{"397111":{"#nid":"397111","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Student Alumni Association Gives More Than $36,000 to Counseling Center","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Georgia Tech students voted on how to spend the Student Alumni Association (SAA) Gift to Tech funds this year, their votes spoke profoundly of what they value on campus: mental health services.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe annual Gift to Tech will amount to more than $36,050 and will go to the Counseling Center, which will use the gift for the continued implementation of recommendations issued by the Mental Health Task Force in 2013. Some of those initiatives include suicide prevention and education programming, expanding the new Burdell\u2019s Buddies peer counseling program, and supporting outreach and recovery programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe director of the Counseling Center, Toti Perez, said he and his team were both humbled and surprised to be among this year\u2019s finalists, which included an outdoor concert series and outdoor solar-powered charging stations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe weren\u2019t expecting it because there were so many good proposals out there,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Gift to Tech is chosen through two rounds of student voting. All undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to vote in the first round, which narrows the list to the top three. SAA members then cast their votes in a second round to pick the winner.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s so different from any other funding we may get,\u201d Perez said. \u201cIt represents the voice of students who over the course of the years have started to regard emotional wellness and healthy lifestyles as a critical part of their success at Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollege student mental health has been a prominent national issue and top of mind for the Tech community in recent years. In May 2013, President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson convened the Mental Health Task Force, comprising students, faculty, and staff, to review Tech\u2019s efforts at that time and increase awareness and prevention of mental health issues. The Task Force delivered recommendations in October of that year. Many have been implemented, including the creation of a Center for Community Health and Wellbeing that is being established this year. Additional funding has also gone to the Counseling Center to bring counselor salaries to market rate and add additional staff psychologists to the team.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s good to feel validated by students regarding the value and need for our services, along with the validation the administration has provided,\u201d Perez said of the gift. \u201cIt\u2019s an extraordinary honor.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Gift to Tech is funded through donations from SAA members. When students join SAA, they make a $10 donation, $5 of which goes to the Gift to Tech fund. This year a matching gift of $10,000 came from a father-son alumni team, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtsaa.com\/alumni-matching-gifts\u0022\u003EKen and Tyler Townsend\u003C\/a\u003E. As students continue to join SAA through the end of the fiscal year, their donations will also go to the gift. The final gift total will be tallied at the end of June.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOf this year\u2019s finalists, mental health was of a more serious nature and really resonates with students,\u201d said Danish Dharani, co-vice president of philanthropy for SAA. \u201cStudent mental health is a big issue on college campuses in general, and with Tech of course being as rigorous as it is, I think that may have been a driving cause in the vote.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESAA will award the gift at a ceremony on Tuesday, April 21, at 11 a.m. at the Kessler Campanile. All students are invited to attend, sign a commemorative banner, and enjoy the celebration and free food.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe 2015 Student Alumni Association Gift to Tech will provide more resources to mental health services on campus.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The 2015 Student Alumni Association Gift to Tech will provide more resources to mental health services on campus."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-04-17 01:57:24","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:03","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"190401":{"id":"190401","type":"image","title":"Student Alumni Association 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