Jul 06, 2016 12:08 AM EDT By Marilyn B. Stewart, UniversityHerald Reporter

University of Rochester has enhanced their support for students with addiction to drugs or alcohol following the death of a freshman due to drug overdose. The University has expressed their mourning for losing a member of the community.

The University of Rochester took two years to vigilantly review the policies and procedures on counselling and mental health, abuse prevention on drugs and alcohol, and as well as treatment for addiction. Based on their review and student ideas for improvement, the University has decided to implement changes to enhance its services to the students who are in need of support easily and immediately.

The University president Joel Seligman said that the main priority of the University is to keep their students safe and healthy as possible, the University of Rochester official website reported. He also said that conditions such as anxiety, depression, and substance addiction are treatable, but if left untreated can cause detrimental effects.

The Expanded Case Management Function at the University Counseling Center is an additional University Counseling Center (UCC) case manager that was hired in October 2015. It aims to dedicate to add more time to follow up appointment referrals for students who need service for outside treatment.

All UCC case managers discuss important things with students on insurance coverage for referrals and assist them with transportation problems to and from appointments. However, the core focus of the UCC is to assure students of successful connections with off-site specialists. A full time psychologist will also be added to the UCC family to help with the increasing demand of counselling services.

The University of Rochester's UCC is also launching an online counselling program, the Therapy Assisted Online (TAO), initially developed at the University of Florida, DRWILDA reported. It is a seven to fourteen-week therapy assisted online course to help students suffering from anxiety or depression overcome the battle. The program aims to provide students with 24/7 access to holistic tools. They can schedule a secure video conference with a therapist to monitor their progress.

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