Situation Analysis

The Student Health and Counseling Center is an important resource for Fresno State students. Yet, many students are either unaware of the services available to them or are reluctant to use the center due to factors such as stigmas surrounding seeking help. The purpose of this campaign is to inform and promote the services that are offered to students, as well as educate faculty about the services and encourage them to support students’ mental health.

The Student Health and Counseling Center offers counseling, medical, and wellness services as well as a pharmacy for students. Counseling services include crisis care, individual and relationship counseling, group counseling, psychiatry, etc. Wellness services include 360 Wellness challenges, weekly PAWDCAST, nutrition services, survivor advocacy and Bulldogs for recovery. Medical services include pharmacy, sexual health, sports medicine, and immunizations. Currently, the Health Center has some challenges with providing their services to certain demographics of students.

S.W.O.T.

Strengths (Internal): Students currently using services, accessible via online, services are FREE (mandatory tuition fee), larger societal focus on mental health, audience has some knowledge of services and center

Weakness (internal): virtual semester, no in-person events, time, messaging (stigmas), inability to schedule appointments online (need to call)

Opportunities (External): Other programs related to mental health to elevate the conversation include the Active Minds FS chapter, PAWDCAST, special days, Student Ambassadors, guest speakers.

Threats (External): Social stigma (men, athletes, cultural, others), technology not working, lack of participation, too many Zoom meetings, inaccessible for international students.

Target

Audiences

Students are the primary audience and faculty are the campaign’s secondary audience.

More detail below re: specific student groups to reach out to and why faculty are included in this campaign:

International Students are new to campus, could have the same struggles and anxious fears of a new place, surroundings, hot to feel connected and they might need someone to talk to. We need to normalize the struggles of transfer students and adapt the counseling center to offer opportunities that appeal to them.

Men are often less likely to speak up about their feelings & emotions. We see a disconnect in the services being offered at the Student Counseling Center & the percentage of male students using them.

Athletes - Fresno State Student Athletes include 220 men and 305 Women.

Faculty: It is important for faculty to be aware of the services of the Student Health and Counseling Center and the ways that they can support students’ mental health.

Goals & Objectives

This campaign is to raise awareness about the mental health services of the Fresno State Student Health and Counseling Center and encourage more conversation about mental health among students and faculty.

Objectives include:

Encouraging students to take the Bulldog Wellness Pledge
Encouraging students to do things to support their own mental health
Encouraging students to access the services of Student Health and Counseling Center if needed

Encouraging faculty to support student mental health

Research

A total of 28 case studies were researched and created for this campaign. Each case study analyzes a mental health related campaign that occurred on a college campus and evaluates three key areas: a campaign overview, campaign strategies and lessons learned.

Preview Here

Key Messages

For students:

Take the Bulldog Wellness Pledge
Take care of your own mental health
Access Student Health and Counseling Center services if needed

For faculty:

Educate yourself about what you can do to support your students’ mental health
Actively support your students’ mental health

Timeline

The Bulldog Wellness Pledge and its promotional content will be implemented for Fresno State’s Fall 2021 Semester. This campaign is designed to be implemented during a hybrid academic session, as the COVID-19 Pandemic will still constrain in-person activities. Additionally, this campaign will support the Wellness in the Classroom Faculty Program which will be implemented in the summer of 2021.

Evaluation

The Bulldog Wellness Campaign will be evaluated in three ways.

The Bulldog Wellness Pledge: The Bulldog Wellness Pledge will be evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. Following the conclusion of the campaign, the Student Health and Counseling Center can view the total number (quantitative) of students who took the pledge. Following the campaign, the center will send out a survey to the students who took the pledge, asking about their likes and dislikes regarding the pledge (qualitative).

Wellness in the Classroom/Faculty Champion Program: This will be evaluated based on the use and response of materials created.

Social Media and Audio Content: Measuring social media engagement across platforms will allow the Student Health and Counseling Center to evaluate the effectiveness of the content created. Audio content will be evaluated based on feedback and effectiveness.