involved in something- students will join if they want to see things change.”
What you learn in your early adulthood molds your future…
Thanks to one observer, our discussion touched upon the stigma of mental health in Corporate
America. The room concluded this environment was ruthless and overbearing, and acknowledged that
this atmosphere contributes to an overall association with mental health and either “strong” or “weak”
individuals. It was decided that to break down stereotypes like this, there must be a focus of
deconstructing this stigma during college-- a time when one is still fully developing.
How do we delete the stigma and insert a platform for conversation?
There was an in-depth discussion on storytelling as a method of sharing individual
experiences and respectfully listening to those of others. The consensus we reached was that “mental
health issues are just as serious as physical issues; there should be no difference in empathy.” Just as
people would share their story of the time they sprained their ankle jumping to grab a ball or hit their
head and got a concussion, they should be able to speak openly about any mental health issue which
they so desire.

Approach 3: Promoting General Mental Health Education

After discussing this approach, there was general agreement that a stronger focus on mental
health education was needed and could be achieved effectively through two means: creating some
sort of mental health education class and educating the Penn State faculty on mental health. While no
consensus could be reached on whether such a class should be made into its own independent course
or instead integrated within the curriculum of the existing freshman seminar class, the deliberation
members did agree that such education should be made a required part of all Penn State students’
experiences. Furthermore, the deliberation members commonly viewed the addition of mental health
education online modules and to NSO presentations as ineffective due to students not taking them
seriously as compared to a class.
The other overall consensus that seemed to be reached by deliberation members was that
students would benefit from Penn State faculty receiving formal mental health education. It is not
only peers, but also teachers, who are interacting with students on a daily basis, and would therefore
be likely to recognize signs of mental illness. Many deliberation members believed that it would be
more likely for a professor to recognize concerning behaviors than a parent, because students often go
long stretches of time without seeing their parents. They also expressed that students may feel more
comfortable speaking with a professor about mental health related issues or being referred by a
professor for these issues if he or she had formal mental health training.

Conclusion: Where We Go From Here

At the close of the “State of Mind” deliberation, many participants were eager for immediate
action to be taken to improve mental health on campus. In reflecting on the problems examined by
each approach and the suggested solutions, participants concluded that if students want to see a
change in the environment on campus, they must take initiative to resolve the issues themselves.
According to Mental Health America, there are a variety of steps that students can take to start the
conversation about mental health. First, they can start by recognizing the signs of mental illness in
their friends. Friends or others who detect concerning behavior in an individual should be ready to
listen actively to the person in distress and start to learn as much as they can about the condition from
which the person may be suffering. They should also assure the person that mental health issues are
common, and be prepared to be an advocate for whomever is struggling as they seek counseling.
Another solution proposed by participants was to start integrating mental health awareness
and education into organization programming on campus. This task could be accomplished by
requiring club executives to undergo mental health awareness training. Clubs on campus that already
advocate for mental health awareness, such a Active Minds, could be allowed to give presentations at
the meetings of other organizations to encourage understanding and acceptance of mental health.
One of the most well-received potential solutions was proposed by a representative from the
University Park Undergraduate Associate (UPUA), who recommended that students interested in
championing mental health awareness should approach their representatives to push for more support
from the university. UPUA will bring student liaisons to routine meetings with the CAPS staff, in an
effort to demonstrate student interest.
A general consensus was reached that resolving this issue will take time; however, students
left ready to advocate for more mental health resources and develop a more open environment on
campus. If students begin to take control and campaign for better understanding and acceptance, then
the University and CAPS staff will be forced to notice the issue and begin to take action. If the
movement to improve the campus “State of Mind” starts immediately, headway on the issue can be
made within the next two years.
Questionnaire Results

Demographics

Statement Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Faculty/S

tuff

What is your 86.67% 6.67% 6.67% 0% 0%

role in the
Penn State
community?
Questions

Statement Yes No

Have you ever tried to contact 20% 80%

CAPS?

Have you ever felt stressed and 20% 80%

attempted to seek on-campus
resources for help?

Ratings 1-3 4-5 6-8 9-10

How familiar were you with 46.67% 20% 6.67% 26.67%

CAPS or other psychological
counseling services before the
deliberation? (rate 1-10)

How familiar are you with CAPS 13.33% 20% 33.33% 33.33%
or other psychological counseling
services after the deliberation?
(rate 1-10)

How invested were you in 26.67% 40% 26.67% 6.67%

helping to improve mental health
awareness on campus before the
deliberation? (rate 1-10)
 Works Cited

Penn State Counseling and Psychological Services. Penn State, 2017,

http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/counseling/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2018.

Klodowski, Katie. “Alumni Association Matches Class Of 2016 CAPS Donations,

Pledges Largest Amount In Class Gift History.” Onward State, 27 Apr. 2016. Accessed 11

Mar. 2018.

“Talking to Adolescents and Teens: Starting the Conversation.” Mental Health America, 2018,

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/talking-adolescents-and-teens-starting-

conversation. Accessed 12 Mar. 2018.