As you know, we have elevated our support for mental health and wellness on campus. As you may or may not know, the four areas on which we are focused and will update the community on are: (1) working with external expertise to help guide the college; (2) new and existing resources for students, faculty, and staff; (3) addressing stressors unique to the Block Plan, and; (4) creating greater clarity and accessibility to resources in our communications and on our website.

First, we have begun the search for an associate vice president of wellness.

This is a new position for CC that will lead our efforts to build a healthy campus community free of harm, where students, faculty, and staff have access to resources that support their physical and mental well-being. The associate vice president of wellness is also responsible for developing and establishing external partnerships to enhance wellness support on campus.

Creating this position is in direct response to students, faculty, and staff who have asked for a more holistic and harmonized approach to wellness on campus and to serve our whole community.

Secondly, starting after Fall Break, Athletics will be launching a pilot mental health program with Children’s Hospital. The pilot is built on the evidence-based resiliency program Children’s has run successfully throughout Colorado Springs over the past three years. Outcomes have included a reduction in anxiety, depression, and negative emotions, as well as an improvement in resiliency, efficacy, and positive emotions.

This newest collaboration will be administered to CC’s varsity student-athletes and implemented and overseen by the CC Sport Performance Program, allowing medical leaders from Athletics and Children’s to determine proactive programming based on team needs. Follow-up care will then be implemented by CC. This is a program that we believe, once completed, will give us a proven resource we can implement across campus.

Sincerely,