Student Wellness
Student Wellness staff members work together to provide a variety of quality services and programs focused on physical and emotional health to promote student success and well-being.
Student Wellness Team
Student Wellness is comprised of mental health counselors, medical providers and health educators.
Senior Director
- Sharon Mitchell, PhD, Senior Director
Unit Directors
- Sharon Mitchell, PhD, Director, Counseling Services
- Marla McBride, Director, Health Promotion
- Susan Snyder, Director, Student Health Services
Student Wellness units work together to educate students and prepare them for a lifetime of healthy behaviors.
Support at Every Step
Different people require different levels of care or intervention. Student Wellness follows a “stepped care” model, which is designed to assess each student’s needs holistically and in a timely fashion, and then provide the right level of care. Students might move from lower to higher levels of care (or vice versa) as needed, depending on the outcomes at each step.
An assessment lets you know your current status, relative to specific health and wellness goals or benchmarks. Some assessments are conducted by a staff member during an appointment or consultation, while you may be able to complete other assessments yourself. Assessments may lead to a higher level of care, or you may find that just having the information is all you need at this point.
Once you complete your assessment, you may be able to get the services and information you need without asking anyone else for help. For example, you may see that there are online workshops, videos or self-help resources. Of course, you may also choose to start with self-directed resources, and then access more in-depth services at any time.
UB’s Student Wellness staff is here to help you with a variety of services, including educational workshops, classes, personalized support and more. You may self-select into some of these services; others may require a referral.
Clinical intervention simply means getting support from a health and wellness professional — for example, a visit with an on-campus health care provider, dietician or mental health counselor. Clinical intervention also includes lab services and prescriptions.
If you need long-term, inpatient or specialized care, you will likely be referred to a health or wellness professional in the community (outside of UB). If your condition becomes more manageable, you could then move back to a lower level of care.