Collin College Selected as a 2020-2021 Innovation of the Year Award Recipient

May 7, 2021 Collin College was selected as a 2020-2021 Innovation of the Year award recipient by the League for Innovation in the Community College for its investment in improving access to health care for students and part-time employees.

In July 2020, the colleges Board of Trustees approved an investment of up to $750,000 for a new benefit plan called CougarCare, which provides telehealth and mental health coverage at no cost to students, adjunct faculty, and part-time staff.

We know not all of our students and part-time employees have access to health care and we wanted to be able to provide help in any way we could, especially during these unprecedented times, said Collin College District President Dr. Neil Matkin. Thats what CougarCare is all about. This service allows our students, adjunct faculty, and part-time staff to connect with a health care provider within minutes at no cost.

CougarCare, offers eligible individuals free on-demand medical care and mental health counseling in an online virtual format 24/7 from licensed physicians and counselors anywhere in the United States. For students, the CougarCare Talk Now mental health program helps provide after-hours and weekend support, while Collin College Counseling Services provides on-campus and virtual counseling appointments for students during regular business hours.

An American College Health Association study shows that some of the top factors affecting students academic performance are stress, anxiety, sleep difficulties, cold/flu/sore throat, and depression. Collin Colleges implementation of the new telehealth benefits is an important step toward relieving these stressors and addressing health concerns. At the same time, the new benefit reinforces Collin Colleges goal to become the college of choice for students and the employer of choice for adjunct faculty and part-time employees.

Collin College serves more than 58,000 credit and continuing education students annually and offers more than 100 degrees and certificates, including new Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Cybersecurity degrees. The only public college based in Collin County, Collin College is a partner to business, government and industry, providing customized training and workforce development. For more information, visitwww.collin.edu.