Monmouth College is receiving a three-year grant of $300,000 to enhance the mental health services offered to students.
The money was awarded by the National Institute of Health Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration through their Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Suicide Prevention Program.
Monmouth is developing a "Scots POW" project with the grant money, an abbreviation for "Prioritizing Our Well-Being".
Vice President and Dean for Student Success and Title IX Coordinator Michelle Merritt said through this project, the college plans to provide more options in active classes to promote physical and mental well-being, hire paid interns to provide on-campus counseling and administer a survey through the Healthy Minds Network to understand where Monmouth students' mental health aligns with that of other schools.
The college will also be able to implement annual training for at least half of the faculty, staff and students about mental health and substance abuse topics, an initiative spearheaded by Director of Student Well-Being Megan McGruder.
Merritt said these efforts will be imperative as students enter school with a lack of academic preparedness and delayed socio-emotional development in a post-pandemic world.
While drafting the grant, Merritt said Monmouth was able to incorporate other local organizations to create a "well-being task force."
"We're hoping that this isn't just a Monmouth College initiative, but that it's a community-wide initiative," Merritt said. "...So that's another aspect that this grant provides. It's not just for us, but I think it's for bringing our community together as well, and not just helping our students, but helping each other."
This story was produced by WVIK, Quad Cities NPR. We rely on financial support from our listeners and readers to provide coverage of the issues that matter to the Quad Cities region and beyond. As someone who values the content created by WVIK's news department, please consider making a financial contribution to support our work.