Welty Center – Counseling
Professional Master’s degree and Doctorate level counselors are available to provide brief mental health counseling to students free of charge. Counselors assist individuals and groups with personal concerns, interpersonal relationships, and mental health issues that may interfere with their success at Whitman. In addition to this service, there are a number of personal growth opportunities in the form of workshops and programs on various topics. All counseling is confidential, subject to legal and ethical limitations.
The center works on a short-term (5-8 sessions) counseling model. Counselors work with students to schedule appointment times and develop therapeutic goals to provide appropriate interventions and track progress. A Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner is available for consultations about psychiatric medication, prescriptions, and medication management.
Please note there are some student concerns that are not appropriate to address using a short-term model (severe psychosis, eating disorders, or suicidality). If the Counseling Center is not an appropriate, ethical choice for student care, a referral to a Mental Health Practitioner in the community will be provided.
Welty Center — Health Services
The on campus Health Center is open during the academic year, and serves as a facility for the management of urgent illnesses and injuries, as well as some ongoing care.
The Health Center medical providers maintain regularly scheduled hours on campus Monday-Friday. The providers may refer students to outside resources if indicated. Registered Nurses are available to see students for nursing assessment and referral. All degree-seeking students may see the Health Center staff without charge and may access Health Center resources for a nominal fee. If a student wishes to consult a private physician, the Health Center staff may recommend competent local specialists when requested to do so. Whenever a student is treated away from the Health Center, the expenses incurred will be the student’s responsibility.
Services at the Health Center include: assessment and treatment of acute illness or injury, point of care testing and treatment, in-house services lab with specimen collection and blood draws, reproductive health care, including PAP smears and contraception, a dispensary for prescribed medication, travel consults and vaccines.
Accident and Health Insurance
All Domestic and International Students are recommended to have insurance with a U.S. based health insurance company that will pay benefits in Washington State.
It is the student’s responsibility to understand their insurance plan and know how to access coverage. We advise that each student carry a personal insurance card at all times.
If hospitalization or outside medical services are needed, the Health Center will assist the student in locating suitable medical treatment. The cost for such outsourced medical treatment, however, must be assumed by the student.
Whitman College provides “secondary” accident insurance for students participating in varsity intercollegiate athletics. This coverage is available to varsity athletes who sustain an injury during scheduled and supervised athletic activities. As a secondary insurance, the varsity athletics accident insurance policy will only pay medical bills after they have been processed by the student’s primary personal insurance. Please contact the Head Athletics Trainer, at 509-527-5590 for more information.
Reid Campus Center
The Reid Campus Center serves as a community center for all members of the college — students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests. To support the residential nature of the Whitman campus, the Reid Campus Center meets many day-to-day needs through an organization of professional staff, student employees, student volunteers, and committees.
The Reid Campus Center sponsors numerous programs including musical performances in the Coffeehouse, Student Activities Fair, an Arts & Crafts fair, the Pathways Leadership program, WhitLife, student government and clubs, and much more.
Resources in the Reid Campus Center include the Information Desk, Bookstore, Debate & Forensics, Sorority & Fraternity Life, New Student Orientation & Onboarding, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Outdoor Program, Post Office, Student Activities Office, Career and Community Engagement Center (America Reads/Counts, Career Development, Community Engagement, Internships), LGBTQIA+ Student Services, and Café 66. Other facilities and services include meeting-and-dining rooms, a lounge, an art gallery, vending machines, refrigerator rentals, activity rentals (such as popcorn machine, snow cone machine and button maker), sign-ups for the chartered holiday bus and shuttle service, bulletin boards for advertising and notices, and outdoor equipment rental. The Reid Campus Center houses the Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC), the Whitman Events Board (WEB), The Wire newspaper, the blue moon (art and literary journal), KWCW-FM student-operated radio station, and quarterlife (quarterly literary journal).