For students, college life can be an exciting time- lots of opportunities for new experiences, relationships, and learning about the world and ourselves.  It can sometimes also be a difficult and stressful time that can challenge a student's emotional and physical health. Some students may feel they need extra support to cope with personal issues that may be interfering with their ability to make the most of their UMBC experience and others may just benefit from our range of health and mental health services. 

Through trauma-informed, culturally sensitive counseling services, our counselors work collaboratively with students to improve their emotional well-being, balance priorities, enhance interpersonal relationships, empower them with useful coping skills to attain success in and out of the classroom, and support them to access additional outside services to meet their needs. Our counselors come from a variety of backgrounds and specializations.

All counseling services are free and confidential. We provide short-term individual counseling, group counseling, performance enhancement consultations, as well as crisis intervention, outreach, consultation, and referral services. For faculty, staff, and student families, our counseling team is available to consult regarding how to support a student. 

For students, our medical team provides both primary and limited urgent care services, including annual well and gynecological (GYN) visits, updating vaccinations and boosters, screening for various diseases, and treating acute illnesses and minor injuries.  We also provide psychiatry, acupuncture services, and dietitian consultations. Our medical team operates like an outside doctors office in that they bill insurance and payments can be billed to your student account. 

RIH also offers a wide variety of Free Online Supports for students, including:

• Togetherall- an anonymous, online peer support community

• Welltrack Boost- virtual self-help modules, mood tracker, zen room, and screening tools

• Welltrack Connect- an online database and communication tool to assist you in finding mental health treatment in the community

We are located at the Center for Wellbeing across from the library.  More information is available on our website at health.umbc.edu.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at RIH@umbc.edu if you have any questions.

Shakira Davidson, executive administrative assistant I, Vice President for Student Affairs Office, and Amanda Turner, administrative assistant II, Student Conduct and Community Standards, were selected to the fall 2025 Building Bridges Across Maryland Program.

The Building Bridges Across Maryland Program for administrative support staff fosters professional/leadership development, collaboration, and idea sharing between select employees at McDaniel College, Loyola University of Maryland, Goucher College, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Towson University, the University of Baltimore, the University of Maryland Baltimore and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Up to five individuals from each university are nominated by vice presidents, vice provosts, and deans to participate each fall.

The program includes a cohort of individuals from each institution and includes a combination of in-person and virtual sessions. Topics include Discovering Your Strengths, Living the Productive Life, Gaining the Skills that Lead to Success, Networking, Becoming a Champion of Inclusion, Career Planning, and Self-Care. 

Program graduates are sometimes invited back to continue their professional development, reconnect, and meet members of other cohorts. Building Bridges Across Maryland alumni who are interested in reconnecting with the group or meeting new cohort members, can email Amy Levine, training and professional development coordinator at Towson University. 

Several Student Affairs staff members were selected to Human Resources and Strategic Talent Management’s fall 2025 ASPIRE leadership program:

• Tess McRae, Assistant Director for Connective Learning, Center for Democracy and Civic Life
• Emily Aielo, Coordinator, Event & Conference Services
• Crystal Knight, Clinic Coordinator, Retriever Integrated Health (RIH) 
• Patrice Marshall, Counselor, RIH
• Candida Williams, Front Desk Lead, RIH

ASPIRE is created to provide aspiring leaders – individuals who are not currently supervising staff – with the essential professional competencies and interpersonal skills needed to effectively lead in the future. This cohort-based experience will be delivered through a mix of engaging in-person instruction and team coaching. 

ASPIRE is a unique opportunity open to all non-supervisory employees past their probationary period who are eager to take the first step on their leadership journey.

Dr. Mary Ellen Wade, director of assessment and planning, co-authored “Exploring Students’ Perceptions of the Campus Climate and Intergroup Relations: Insights from a Campus-Wide Survey at a Minority-Serving University” in Journalism and Media. Additional co-authors are Dr. Irina Golubeva, interim chair and professor, Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication (MLLI); Dr. David DiMaria, vice provost for global engagement, Center for Global Engagement (CGE); Adam Holden, director of international partnerships and recruitment, CGE; and Katherine Kohler, adjunct faculty, MLLI.

The article abstract states:

Campus climate research has long been a focus of higher education scholarship; however, studies show that inequalities and a pervasive sense of not belonging continue to negatively affect students. This paper presents the results of a campus-wide survey conducted at a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI), with a sample of 820 undergraduate, master’s, Ph.D., and non-degree students. The authors explore students’ experiences on campus in relation to their identities as well as students’ perceptions of campus climate. Specifically, the paper examines students’ intergroup relations and how these influence their sense of belonging. The survey instrument developed in the frame of this project also included questions designed to assess opportunities students have to develop key values, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and critical understanding related to intercultural and democratic competences necessary for life and work in multicultural societies. This study identifies the areas students perceive as important for development, highlighting which values, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and critical understanding they have had the opportunity to cultivate during their time at the university and those they would like to develop further. The authors hope these findings will inform efforts to strengthen institutional support for more inclusive practices on culturally diverse university campuses and provide evidence-based guidance for designing effective pedagogical interventions.

“It was a pleasure to assist with the data analysis for this article. I appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with others across UMBC in this important work,” said Dr. Wade. “Study insights informed the creation of targeted, transformative learning experiences tailored to students’ needs. As a result, the approach enhanced students’ perceptions of campus inclusivity and improved their overall sense of belonging.”

Program proposals by Dr. Rae Chresfield, assistant vice president for health and wellbeing, have been accepted to the 2025 European Conference for Student Affairs and Services, and to the 2025 Advancing School Mental Health Conference.

In November, Dr. Chresfield will attend NASPA’s European Conference for Student Affairs and Services in Porto, Portugal. The conference provides a platform for student services professionals, academics, researchers, and policymakers to discuss innovative programs, practices, models and trends in student affairs. 

Dr. Chresfield will present “Anchored and Adaptive: Embedding Wellbeing, Resilience, and Meaning in the Practice of Student Affairs”: Student Affairs professionals face unprecedented challenges while supporting students through global uncertainty. This innovative session integrates well-being, resilience, and meaning-making as interconnected professional competencies. Participants will engage with practical frameworks: “Four Pillars of Wellbeing,” “Three R' of Resilience,” and meaning cultivation strategies, and develop 30-day implementation plans with peer accountability partnerships.

In December, Dr. Chresfield will attend the Advancing School Mental Health Conference in Orlando, Florida. This premier interdisciplinary conference focuses on school mental health and brings together local, state, national, and international experts to advance knowledge and skills related to school mental health practice, research, training, and policy. It unites educators, counselors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, physicians, mental health leaders, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, family members, advocates, and other partners in the school mental health field to share the latest research and best practices. The conference emphasizes a shared school-family-community agenda to promote mental health, prevent issues, and provide interventions for students and families as part of a multi-tiered system of support. 

Dr. Chresfield will present “Empowering Non-Clinical Staff to Support Student Mental Health”: The rising student mental health crisis necessitates expanding support beyond traditional clinical services. This study examines training non-clinical staff—teachers, administrators, residence advisors, and support personnel—to serve as mental health first responders. Through targeted training in mental health literacy, warning sign identification, and referral protocols, non-clinical staff can effectively bridge gaps between distressed students and professional services.