SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 39

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Cynthia Nava

A JOINT MEMORIAL

DIRECTING THE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND OTHER APPROPRIATE STATE AGENCIES TO STUDY MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OF STUDENTS IN NEW MEXICO'S COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AND ANALYZE EXISTING HEALTH AND COUNSELING SERVICES AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS.

     WHEREAS, the state is proud of its comprehensive and inexpensive provision of higher education to its citizens; and

     WHEREAS, the state enrolls well over one hundred ten thousand students in twenty-five state-supported institutions of higher education; and

     WHEREAS, the state very much values the physical and mental well-being of all its college and university students; and

     WHEREAS, national studies have indicated that forty-five percent of college students reported having difficulty functioning because of depression at least once a year; and

     WHEREAS, national surveys of counseling center directors found that eighty-five percent of North American student counseling centers reported an increase in students with "severe psychological problems"; and

     WHEREAS, the suicide rate among New Mexicans aged fifteen through twenty-four averaged seventeen and one-half percent per one hundred thousand in population from 1999 through 2001, and in 2002, the suicide rate for that age group averaged eighteen and nine-tenths percent per one hundred thousand in population, thereby ranking New Mexico first in the nation in suicides in this age group; and

     WHEREAS, increased stress, use of psychotropic drugs, peer relationships and pressure to succeed are only some of the issues facing today's college students; and

     WHEREAS, little is known about these trends and issues in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, information and data about the well-being of college students in New Mexico is very valuable and integral to the deliberations of the legislature;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it direct the commission on higher education and other appropriate state agencies to conduct a study to include three- to five-year trends in the number of referrals for counseling therapy; the numbers of suicides or other catastrophic incidences; the time of day and the place that serious to severe behavioral events occur for both campus and off-campus settings; the years in colleges or universities when more incidences occur; the most common issues or problems that become subjects of referrals and counseling; and the relationship of behavioral problems to dropping out of school; and  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study analyze the existing student services for health and counseling that are made available at New Mexico colleges and universities for adequacy and timely coverage, sufficient staffing, preparation of emergencies, preparation of practitioners and funding trends; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the commission on higher education, all New Mexico college and university presidents and vice presidents and all deans or directors of New Mexico college and university student services.

- 3 -