You Matter at UNI: Know your resources for support
You Matter at UNI: Know your resources for support
The University of Northern Iowa wants students to know how much you matter. People and resources exist on campus to support your mental well-being. To accomplish this goal, UNI is once again hosting You Matter At UNI Week Sept. 9-13, which coincides with National Suicide Prevention Week.
“A lot of us that are here on campus want to support students,” said Kaili Benham, student health and well-being coordinator at UNI. “I think this initiative is a great way for offices, orgs and anybody that works on campus or is involved with students to communicate that, hopefully in a very authentic way. I think that sometimes in college, we get a little lost with all the newness. Transitions are hard. New environments and figuring out who we are and where we fit is hard. So just reminding people that in the midst of all that they still matter and that there's still people who care is really important.”
You Matter At UNI 2024 programming
The week’s programming is built around four key goals:
- Help students build connections
- Help students recognize their worth
- Celebrate individuality, authenticity and diversity
- Encourage students to reach out when needed
All students can participate in lunch and learn events, mental health trainings, personal wellness workshops and sunrise yoga for free. There will be Instagram challenges throughout the week emphasizing the different objectives. For example, Monday’s focus is Sense of Belonging. Students are encouraged to post a tribute to someone they have connected with on campus, using the hashtag #YouMatterAtUNI and tagging @uniprevention and @uni_couns. Each day, one person’s post will win a prize.
The hip-hop student dance group The MOVEment will also be choreographing a dance to teach to students on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in Maucker Union Ballroom A. The hope is students will learn the dance and post it to social media using #YouMatteratUNI, spreading a message of support and solidarity across campus.
For more details on events happening throughout the week and the Instagram challenges, check out the You Matter At UNI web page.
Resources for students
Through these events, Benham hopes students will become more familiar with what resources are available to support their mental well-being on campus. The data on the mental health crisis proves just how needed these resources are for college students and on UNI campus specifically. In spring 2024, a study found that more than three-fourths of UNI students reported moderate to high levels of stress within 30 days of the time they were surveyed. Suicide is also the second leading cause of death among college students in the U.S. The more students are aware of the help that exists on campus, the more they will hopefully feel comfortable reaching out for help when they need it.
“Students don't know what they don't know,” said Benham. “When they're coming in, they're learning a lot of new things, which can be overwhelming. So this offers another opportunity if they did miss some of that during orientation and Welcome Week. This is an opportunity for us to remind them that, hey, we do care.”
The Counseling Center
One way UNI prioritizes the mental well-being of students is through the Counseling Center. All UNI students are eligible for five free individual in-person sessions. If a student needs more than five sessions, the Counseling Center can bill their insurance, or the student may continue by seeing a counseling intern free of charge. Because the Counseling Center prioritizes students who need a session right now, the center does not currently have a wait list.
“The Counseling Center did a really great thing last year, where they kind of changed their method of counseling, where they see students when they need the help,” Benham explained. “So instead of students scheduling out once a week for a whole semester, they come see a counselor when they need the help. And what that does is it frees counselors up to see other students when they need the help.”
Let’s Talk
For students who would rather talk to a peer than a professional counselor, UNI offers Let’s Talk. These free, brief consultations happen in the Student Health Center and give students the space to share their concerns.
“They're students that are either in the graduate program for mental health counseling or licensed social work,” Benham explained. “They have a little bit more of an understanding of what it's like to be a student right now. Some students don't want to talk to a counselor, but they want to talk to somebody who understands what it's like to be a student a bit more. So Let’s Talk is a great opportunity for that. Some students really enjoy the person that they talk to and so then they come back to talk with that person over and over again.”
Other resources for students who could use some additional support include wellness coaching and the TELUS mobile app for Apple or Android. TELUS offers 24/7 counseling support via telephone or chat.
No matter how students would like to receive help, there are options available for them as UNI students.
“I say this a lot, but it's okay to not be okay,” said Benham. “We've heard that a million times. It's okay that you're struggling, and it's okay to talk about that, but we don't want you to stay not okay. We want you to eventually feel okay. Really, that comes from building connections, celebrating your worth, your individuality, and knowing the resources that exist and utilizing those resources.”
