The mental health support network, Uwill, and Oakland University partnered to launch new virtual features to help students recognize and work on campus mental health.
Michael Wadsworth, assistant vice president of Student Affairs and Diversity and Dean of Students, was central to connecting OU with the services provided by Uwill back in Winter 2023.
“A 24-hour response line was the first step with Uwill,” Wadsworth said. “It allows all enrolled students to be able to call this crisis line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for a mental health crisis.”
After almost a year of having the UHelp service implemented, the university has started a new program — UMatch. “The biggest feature is you’re signing up to talk with a therapist one-on-one,” Wadsworth said. Uwill provides licensed individuals to meet and help students in any way they need.
“When students go to sign up … they can select preferences based on ethnicity, gender, language…” Wadsworth said. The feature of giving students a choice in who they will be opening up to allows for many to feel more comfortable about the process.
“With Uwill all of their personnel are fully licensed, and that option of the languages … we thought made them win out over others,” Wadsworth said.
Wadsworth explained that Telehealth Appointments wouldn’t be very different from an in-person session. “That initial appointment is going to involve the therapist and the student sort of getting to know each other, establishing rapport … Setting expectations, maybe ground rules of how the interactions will occur,” Wadsworth said.
Students have reached out through not only the UHelp line but also through the UMatch feature. “This new service with the three sessions has only been up and running for a week and the Counseling Center said they’ve had a couple people that have utilized it,” Wadsworth said.
In financial terms, Wadsworth and Nicole Bolk, the Director of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, said that the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships applied for a Sixty by 30 Student Success Grant. The almost $300,000 received was split between various departments at OU such as the Food Pantry, Student Emergency Relief Fund, Graham Health Center Health, OU Counseling Center emergency fund and the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.
OU’s own internal funds allowed the university to provide Uwill for students as a new way to have a choice of where to seek help. “But now there’s more funding in [the counseling office’s] emergency fund to help students who need that more, but don’t have the money to pay for it,” Wadsworth said. “They also have some general wellness things on their app as well, for meditation and mindfulness.”
The Uwill website has a multitude of features that can allow students to navigate healthier coping mechanisms and ways to think about their mental state individually.
Staff and faculty have also been involved and instructed in the use and dissemination of Uwill services so that when a student asks for help, they are part of the safety network at OU.
The Uwill website is now ever-present as a resource for the student body, Wadsworth said. “Let us help you deal with these things so that you can focus on school and not have to think about this all the time,” Wadsworth said.
Correction: OU did not use funds from the Sixty by 30 Student Success Grant to pay for Uwill. The university used internal funds to pay for this service.
