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Student Association will no longer pursue a partnership with a mental health app the organization has been working to bring to Syracuse University for months, SA officials announced at a meeting Monday. 

SA introduced My Student Support Program, a platform that would offer students 24/7 mental health support and other wellness resources, last semester. But several organizations that SA planned to partner with to introduce the app — including the Graduate Student Organization, the Barnes Center at The Arch and the Student Bar Association — later expressed concerns about the price tag and sustainability of the program. 

A pilot program with 4,000 students signed up would have cost about $215,000, SA President Justine Hastings said. 

“We tried to negotiate that it would be for specific student populations, but with the cost per student, we just didn’t think it would be fiscally possible right now,” Hastings said. “We wouldn’t be able to maintain the partnership in the long run.” 

Last semester, SA implemented Callisto, an app that uses a matching system to identify repeat sexual assault offenders, and will continue working to expand sexual assault and mental health resources for students.

The organization still plans to promote and potentially fund Sanvello, an app for stress and anxiety that connects students with coaching and therapy. The association has already seen a demo of the app’s coaching platform, Hastings said. 

The association has also begun working with the Barnes Center to share information about counseling resources and new health services, using the discussion members had with other organizations about My Student Support Program as a starting point. 

“The good news is that the discussions about the benefits of (My Student Support Program) have led to ongoing conversations with Barnes about what areas that could improve on, including the approachability of addressing mental health,” Hastings said.  

Published on February 9, 2021 at 12:57 am