A prevalent issue on college campuses is that students don’t know what resources — whether pertaining to mental health, physical health or academics — their university has to offer. With this information, students can potentially have better outlets for their problems, save money and have better grades.
According to a study in 2021, only 23 percent of students in the United States strongly agreed that they knew where to find on-campus resources. Even though there are more resources than just those related to mental health — like physical and intellectual resources — mental health resources are important to know wherever you are.
I learned about many of Binghamton University’s resources during the 2022–23 school year through my work as an intern with the Health Promotion and Prevention Services Department. While being an intern there, I mostly learned about mental health resources, but I know that there are other academic and physical health resources on campus. Other students are frequently surprised when I talk about the amount of resources on campus, and from there they are able to utilize them as well. I feel fortunate that I have been able to use these resources, considering that many students still don’t know about them.
I have used many different resources on campus, and from my experiences these are some of my favorites.
Master of Social Work (MSW) Interns
MSW interns are at each living community to help students by supporting them and dealing with any concerns that they may have. They are traditionally equipped to be trained in talking to students, giving additional resources and making referrals for any substance abuse issues.
The MSW interns are great to get in touch with when you’re going through a big life change or need someone to talk to. When going through something, it can be hard to talk to friends or others about it. The MSW interns are a good outlet that a lot of students don’t utilize.
In my freshman year, I talked to an MSW intern about issues that I was having with a suitemate, and they made me feel heard and helped me through the situation.
Health Promotion and Prevention Services — Safer Sex and Menstrual Care Products
The Health Promotion and Prevention Services Department (HPPS) has an online ordering form with which students — on or off campus — can order and receive safer sex supplies and menstrual supplies for free. Students can fill out this form as many times as they need, and can either pick the products up from the office or send them to a BU P.O. Box with discreet packaging. HPPS is able to provide internal condoms, latex and non-latex condoms, silicon and water based lubricant, pads, tampons and liners. This department also fills different kiosks that have these same supplies, located in Old Union Hall, the West Gym and Bartle Library. The form can be found at the HPPS section of the BU website under “Health Topics and Services.”
I am currently an intern for the HPPS, and because a small number of students actually use this form, they are able to fill it out very quickly. I use it very consistently because of its convenience and how much money it saves. Even when I tell other people about it, they are surprised at how they have never heard of it and begin ordering from the form.
The Writing Center
The Writing Center offers free tutoring sessions for students,.up to twice a week. The tutors are students who excel at writing and went through significant training for this role. These tutors don’t fix your work, but some of what they can help you with is focusing on your thesis or argument, developing presentations and finding source material for any type of writing assignment or project
The Writing Center is an excellent tool for final papers and other presentations. It can sometimes be hard to find someone who will help you with your entire piece of writing, but this source makes it easier to write. When I’ve used these tutors, I’ve always gotten back great feedback and notes on what I can do, and I felt like I was in a very safe space to ask questions about my papers.
Binghamton Support Network
Binghamton Support Network (BSN) is a search engine for a variety of off- and on-campus resources in Binghamton. Anyone can access it and either type in something they might need or go into the categories and browse the different resources.
BSN is one of my favorite resources because it’s an easy way to find support and aid students in whatever they need. This website was something that should have come to the University much sooner. The awful aspect of it, though, is that no one knows about it, considering that there has not been much advertising or marketing of it. The school just put it up and expected people to find it on their own
There are more resources than what people know of, but by using this tool students will be able to find them significantly easier when looking for resources. The only reason why I know about these resources is because of my experience working with different departments. Many of these places don’t necessarily advertise for them. While my experiences are very different from other students, because I have seen and used the resources firsthand, that doesn’t change the fact that all students should know about these resources.
By knowing about these resources, students have more tools at their disposal to better themselves as they progress through college.
Sydney Lee is a sophomore majoring in English.