$967,000
That’s how much UCF official Maribeth Ehasz asked state leaders for on Thursday. These funds would go to hiring additional mental health counselors at UCF.
The Florida Board of Governors previously requested $14.4 million for the Mental Health field for all of Florida’s 13 universities. Money that would mainly go to salaries to hire on mental health professionals, as well as provide technology and training to staffers.
UCF has had a growing number of students struggling with mental health. In 2015, UCF saw an increase of students hospitalized due to mental health issues, also known as Baker Acts. The University saw 104 Baker Acts last year and officials say that they are on pace to top that number yet again in 2016.
The Board of Governors requested $6.2 million in 2015 to enhance mental health facilities, but was unsuccessful in obtaining the additional funds.
Since then UCF has hired on additional counselors using money they had in reserves, after choosing not to raise student’s tuition costs to fund the new staffers.
UCF’s Counseling and Psychological Services offers a number of different methods to help students cope with mental health issues.
Stay tuned to Knight News for continued UCF updates.
