Consultative Services for UW Departments and Divisions

In addition to our direct counseling work with students, UHS Counseling and Consultation Services provides ongoing consultation throughout the year to faculty, advisors, and other staff in academic departments and non-academic divisions of the university. We recognize that faculty and staff are often the first to notice when students are struggling and may want advice on how best to help them or guide them to further assistance.

We can offer services such as:

  • providing information about how to access our services
  • consulting about students who appear to be in distress
  • offering debriefings with groups of students and/or staff after a campus death or other traumatic experience
  • designing specific programming on the mental health or wellness concerns that may affect a unit’s unique student population

If we can be of assistance, please contact us by calling UHS at 608-265-5600 (select option 2).

Red Folder

Red Folder Program

Learn to Recognize a student in distress;
Respond to their concerns; and
Refer them to services on campus.

All students may experience issues and concerns that impact their ability to perform academically. Much of our work at UHS is to provide mental health services such as group, individual, couples, and psychiatry services to UW-Madison students, yet we also consult regularly with faculty, staff, and parents who have concerns about students.

We commonly hear questions like:

  • “How do I get this person to consider your services?"
  • "How do I know if I should be calling you or the police?"
  • "What is my role in this situation?"
  • "Who helps students with these types of concern?"

The Red Folder Program is a 15-minute presentation about UHS services and how to recognize a student in distress, respond to their concerns, and help faculty and staff make referrals to the services on campus that are here to help them. We provide a red folder with resource information that campus partners can use for their future reference.

If you would like to request a Red Folder Program, please contact Amanda Ngola, Associate Director of Campus-Based Services at angola@uhs.wisc.edu.

Liaison Program

We also have a formal liaison relationship with a number of academic departments and non-academic divisions around campus, in which a member of our staff acts as the designated liaison to that group, providing assistance as requested, or working to design formal programming tailored to the academic year.

For example, at the request of University Housing, we have a number of liaisons assigned to the residence halls so that house fellows receive training on a range of mental health issues prior to the start of the school year. The house fellows in each residence hall can then call upon their designated liaison if they have questions about helping their residents in the course of the year.

We also have formal liaison arrangements with the School of Engineering, the School of Medicine and Public Health, McBurney Disability Services, the Multicultural Student Center, International Student Services, and the CeO program, among others. You may want to ask your department chair or director whether your department has a designated UHS liaison. If your unit or department is interested in establishing a formal liaison relationship with UHS Counseling and Consultation Services, please contact us at 608-265-5600 (select option 2).

Crisis Services

If you are ever concerned about a student who seems particularly depressed or distressed, please feel free to call us for consultation. We are available during business hours, and our mental health crisis intervention services are also available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to students and to people concerned about students’ mental health: 608-265-5600 (select option 9).

Location and Hours of Operation

We are located at
333 East Campus Mall, 7th floor
608-265-5600 (select option 2)

Our business hours are
Mon | Tues | Thurs | Fri 8:30 am to 5 pm
Wednesdays 9 am to 5 pm.