Proposing a Solution

Last Name 1

Student Name

Kacee Belcher

ENC 1102

27 November 2018

A Proposal to Expand Psychological Services at Florida International University

Submitted to Dr. Kathryn Kominars, Interim Director of Counseling & Psychological Services

Today, college students are at major risk for depression due to the expectations they

encounter in college, the stress of wanting success, peer pressure in the party atmosphere, such as

drugs and alcohol, and financial problems. Accidents are the number one cause of deaths in

adolescents and young adults, but what others may not know is that suicide is the second cause.

According to Rachel Saurer, “one in ten college students makes a plan for suicide” (Saurer). That

is a significant amount of lives being taken due to the high expectations college students face

everyday. Consider this, FIU has roughly fifty-five thousand students and if one in ten plan for

suicide, then around five thousand five hundred students would be dead. My friends always

complain to me about how stress they are and I fear the worst, for one day it might be more than

just stress and I am scared for them. Recently, suicide, depression, and mental health have been

been trigger topics due to the amount of people being affected by them, but no one has imposed

on a probable solution. As a freshman student at FIU, I propose that we, as a community,

seriously consider the risks that are involved if matter is not taken accordingly and swiftly in

expanding psychological services by offering pet services on campus. I believe the solution of

bringing dogs onto FIU’s campus will cheer up the students and even faculty members.

Last Name 2

Implementing a dog therapy program will have a positive impact on the student body.

There are specific requirements the dogs must have. Only certified therapy dogs and emotional

support dogs must be allowed into the program and the owners must provide the dog’s

credentials to prove that they are in fact a healing dog. Local owners may voluntarily bring their

dogs onto campus. The dog therapy program will occur twice a week during the actual school

week on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour and a half each day. The services will be offered in

the outdoors so that way if any dog were to do an accident, it would be best to have it outside.

The dog owners must have dog waste eliminator bags with them at all times. The owner should

also provide water for the dog in a pet bowl or dog water bottle because Miami is hot and humid.

In addition, an administrator must be appointed in order to oversee and supervise the dog therapy

program and take command. The person in this position can either be a highly involved student

or an administrator pertaining to FIU’s psychological services department.

The students will have the ability to interact, play, and pet the dogs. Any student and

administration are welcome to pay the dogs a warming visit. Having only spent a few minutes

with the dogs, will significantly brighten the one’s day and change their current mood to a more

cheerful one. There is a specific endorphin released when an individual pets a dog that causes

people to be happier within seconds. According to Dr. Johannes Odendaal, “petting a dog

[releases] endorphins as well as other "feel good" chemicals in the brain, including dopamine,

oxytocin, prolactin, and norepinephrine” (qtd. in Masters). These chemicals eliminate stress from

the person, making them automatically feel much better and calmer.

Furthermore, the dog owners will not be paid because it is a voluntary service they are

performing. Although the costs are free, the dog therapy program at Kent State University, the

Last Name 3

first university to implement dog therapy, accepts donations in order to purchase supplies, such

as toys for the dogs so that the students will be able to play with them. They also appreciate

money for gas for the volunteers, but it is optional (Adamle). This is a win-win for both the

students and the university. The university will not have to spend money and the students will be

delighted to play with dogs. This will be a successful tool in achieving the goal: making students

less depressed and impacting one’s day.

The main causes of college depression are the urge to be successful in college, the high

expenses of living on their own, “homesickness,” “stress,” “drugs,” and “alcohol” (McWhirter).

According to the American College Health Association, they state that “suicide is currently the

second most common cause of death among college students aged 25-34 and [the] third leading

cause of death of 15-24-year-olds” (qtd. in Saurer). This statement provides enough detail to take

into account how serious suicide and mental health are. The current rate at which college

students are encountering these serious issues should address an immediate change to push

forward.

Students here at FIU come from everywhere around the world. Some leave their families,

friends, cousins, and pets at home. Since students may get homesick in the beginning of their

first semester, a feeling of a sense of home would be feasible with the dog therapy program. For

those who have left their pets at home, having the dog program will easily remind one of their

own pets at home and would already have a connection. The dogs in the program will create an

association with those who left their pets at home, allowing them to feel content and overjoyed.

FIU can successfully implement dog therapy onto their campus with the help of

administration and the students. The administration will be briefed on the successful results of

Last Name 4

dog therapy has on students and therefore, be convinced to hold an administrative meeting to

consider having this as a permanent solution. The administration can brief the students on the

idea and see if the students would be interested in dog therapy.

In the case of the dog therapy program actually being implemented onto campus, the

announcement will be quickly publicized. After getting the approval from faculty to place flyers,

one may place flyers in the bathroom, classrooms, the breezeway, the library, and by restaurants

to get the student’s attention. After this is done, one may create a social media account on either

Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, or Twitter and make specific postings to where the meetings

with the dogs will occur, for how long, and when. Having both paper and social announcements

will increase the share of the program and have the student’s and faculty’s attention in

participating.

There are several other alternatives that are good suggestions, but would not be as

beneficial as the dog therapy program. Group psychological therapy or counseling, is not as

beneficial because most group therapy usually meets maybe at least once a week for a specific

period of time, whereas the dog therapy will be held twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays

for an hour and a half. FIU already has counseling and psychological services offered for free

and anonymously. They also do have group therapy sessions. The group therapy is not as

beneficial as the dog therapy program because the psychological services require much more

time and attention to achieve their goals within a course of a semester. Whereas dog therapy,

allows one to get their feelings to be excited or more happier instantly. One may see a more

immediate result of decreasing depression in dog therapy while the therapy sessions see results

within a longer period of time. Another reason towards the concept of group therapy not being

Last Name 5

strong alternative because students are more willing and open to go pet a dog rather than

voluntarily talk to someone about their feelings.

Another alternative solution is to propose mandatory mental health screenings. These

screenings should be required in order to enter the first semester of FIU. A mental health

screening is a quick way to determine if one is suffering from a mental health disorder. These

screenings are used to determine if one is suffering from a mental disorder, such as “depression

or anxiety” (Mental Health America). Although this is a great alternative, prices may vary.

Depending on the website used, some offer free mental health screenings and others offer

subscriptions for a certain period of time. In some cases, mental health screenings “costs ranged

from $8.88 to 13.64 per enrolled student, depending on the [condition] of positive screens in a

school” (Kuo). One would have to set up the computers in order for the students to take the exam

or share a link. The dog therapy program is a preferable solution because it does not require any

costs and advisors do not need to be fully present to run the program. The dog therapy program

will only need a supervisor to coordinate the events with the approval of FIU administration and

the supervisor could be a student.

To conclude, the dog therapy program in FIU is the best and most reasonable solution to

expand psychological services. The program is entirely free and does not require much. The only

requirements needed is that the dogs must be certified as a therapy dog or an emotional support

dog. The dog program is made up of entirely volunteers who feel the need that action needs to be

implemented so that students will not have to suffer anymore from depression or stress. In

addition, the program may see immediate results due to the endorphins being released when one

associates themselves with a pet. I for one, am tired of seeing the news of one taking their life

Last Name 6

because of depression and stress. It is time for students to take matters into their own hands and

perform an immediate change on campus, not only for other students, but for families as well. I

advise the entire FIU community to fully read and comprehend the proposal and the immediate

benefits of bringing a dog therapy program will have. This will lead to a safer and more

respectable community here at FIU, where I call home.

Last Name 7

Works Cited Adamle, Kathy. “Donations.” Dogs on Campus, 2016, Dogs on Campus, dogsoncampus.org/

donate/.

Castellano, Jill. “Pet Therapy Is A Nearly Cost-Free Anxiety Reducer On College

Campuses.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 6 July 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/jillcastellano/

2015/07/06/pet-therapy-is-a-nearly-cost-free-anxiety-reducer-on-college-campuses/

#54e043b67c59.

Joy, Kevin. “6 Tools to Help Prevent Depression in College Freshman.” Depression in College

Students: How to Prevent Depression in Freshman, 2018 Regents of the University of

Michigan, 8 Aug. 2017, healthblog.uofmhealth.org/health-management/6-tools-to-help-

fight-college-freshman-depression.

Kuo, Elena et al. “Cost-effectiveness of a school-based emotional health screening program”

Journal of school health vol. 79,6 (2009): 277-85, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/

articles/PMC2682225/

Masters, Madeline. “Does Petting a Cat Release Endorphins?” Pets, 2018, XO Group Inc., 21

Nov. 2017, pets.thenest.com/petting-cat-release-endorphins-10269.html.

McWhirter, Katy. “Depression & College Students Mental Health, the Classroom & the

Importance of Getting Help Early.” College Student Depression: How to Spot the Signs

Early & Get Help, www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/college-

student-depression/.

Last Name 8

Mental Health America. “Mental Health Screening Tools.” Psychosis Test | Screening 2

Supports, 2018, Mental Health America, screening.mentalhealthamerica.net/screening-

tools.

Saurer, Rachel. “Suicide Now Second-Leading Cause of Death among College Students.” The

Rocky Mountain Collegian, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, 12 Dec. 2016,

collegian.com/2016/12/suicide-now-second-leading-cause-of-death-among-college-

students/.