By Emma Schultz
The beginning of the Fall 2021 semester marked a historic change for the overall health of Western New England University students. The offices of Health Services and Counseling Services combined into one holistic care center, being renamed the Center for Health and Wellness. This past June marked the beginning of Kathleen Noone’s career at Western New England University as the center’s director.
Care from the Health Services side has remained relatively the same. The most significant changes were on the side of Counseling and mental health, since combining the two centers into one.
According to Noone, the focus of the Fall 2021 semester was stabilizing and expanding staffing for improvements to the center as a whole. Thus far, several new counselors have been employed to meet with the ever-growing student population. In addition, a new Assistant Director of Operations was hired with the focus on developing a “more streamlined approach to accessing the services available on campus.”
There are several new initiatives being worked on for Spring 2022. Within the next two weeks, students will be able to access a 24/7 crisis management line. This line will be managed and staffed by the Western New England University counselors, so students can always have proper support when in an emergency. In addition, an electronic referral form will be going live. Noone says this will greatly improve the time it takes students to access services, as it will be available on any mobile device.
Support groups will be increased as well. These include Eating Issues Groups, Yoga and Mindfulness Groups, and Wellness Support Groups. Art Therapy sessions will also be available for students in the coming weeks. Although physical space is currently limited, construction for more offices is set to begin after the conclusion of the Spring semester. With more space, Noone hopes to increase the number of offices located around campus, such as in the CAHLC for student-athletes.
Although the Center for Health and Wellness intends to make accessing care seamless, many students have had issues accessing counselors promptly. When asked about these issues, Noone responded, “… It’s an ongoing challenge. We’ll be launching an electronic referral form so students can request services directly from any mobile device, which will improve getting access to services timely and hopefully improve our responsiveness. All staff have been directed to have every student that has requested services be contacted within 24 hours. We’ll be monitoring this very closely. The early weeks of the semester, we noticed this standard was not being met, and we have identified some barriers to achieving that goal. That is, however, the service expectation.”
Noone urges students to visit the Satellite office on the second floor of the Campus Center if they require same-day service from a counselor. These hours will be published in various forms and available for electronic scheduling in the near future. Weekend and evening hours are currently being evaluated as a possibility. However, there are no definite plans for those just yet.
Although The Center for Health and Wellness is a brand new concept for Western New England University, Noone says one of the biggest successes has been being able to provide seamless and cohesive care for students. Such as students that have complex needs that require partnership and cooperation between both sides of the Center for Health and Wellness.
As for her most significant personal success thus far, Noone said, “Merging two disparate teams can be daunting and incredibly challenging for a leader. The biggest success over the Fall was seeing the teams come together, really honor and respect one another. We’re excited about what will come as we continue to build a dynamic portfolio and platform of services.”
