President’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health and Well-Being

Committee Charge

The purpose of the President’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health and Well-being is to engage in critical discourse about student mental health and well-being. The committee will rely on subject matter expertise of members to review and provide feedback on initiatives to ensure they are evidence-based, culturally relevant, and inclusive. The committee may also review and recommend innovative and promising practices that could provide benefit to students across the Universities of Wisconsin. The full committee charter can be viewed below.

Subcommittees

Healthy Minds Course Integration

Embedding the Healthy Minds Program app into existing academic courses to build wellbeing skills for a broad range of students. Offers scalable, evidence-based mental health skill-building tailored to higher education and leverages momentum from pilot programs.

Faculty & Staff Resources

Develop, deploy, and incentivize the use of a systemwide repository of student behavioral health resources for use by faculty and staff. Leverage currently available trainings and resources across UWs to have a greater impact systemwide.

Service Needs and Gaps

Strategic identification of service needs and gaps for students of diverse backgrounds and identities. Provide actionable data (e.g., via student survey and/or focus groups) at the university and system-level to guide resource allocation and programming.

Service needs infographic

Meetings

The committee plans to meet three times per year (Fall, Winter, and Spring), with a first meeting held in October 2024. Additional meetings or workgroups may be scheduled, depending on need. Meeting minutes will be posted on this webpage, once they are available.

Membership

Membership is composed of faculty and staff members representing a wide variety of roles whose work impacts and is impacted by student mental health and well-being. Members are nominated and approved by Senior Student Affairs Officers to serve 2-year terms.

Current membership is listed below.

Committee Chairs

NameUniversityTitleEmail
Becky FreerUW-MilwaukeeAssociate Dean of Studentsbfreer@uwm.edu
Rylie McGrathUW-Eau ClaireDirector, Counseling Servicesmcgratrc@uwec.edu

Committee Membership

NameUniversityTitleEmail
Byron AdamsUW OshkoshDirector, Center for Student Success and Belonging and UDOadamsb@uwosh.edu
Randy BarkerUW-SuperiorDirector of Health, Counseling & Well-Beingrbarker@uwsuper.edu
Issy BeachUW-La CrosseStudent Wellness Coordinatoribeach@uwlax.edu
Jennifer BirdUW-SuperiorAssociate Dean of Studentsjbird2@uwsuper.edu
Lori BokowyUW-MilwaukeeEmotional Health Promotion Coordinatorlabokowy@uwm.edu
Shewanna BrownUW-ParksideNurse Practitionerbrowns@uwp.edu
Ryan CallahanUW-WhitewaterDirector, Intercollegiate Athleticscallahanrm19@uww.edu
Lori Develice CollinsUW-OshkoshDirector, Residence Life and Diningdevelice@uwosh.edu
Kaeden ConwayUW-Stout PolytechnicStudent Rep, Psychology Majorconwayk5181@my.uwstout.edu
Valerie DonovanUW-MadisonAssistant Director for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Preventionvalerie.donovan@wisc.edu
Stacey DuellmanUW-Stevens PointProgram Director of the Center for Preventionsduellma@uwsp.edu
Amber HandyUW-ParksideVice Provost for the Center for Excellence in Inclusive Teaching & Learninghandy@uwp.edu
Caitlin HenriksenUW-Green BaySexual Violence Prevention Coordinatorhenriksc@uwgb.edu
Aaron HobsonUW-MadisonExecutive Director of Recreation & Wellbeingaaron.hobson@wisc.edu
Andrew IvesUW-La CrosseDirector of ACCESS Centeraives@uwlax.edu
Sarah JakupciakUW-River FallsAdmission Visit Coordinatorsarah.jakupciak@uwrf.edu
Teresa MillerUW-PlattevilleCounseling Services Assistant Directormillerte@uwplatt.edu
Jennifer MuehlenkampUW-Eau ClaireProfessormuehlejj@uwec.edu
Elise PetersUW-River FallsStudent Involvement Assistant Directorelise.peters@uwrf.edu
Jo SolversonUW-WhitewaterNurse Practitionersolversj@uww.edu
Jarah StrainUW-Stevens PointPeer Educator, Center for Prevention and Health Promotionjstra412@uwsp.edu
Greg TremellingUW-PlattevilleWright Center Coordinatortremellg@uwplatt.edu
Aaron (AJ) WalkerUW-Green BayPolice Lieutenantwalkera@uwgb.edu
Kelly WenigUW-Stout PolytechnicDirector, Advisement Centerwenigk@uwstout.edu

Updated: 07/01/2026