The President’s Perspective
April 2015
The Mental Health Challenge!
Dr. Ervin V. Griffin, Sr.
President/CEO Halifax Community College
With all of the issues we are dealing with regarding recruitment, retention and graduation of students, we must
not forget that students are humans, too. We need to deal with a student’s mind, soul and body in a holistic
fashion. Today’s column will deal with mental health challenges and the services we offer for students.
Statistics provided by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare shows that one in five people
suffer from mental illness. This amounts to about 57.7 million Americans every year. Mental illness affects
everyone across age, sex and race, and drains our economy of more than $80 billion every year, which is 15
percent of the total economic burden of all disease. A recent study estimates that serious mental illnesses cost
society $255.4 billion annually in lost earnings in the U.S. On the positive side, up to 90 percent of people being
treated do recover.
At HCC, we provide services through our Counseling Center. We serve students with a wide variety of
concerns from physical and intellectual disabilities to psychological and psychiatric disabilities. Mental illness
is often stigmatized because people do not understand it the way we’ve come to understand medical illness. Due
to this, we’re very careful not to violate confidentiality when working with our students.
One of our counselors recently became a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate through the North Carolina
Board of Licensed Professional Counselors. Nationwide, more community colleges are requiring counselors to
gain their counseling licenses. About 58 percent of community college counselors now have their license. As a
licensed counselor associate, our counselor will see her counseling supervisor after a certain number of direct
and indirect counseling hours. She maintains strict confidentiality and considers educational issues like using
the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or how to handle certain ethical issues.
The HCC Counseling Center provides a confidential, caring atmosphere in which students may discuss
concerns that are interfering with academic success. However, if students need in-depth, long-term counseling,
they are advised to contact a local mental health provider. Our counselors can make immediate referrals for
psychiatric services under certain circumstances. To access local services, students may call Five County
Mental Health Authority at 877-619-3761 or Halifax Regional Medical Center at 252-535-1501.
The Upper Coastal Plain Learning Council and NC State University also offer a Youth Mental Health First Aide
program. This training is designed for adults (parents, school staff, health and human service workers,
caregivers and other interested community members of the public) to improve mental health literacy—helping
them identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness. There is no charge for the workshop or the
materials that participants receive. It is an eight-hour certification course that teaches a five-step action plan to
assess a situation, select and implement interventions, and secure appropriate care for the individual. You may
contact Dr. Kathy Lawson at 252-813-7510 or Betty Jones at 252-985-9868 for details on the workshop.
From the President’s Perspective, HCC offers a holistic approach in our classes and services. We want to make
sure that our students are well-rounded and healthy. This includes both mental and physical health. Moreover,
we are acutely aware that we need more counselors to provide the services that many of our students might need
in the future to be successful at their chosen endeavors. The mental health challenge is one that we cannot
afford to ignore now and even more so in the future.
Send me an e-mail message at president@halifaxcc.edu with your thoughts/ideas on how to meet this challenge.
Stop by campus, call 252-536-HCC1 or visit www.halifaxcc.edu.
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