MENTAL HEALTH

• We have expanded the immediate mental health resources available to our faculty, staff and students.
• UH has created a mental health resources page with extensive information on existing and expanded mental health services. Among the highlights, students can now access free, 24/7 unlimited assessment, counseling and individual crisis intervention through the student health insurance service. This is available to all UH Students, regardless of insurance, through May 1, 2023. Students can access these services on the program website (enter company code AHPI) or by calling 1-866-349-5575.
• UH President Renu Khator has established a task force to address mental health and suicide prevention. The task force is taking a systems-based approach to address how we minimize risks, improve social connectedness, identify students at risk, increase help-seeking behaviors and improve the services we offer. Read the president's April 3 communication to the UH community for more on the actions being taken.

Please call 713-743-5454 if you believe a student or coworker may need support. You can also volunteer to escort them directly to CAPS in Room 2005 in Health 2. If you have an immediate concern for someone's health and well-being, contact UHPD at 713-743-3333 or dial 9-1-1.

UH offers a variety of suicide prevention and mental health trainings. Please refer to the ‘How Can I Help’ webpage.

Please refer to the list of services available to UH students on the Mental Health Resources page.

Starting immediately, CAPS will no longer be charging students fees for sessions. Those fees had been put in place to reduce no-show appointments. Fees will be a part of the external review of CAPS.

Please refer to the list of services available to UH employees on the Mental Health Resources page.

Please refer to the list of services available to UH employees, including cost-effective community referrals, on the Mental Health Resources page.

If you have thoughts or suggestions you’d like for the task force to consider, you can leave them under the form on the University Task Forces webpage.

Visit our How Can I Help page to get involved in the collective efforts to strengthen our community of care at the University of Houston. If you would like to lend your time and skills to support your UH community, there are a few immediate ways you can help build a community of care at the University of Houston. Here are a few ways to take action:

• Join a JED Campus committee. UH became a JED Campus in November. JED campus is a 4-year, collaborative process of building upon existing student mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention efforts.
• Take QPR Suicide Prevention Training: QPR, or Question, Persuade, Refer," is a nationally recognized suicide prevention program designed to educate participants to recognize and respond to the signs of suicidal thinking or behavior.
• Preparation of a Toolkit that is designed for broad distribution to faculty, staff, students and families to help guide those who are responding to and supporting students in distress.

JED campus is a nationwide initiative of The Jed Foundation (JED). UH became a JED Campus in November. JED campus is a 4-year, collaborative process of building upon existing student mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention efforts. JED Campus signifies that we are putting systems, programs, and policies in place to create a culture of Cougars caring for each other that builds an emotional safety net for our student’s mental health. Learn more about the initiative, including ways to participate, at the JED Campus webpage.

UH has requested legislative funding for additional mental health care in each of the last two legislative sessions, including the ongoing 2023 session. In 2021 at the University’s request, Sen. Borris Miles and Rep. Garnet Coleman authored/sponsored SB480. It created a change in the law that permits the Student Fee Advisory Committee to free up almost $1 million to invest more heavily in mental health services and well-being initiatives on campus.

Taking care of your long-term mental and physical health is an important part of stress management. However, there isn’t always time to take a nap, hike a fourteener or read a novel. The A.D. Bruce Religion Center compiled a list of 25 ways to reduce stress in five minutes or less.

Please refer to the list of services available to you on the Mental Health Resources page, as well as tips for managing mental health.

Access to Agnes Arnold Hall has been restricted for the remainder of the spring semester.

Classes that met in AAH have been relocated for the rest of the semester. Classes in Agnes Arnold Auditorium, which is adjacent to AAH, are meeting as scheduled. In addition, CASA testing and all student organization activities and reservations in Agnes Arnold Hall have been relocated for the rest of the semester.

All classes scheduled in Agnes Arnold Auditorium 1 and 2 will not be impacted.

Only employees with offices inside Agnes Arnold Hall are allowed in the building through specific entrances. The building remains closed to all others.

The Agnes Arnold Hall Spring 2023 Classroom Adjustments web page has details on where classes have been moved. This includes faculty members’ names, courses, sections, times and the new classroom assignment.

Access to Agnes Arnold Hall has been restricted for the remainder of the spring semester as the University’s task force evaluates the future of the building. The task force will offer recommendations on the future of Agnes Arnold Hall by May 15. Implementation will begin immediately thereafter. We are also reviewing community advice and concerns, and all options are being considered.