Pierpont Community & Technical College gets grant from WV higher education office

FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Pierpont Community & Technical College received a grant to support more mental health programs.  

West Virginia’s Higher Education Policy Commission and Community and Technical College System gave out grants to 12 different universities and colleges.  

“We know that student wellness is a core component of student achievement,” said Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, West Virginia’s Chancellor of Higher Education. “Through these grants and this training, we hope to better support our campuses and their students in treating mental health care as fundamental to personal and academic success.” 

The grants will fund projects including a virtual peer support app, suicide prevention and crisis intervention training for faculty and students, increased availability of mental health and wellness presentations for students and the creation of wellness and meditation spaces on campuses.  

“Stress can come from many different things,” Dr. Suzan Clemens, director of support services at Pierpont Community & Technical College, said. “It can come from finical stress it could be just lack of time life situations all kinds of stuff like that so being able to give the resources for that kind of stuff is extremely important.” 

The following institutions received grants ranging from $4,000 to $5,000 for their projects:  

• Concord University – CU Go On 
• Eastern Community and Technical College – Human Wellbeing  
• Fairmont State University – The Falcon Mental Health Awareness Program 
• Glenville State College – Glenville State College Counseling Center 2021-2022 Initiative 
• New River Community and Technical College – Motivational Interviewing Training and QPR Gatekeeper Trainer Certification 
• West Virginia Northern Community College – Stress & Mental Health Awareness via WellConnect 
• Pierpont Community & Technical College – Campus-Wide Mental Health Initiative 
• Shepherd University – Material Support for Campus Mental Health 
• West Virginia State University Research and Development Corp. – Behavior Intervention Team Development and Training 
• West Virginia University School of Social Work – Mental Health First Aid Training Project 
• West Virginia University/Potomac State College – Catamount Creative Expressions Initiative 
• West Virginia University – Institute of Technology – WVU Tech University Hall Affinity Space 

The total amount the West Virginia’s Higher Education Policy Commission and Community and Technical College System gave out for mental health programs is nearly $60,000.