Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Dear UNT Faculty and Staff,

For the past several months, we’ve been holding listening tours throughout all colleges and departments to hear directly from you about how we can better serve our students, faculty, and staff. One of the consistent comments we heard is that you would like to help our students who are facing mental health challenges. We also heard that because many of you are not trained mental health care professionals, you don’t feel equipped to effectively help our students with their mental health needs and are concerned that you may do or say the wrong thing at a critical time.

We heard you. I am pleased to inform you that this fall, UNT will begin a partnership with Mantra Health to provide free 24/7 faculty and staff guidance to help you support a student who may be experiencing a mental health challenge. Even if you just have an inkling that something may not be ok with a student, you can talk it through with Mantra’s trained mental health professionals. To access this support, each of you will receive a Guidance Card with the phone number for Mantra Health. It is operated by clinicians who can guide you to the strategies and resources to best assist students. You can reach the Mantra Health Guidance Line anytime, day or night, by calling 888-906-5216. Be sure to save this number in your phone for quick access. Please do note that if a student is posing immediate harm to themselves or others, always call 911 first.

Given the growing mental health challenges we know our students face, I hope you will take advantage of this program to help them stay healthy and keep their education on track. This is what a caring community does, and I know you will use this new resource to help those students who are in need of our care. 

Thanks for all you do to promote our students’ success.

UNT Proud,

Neal Smatresk
President