OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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From: Division of Student Affairs
Dear OSU Community Members,
The past several years have challenged our community in countless ways, especially when it comes to student mental health. Even before the pandemic, student mental health needs were steadily increasing, both nationally and here at Oregon State. Longstanding OSU resources designed to support students — like Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS), the Student Care Team and Student Health Services — have been stretched to keep up with increasing student needs. Because of this, we have heard of student hesitancy to seek CAPS services due to concerns about wait times. Additionally, community members have requested that OSU provide increased support for students experiencing crisis.
In response, we are pleased to announce two new resources designed to address these concerns that will be available this fall: OSU Assist and Anytime Anywhere: MySSP @ OSU.
OSU Assist: Mobile Crisis Response
OSU Assist is a multi-disciplinary support team that provides compassionate mobile crisis response and wraparound services for students facing mental health challenges or experiencing other forms of distress. This team brings together new personnel and existing university services to support students facing challenges. By calling 911 or 541-737-7000, OSU Assist will be dispatched in crisis situations that meet certain criteria. This could include instances of suicide ideation, substance abuse issues, survivors seeking support and welfare checks. The team provides serve on the Corvallis campus from Wednesday through Sunday, 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., with hours anticipated to expand in future terms. For more information on this service, visit our website, contact Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Care Services Aubrie Piper or attend one of the informational sessions noted below.
Anytime Anywhere: MySSP @ OSU App
Anytime Anywhere: MySSP @ OSU is an app that gives all OSU students, including Ecampus students, immediate access by text or phone with a licensed mental health counselor, 24/7 (MySSP stands for “My Student Support Program”). The app makes it easy to schedule short-term counseling appointments with the same ongoing counselor and provides educational materials covering mental health topics. Students can communicate with a counselor in five different languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Spanish or English); additional language options are available upon request. Students can download the Anytime Anywhere: MySSP @ OSU and learn more about the service at beav.es/anytimeanywhere. For questions, please contact Bonnie Hemrick, assistant director of mental health promotion.
Supporting Students in Crisis: Informational Sessions
To learn more about these resources and additional OSU support services, we encourage you to attend any of the upcoming informational sessions:
We hope that these new resources will be an important addition to our expanding network of support services. OSU is committed to continually strengthening its culture of care so that we can better assist our students’ evolving needs.
Supportively,
Dan Larson, Vice Provost for Student Affairs
Kevin Dougherty, Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Ian Kellems, Executive Director of Counseling & Psychological Services