SUNY chief visits Oneonta, talks student mental health

Oct. 21—State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras visited SUNY OneontaWednesday, Oct. 20, to announce funding for mental health initiatives and to discuss the fall semester with new SUNY Oneonta President Alberto Cardelle.

Malatras said SUNY is investing $24 million to address mental health issues in students after they have had two years of uncertainty. He said with the COVID-19 pandemic, some underclassmen hadn't been in a school setting since they were juniors in high school. He said last year, colleges focused on helping students face social isolation and this year, after students have been isolated for so long, they are combating the anxiety of being together again.

He said the investment will go to hiring counselors, improving peer-to-peer help and increasing telehealth counseling sessions and other resources. SUNY Deputy Press Secretary Jackie Orchard said SUNY Oneonta will receive $400,000.

Cardelle said the college will hire a counselor and embed that person in the residence halls for students to talk to, and telecounseling services will be expanded.

In addition to announcing the funds for mental health, Malatras answered questions about SUNY's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he was authorized by the SUNY board of trustees in June to impose a vaccine mandate on students if a COVID-19 vaccine was approved by the Federal Drug Administration. Approval was given in August and students had until Sept. 27 to be immunized or face being deregistered, he said.

"As of last week 1,500 students have failed to get vaccinated, mostly commuters at community colleges," Malatras said. "We are working with them to encourage them to get vaccinated."

He said prior to the mandate, about 75% of SUNY students had already been vaccinated by August because they wanted to come to college and experience sports and live music, and to live in and visit each others' dorm rooms and experience traditional college life.

Last fall, SUNY Oneonta was home to the state university system's worst COVID outbreak, with more than 700 students infected before campus was closed for the remainder of the fall semester. SUNY Oneonta President Barbara Jean Morris resigned afterward; the campus was led by interim President Dennis Craig until Cardelle's appointment in July.

Malatras said between the fall 2020 and the spring 2021 semesters, about 22,000 students left college because they didn't like the experience. He said many of those students returned in the fall, and he hoped more will return in the spring 2022 semester after seeing how successful the fall semester was.

He said administrators did learn some things during the pandemic that could improve the SUNY experience, including offering online courses and the need to update the financial aid model. He also said colleges need to be built closer to inner cities, and said three community colleges near Rochester have joined together to open a downtown Rochester campus.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.

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