In March, the district’s Governing Board approved an increase in the student health fee to cover deficits at Grossmont’s Student Health & Wellness Center. The center, funded solely by student health fees, provides critical health services to promote student wellbeing.
According to Su Pradhananga, Health Services supervisor, the center was around $200,000 in debt and could no longer offer laboratory bloodwork services to students at the start of this semester. The Governing Board approved increasing all health fees by $6 during its March 24 meeting, bringing fees to $28 each for Spring and Fall semesters and $23 during Intersession and Summer sessions.
Pradhananga said the increase in the health fee had resulted from months of meetings with various departments. She said the increase could not only secure the current nurses and facilities, but also expand the center’s services.
“We are relieved,” said Pradhananga. “This has been a project that we’ve been working on since last year.”
Eliane Adlam, registered nurse for Health Services, said the center’s services go far beyond Band-Aids and ice packs.
“The majority of what we do is getting outreach to help students understand health literacy, which in America is the lowest in the world,” Adlam said. “We’re spending time with people to also improve self-worth and belonging.”
While “wellbeing” is often viewed only as physical health, nurses at the center emphasize that it also includes mental health and other factors impacting students. The influence of nurses and counselors can play a huge role in a student’s success. Many health counselors at the wellness center lead workshops on self-worth and belonging.
Adlam said, “If you don’t have a sense of belonging and community on campus, why would you go here?”
She said a large part of the center’s work focuses on “holistic” care and on connecting students to Basic Needs and other departments when needed.
The health fee also includes accident injury insurance, which covers many medical expenses for on-campus accidents, according to Pradhananga. Adlam added that a large portion of the revenue gathered from student health fees goes toward providing this insurance.
While the nurses at the center are relieved to see more financial support for student care, some student leaders have expressed reservations.
One of the center’s many presentations leading up to the fee increase was given to the Associated Students of Grossmont College. Most members of the Governing Board agreed that while increasing fees would mean a heavier financial burden on students, reducing operations at the center would be a far greater loss.
However, ASGC President Lu Tri Vi Huynh was adamantly opposed to the fee increase. A sensitive moment during the meeting was a discussion of whether the state was responsible for reimbursing the college for health fees that had been waived under the California College Promise Grant. This amount exceeded $250,000 in lost revenue.
Huynh said it was unfair to shift the financial burden to students if something could be done at the district level to address funding issues. He shared these concerns with the Governing Board during the meeting slated to approve the increase.
“I don’t feel confident enough to raise the student health fee while knowing that there’s $264,000 somewhere that doesn’t flow back to the Health and Wellness Center, and I fully object the fee hike,” Huynh said.
Following his comment, District Chancellor Lynn Leault corrected Huynh, noting that although the Promise Grant can waive the health fee for Grossmont students, the state does not subsidize the fees that are not waived. She said that when fees are waived, it is a complete loss for the center that is not compensated for by the state.
Ultimately, Huynh’s objections did not sway the board’s decision to approve the fee increase.
With all the concern about rising student fees, some at the center wonder why more consistent state funding couldn’t be secured to eliminate the burden on students.
Adlam said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state was able to provide one-time funding for mental health services at community colleges to help students readjust to life on campus after quarantine. With one-time funds running low and changes to the state budget coming, she said, “that funding is in jeopardy.”
Adlam said, “Our funding isn’t reliable, and it depends solely on the priorities of the state and federal , because that’s impacting us as well.”
Long-term issues aside, the fee increase has allowed nurses at the center to focus on what its employees say matters most: student wellness. Pradhananga said the real measure of sustainability will be when the revenue bump from the fee increase starts next semester.
“ hope we’re not in a deficit and then, if we’re not, continue to have two nurses, continue to have a health services specialist, our mental health counselor, and do more of community outreach, reach out to partners among the college and hopefully be able to increase services,” she said.
Clarification: This story has been updated to add summer session fees and clarify that the accident injury insurance does not cover all medical expenses for on-campus accidents.
