Tri-City colleges are split on tracking suicides. They’re not alone

The Tri-Cities’ two public colleges are split on tracking student suicides.

A recent Associated Press survey of the 100 largest U.S. public universities found 46 of them track suicides, including the University of Washington.

Washington State University provided only limited data.

Most of the largest schools don’t track numbers, despite making investments in prevention at a time of surging demand for mental health services.

Of the 54 remaining schools, 43 said they don’t track suicides, nine could provide only limited data and didn’t answer questions about how consistently they follow student suicides, and two didn’t provide statistics.

Without that data, prevention advocates say, schools have no way to measure their success and can overlook trends that could offer insight to help them save lives.

In the Tri-Cities, Columbia Basin College recorded a single student suicide since 2000, said Frank Murray, the college’s communication director.

The Pasco-based college’s students come from a different group than the larger four-year schools, he said.

“The majority of those students are away from home for the first time,” Murray said. “Approximately 92 to 94 percent of our student enrollment resides in Benton and Franklin counties.”

While WSU Tri-Cities in Richland doesn’t track students deaths locally, the larger campus system does, said Jeff Dennison, the branch campus’ director of marketing and communications.

The college’s dean of students is informed when a student dies, but they may not learn how the student died —especially if it happens off campus.

Often it’s difficult to confirm the cause of death. Coroners and medical examiners don’t always notify universities when a cause is determined.

There also are concerns about legal liability. Some families prefer to keep it private. Even schools that collect data differ on whether they count suicides that occur away from campus or during breaks.

The last local student who died was a graduate student involved in a car wreck.

The Associated Press survey found WSU provided limited data, but didn’t answer questions about the consistency of their tracking.

The issue has come to the fore as some schools report today’s students are arriving on campus less prepared for the rigors of college.

Many schools have increased spending on mental health services to counter what the American Psychological Association and other groups have called a mental health crisis on campuses.

While surveys have found increasing rates of anxiety and depression among college students, but some experts say the problem only appears to be worsening because students who might have stayed silent in the past are taking advantage of the increasing availability of help.

CBC and WSU have systems in place to help students who might be struggling with mental illnesses, including counseling.

At CBC, the Counseling Advising Reaching Everyone program is led by an associate dean and four mental-health certified counselors.

The WSU Tri-Cities campus also supports a mental health counselor, and has a system in place called Cougar Cares that allow students to tell staff they are concerned about the mental health of a fellow student.

The system is anonymous.

Advocates in at least three states have pushed to require universities to collect suicide data — in Washington, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — but without success so far.

A proposal by a state task force in Washington was sidelined amid budget woes last year.

National studies have found that suicide rates are on the rise in the United States, reaching 13 per 100,000 among all Americans and 12.5 among those ages 15 to 24.

Much of the data on suicide comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which does not specifically track college suicides.

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Tri-City colleges are split on tracking suicides. They’re not alone."