"We had a vehicle through this committee to bring people together," said Committee Chair Paul Summergrad, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

According to Summergrad, it was difficult for the committee to conclude that mental health services are in fact understaffed.

Although UHS, Harvard's largest mental health care provider, employs 13.37 clinicians for 21,000 visits every year, there are no industry-wide standards for how many clinicians universities should provide.

"There are no great benchmarks for this," Summergrad said. "Given that, we had to make a judgement call."

Among the committee's recommendations was the creation of an 11-member Student Health Coordinating Board to help compile information about health services at Harvard.

That board, which will include a group of clinicians and administrators--who have already been selected--will begin meeting monthly in January to discuss implementation of the report's other recommendations. It will also help coordinate increased training for all faculty and staff who come into frequent contact with students.

Yesterday, Summergrad called for a "core curriculum" of basic mental health care knowledge for all those who work with students--not just mental health professionals but faculty members, administrators and House staff.