FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 8, 2018
STEPHENVILLE, Texas—Tarleton State University’s new Wellness Center, home to Student Counseling and Student Health Services, celebrated its grand opening today with a ribbon cutting and open house.
Part of Tarleton’s Division of Student Affairs, the center is now located on the first floor of Traditions North residence hall adjacent to Tarleton’s Recreation Sports Center.
The new Wellness Center replaces the former Student Health Services Center at the Barry B. Thompson Student Center, doubling its size to approximately 10,000 square feet and providing needed additional space for professional staff members assisting Tarleton students with their healthcare needs.
Since September 2017, Tarleton’s Student Health Services has served 6,558 student visits and experienced a 40 percent increase in client services from the previous year.
Tarleton’s combined Wellness Center provides care of acute illnesses, first-aid treatment of minor injuries, and the services of a medical doctor or nurse practitioner at specified times. Student Counseling Services provides a variety of free, confidential services for individuals and couples as well as clinical assessment and referrals, crisis management, psychiatric services, academic skills counseling and psychoeducational programming for Tarleton’s diverse student body.
The first facility on campus to service student health needs opened in 1953, an infirmary where students could stay overnight with an attending nurse who lived in the building. In 1970, the Tarleton infirmary moved to the present-day Welcome Center before relocating to the Thompson Student Center in 1994.
The new Wellness Center includes nine exam rooms, a hydration area and was constructed to include X-ray capabilities in the future. Student Health Services is staffed with six professionals while Student Counseling Services includes 10 staff and six graduate assistants to serve students.
With the inclusion of the Wellness Center in Traditions North and its close proximity to Wisdom Gym, the Recreation Sports Center and Nursing Building, students will be afforded opportunities for applied learning experiences in their respective majors. Currently, Student Health Services serves as a rotation site for graduate students in the sports medicine program, with plans to include nursing majors in 2019.
The new location also supports Tarleton’s Public Health Services Living-Learning Communities, such as nursing, medical laboratory sciences, public health, social work, sports medicine and kinesiology. The new public health major offered at Tarleton is expected to grow at a double-digit rate over the next five years.
Student Counseling Services also will support Living-Learning Communities and undergraduate students in social work, and health professions will have the opportunity to shadow licensed professional counselors and work with the university’s alcohol, drug abuse and violence prevention programs.
For more information about Tarleton’s Wellness Center and its services, visit www.tarleton.edu/counseling and www.tarleton.edu/healthservices.
Tarleton, founding member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven educational experience, marked by academic innovation and a dedication to transform today’s scholars into tomorrow’s leaders. Offering degree programs in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian and online to more than 13,000 students, Tarleton engages with communities through real-world learning experiences to address societal needs while maintaining its core values of integrity, leadership, tradition, civility, excellence and service.
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Contact: Kurt Mogonye, Senior Communications Specialist
254-968-9460
mogonye@tarleton.edu
