USF holds a ceremony every January to honor the lives of students or alumni that were lost, engraving names onto a memorial wall located by the Marshall Student Center. ORACLE PHOTO/CLINTON ENGELBERGER
USF’s administration will not say who or how it will prevent future suicides on campus a month after a student leapt from an upper floor balcony of the Interdisciplinary Science Building – the third suicide since fall 2022.
The Oracle has asked repeatedly about which USF administrators are overseeing suicide prevention initiatives and how the university is responding to last month’s death. It has not received a response.
Instead, USF spokeswoman Althea Johnson pointed to existing mental resources and initiatives – resources police say the student who died by suicide last month didn’t seek out.
Authorities believe the male student – who The Oracle is not identifying – was failing a class and wasn’t on track to graduate, records show.
The Oracle reached out to Wellness, which includes the Counseling Center and Student Health Services, to ask what it’s doing to address mental health concerns.
All Wellness departments will be meeting this summer to discuss how it can better reach students for suicide prevention, Student Health and Wellness director Joseph Puccio said.
“How do we get to the students that don’t know what they need, but they know that something’s not right?” Puccio said. “That’s our biggest challenge. And that’s something that we really want to work on over the summer.”
Puccio said no details on the meetings will be available until planning starts. A date hasn’t been set for the first meeting.
Scott Strader, the Counseling Center’s director, said recent on-campus suicides have put the need for expanding services at USF “to an even stronger degree than it’s always been.”
Here’s more about what Wellness is doing to support students:
New information on last month’s death
A male USF student was found dead inside the Interdisciplinary Sciences building on the Tampa campus over spring break, according to a police report.
Police said a USF faculty member was the first one to see the student, who did not live on campus, and called University Police.
Once police arrived on the scene, police said it appeared the student had died by suicide. The student fell from an upper floor of the building.
University Police said the student fell from an upper floor inside the seven-story Interdisciplinary Sciences building. ORACLE PHOTO/CLINTON ENGELBERGER
No one witnessed the student’s death, but another student was in the building when it happened, according to police.
Shortly before the student’s death, police said he sent a message to his friends through Discord alluding to suicide.
The Counseling Center responds to suicides by reaching out to affected groups, such as those who lived in the same hall or were in the same college, Strader said.
What else is Wellness doing?
Along with the summer meetings to find ways to improve outreach, the Counseling Center will potentially give new tasks to counselors that specifically focus on coordinating all suicide prevention activities and other measures.
This would not create a new position within Wellness. Instead, the tasks would fall on a current counselor whose primary job would be suicide prevention, Counseling Center director Scott Strader said.
This initiative is in early talking stages and would depend on next year’s budget for Wellness, Strader said.
Wellness is understaffed. Is this a concern?
The Counseling Center is budgeted for 28 full-time clinical positions, Strader said. With that availability, 16 are filled, along with three part-time clinicians.
Last fall, the Counseling Center increased clinician pay to combat staffing shortages. At the time, the center had 11 vacancies, compared to the 12 it has now.
Despite this shortage, Strader said the Counseling Center is prepared to accommodate students.
“I am pleased that even at this busy time of the year and even as busy as we are, students aren’t having to wait very long,” Strader said.
The average wait time for a first-time appointment this semester has been 8.9 days, Strader said. There isn’t an average wait time in between appointments available given each student’s needs are different.
Strader said all same-day appointments are accommodated and do not overpower the staff.
While staffing issues are noticeable for Strader, he said they have not interfered with meeting student demand and is optimistic staffing will improve by fall.
What resources do students have now?
The Counseling Center has same-day and scheduled appointments with a clinician available to students. Students can also access. TimelyCare, an online platform where counselors are available 24/7 to talk with students virtually.
Togetherall, an anonymous platform where peers can communicate and help one another, is another resource students can use.
Strader said while future improvements are coming, he’s confident existing resources will continue to accommodate students.
“I’ve always felt good about the services that we have,” he said. “I think it’s really a matter of ‘How do we get this information to the right people at the right time when they need it and can be responsive?’”
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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