Abstract
Student mental health appears to concern higher education administrators, faculty, and staff. The reality is that the personnel dedicated to it cannot keep up with the increasing demand for their services and resources to increase mental health counselors are not available. The problem is further exacerbated because students often seek assistance from other sources such as faculty who may not feel prepared to act in that capacity (Belch, 2011; Massey et al., 2014; Novotney, 2014; Protivnak et al., 2013; Smith & Applegate, 2018). The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of faculty's sense of preparedness to respond to student mental health concerns. The researcher utilized a qualitative case study approach to identify how faculty members’ sense of preparedness influences their willingness to assist students with mental health concerns. The researcher sought to answer the following questions: (1) What influences faculty members’ willingness to participate in professional development related to student mental health concerns? (2) How does a faculty member’s sense of preparedness influence their willingness to assist students with mental health concerns? (3)What faculty attitudes influence their willingness to assist students with mental health concerns? Results from this study demonstrate that faculty sense of preparedness did not influence faculty willingness to provide support. Furthermore, finding from this study highlighted the need for faculty professional development, faculty mental health support, and more transparency from administration regarding their expectations of faculty. This study’s findings inform higher education administrators of the role faculty play in the college student mental health crisis and what they can do to encourage campus mental health service providers to support faculty preparedness.. Keywords: student mental health, higher education, faculty support, pastoral care, health literacy, gatekeeper, bias, disability, helping