Stephan D. Weiss Student Mental Health Award – Feb 15

Posted by American College Health Foundation on January 24, 2023

American College Health Foundation invites applications for Stephan D. Weiss Student Mental Health Award

The American College Health Foundation aims to serve as the principal leadership organization for advancing the health of college students and campus communities through advocacy, education, and research.

To that end, the foundation invites applications for the Stephan D. Weiss Student Mental Health Award, established in 2010, to support efforts to promote and improve the quality of mental health care for college students.

Sponsored by the Stephan D. Weiss Foundation and the Weiss Fund of the American College Health Foundation, the award will provide $5,000 along with a commitment from the institution of an additional $5,000 of actual funds or in-kind support for efforts to promote and improve the quality of mental health support for college students. The award is intended to encourage student(s) to develop creative initiatives to will enhance mental health service delivery to students through an innovative program that could be replicated at another college or university.

More specifically, the award will support funding for the following: identifying and tracking students’ mental and behavioral health needs as they relate to individual and community health, student retention, student learning, and academic advancement; assessing environmental factors that may contribute to or provide protection from mental and behavioral health disorders. This may include institutional social and cultural factors as well as public policies that affect the health of students; assessing the adequacy of campus and community resources and partnerships that provide prevention, early intervention and treatment services for students affected by mental and behavioral health disorders; developing collaborative, strategic campus-wide initiatives and resource allocation that strengthen the health of the campus-learning environment and reduce the risk for development of mental and behavioral health disorders among students; developing community and public health initiatives and resources designed to increase awareness, early recognition and active intervention for mental and behavioral health issues across campus; strengthening theory-driven, evidence-based methods and processes for mental and behavioral health assessment, early intervention, treatment, referral, and post-treatment follow-up, including multidisciplinary professional development and capacity-building for appropriate health center, counseling center, student services and academic faculty and staff; and the development of campus-wide communication strategies to address an immediate threat to on-campus populations as a result of an individual’s mental status and actions.

American College Health Association institutional or individual members can apply for this funding opportunity.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the American College Health Foundation website.

Deadline: February 15, 2023