Dr. Chris Brownson, a licensed psychologist, is the Associate Vice President for Health and Well-being in the Division of Student Affairs, Clinical Professor in the Counseling Psychology Program, and former Director of the Counseling and Mental Health Center at The University of Texas at Austin. His portfolio includes University Health Services, the Counseling and Mental Health Center, Disability and Access, the Disability Cultural Center, Recreational Sports, the Longhorn Wellness Center, the Center for Students in Recovery, and SHIFT. Brownson was appointed as a Chancellor's Health Fellow at the University of Texas System in 2014, and he has led projects totaling more than $28 million implementing numerous mental health, student safety, well-being, and alcohol and drug-related prevention, education, and intervention programs at the 14 academic and health institutions in the UT System.
In 2019, Brownson was appointed by the National Academies of Sciences to the Committee on Supporting the Whole Student: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Well-Being in Higher Education. He is the past president of the Texas University and College Counseling Center Director's Association and a past chair of the Higher Education Mental Health Alliance, the Section on College and University Counseling Centers of APA's division of Counseling Psychology, and the Mental Health Section of the American College Health Association (ACHA). He is a past member of the Board of Directors of ACHA. He has been a program evaluator for several SAMHSA/GLS suicide prevention grants, consults with colleges and universities on their counseling and health services, and was the National Mental Health Consultant to Teach for America from 2006-2016.
Brownson has been the director of the National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education since 2004. The research team that guides Research Consortium projects is comprised of graduate students from UT, and together they have conducted two large national studies on college student suicide, each involving 70 other institutions of higher education across the nation each with over 26,000 research participants. Currently, Brownson and the Research Consortium team are leading a longitudinal study with 18 other institutions of higher education looking at the intersection of psychological well-being factors and academic success.
Note: Dr. Brownson will not be taking new students for the 24-25 academic year.
Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology & Quantitative Methods, University of Texas at Austin, 2001
M.A. in Program Evaluation, University of Texas at Austin, 1997
B.A. in Psychology & History, University of Texas at Austin, 1992
Research interests include mental health public policy, college student mental health and suicide prevention, collaborative care models of behavioral health in primary care, and the intersection of mental health and academic success.
Higher Education Representative, Texas Suicide Prevention Council(2020 - Present)
Member, Committee on Supporting the Whole Student: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Well-being in Higher Education, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine(2019 - 2021)
President, Texas University Counseling Center Directors Association(2018 - 2019)
Member, Task Force to Advance Mental Health Best Practices Strategies, NCAA(2017 - 2018)
Co-Chair, Annual Conference Planning Committee, Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors(2017 - 2019)
Member, Written Examination Committee, Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists(2016 - Present)
Editorial Board Member, Editorial Board, Journal of College Student Psychotherapy(2015 - Present)
Project Advisor, Publication Committee of Postvention: A Guide for Response to Suicide On College Campuses, Higher Education Mental Health Alliance(2013 - 2014)
Collaborator, Publication Committee for Blanacing Safety and Support on Campus: A Guide for Campus Teams, Higher Education Mental Health Alliance(2011 - 2012)
Chair, Higher Education Mental Health Alliance(2009 - 2011)
Representative, Synarachy of Specialists in Counseling Psychology(2009 - 2012)
Chair, Section of College and University Counseling Centers, Division 17, American Psychological Association(2009 - 2010)
Board Member, Board of Directors, American College Health Association(2007 - 2009)
Chair, Mental Health Section, American College Health Association(2006 - 2007)
Chair, Mental Health Program Planning Committee, American College Health Associations Annual Conference(2005 - 2006)
Treasurer, Section of Counseling Health Psychology, Division 17, American Psychological Association(2004 - 2006)
Co-chair, Mental Health Program Planning Committee, American College Health Association Annual Conference(2004 - 2005)
Chair, Membership Committee, APAs Div 17 Section for Counseling Health Psychology(2003 - 2004)
Consulting Editor, Journal of American College Health(2003 - 2007)
Caporale-Berkowitz, N., Boyer, B., Muenks, K. & Brownson, C. (2022). Resilience, not Grit, Predicts Retention for Students Following Academic Probation.
Journal of Educational Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000721.
Wilson, T., Caporale-Berkowitz, N., Parent, M. & Brownson, C. (2021). Grit is associated with decreased mental health help-seeking among student veterans. Journal of American College Health, 70. doi:10.1080/07448481.2021.1953034.
Blosnich, J., De Luca, S., Lytle, M. & Brownson, C. (2020). Questions of faith: Religious affiliations and suicidal ideation among sexual minority young adult. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 50, 1158–66.
De Luca, S., Lytle, M., Yueqi, Y. & Brownson, C. (2019). Help-seeking Behaviors and Attitudes of Emerging Adults: How College Students Utilize Internet and Traditional Resources During Times of Distress. Journal of American College Health, 68, 250–57.
Lytle, M., Blosnich, J., De Luca, S. & Brownson, C. (2018). Association of religiosity with sexual minority suicide ideation and attempt. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 54, 644–51.
Becker, M., Dong, S., Kronholz, J. & Brownson, C. (2018). Relationships between stress and psychosocial factors with sources of help seeking among international students. Journal of International Students, 8, 1636–61.
Baams, L., De Luca, S. & Brownson, C. (2018). Use of health services among college students by sexual identity. LGBT Health, 5, 1–10.
Drum, D., Brownson, C., Hess, E., Burton Denmark, A. & Talley, A. (2017). College students sense of coherence and connectedness as predictors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Archives of Suicide Research, 21, 169–184.
DeLuca, S., Franklin, C., Yueqi, Y., Johnson, S. & Brownson, C. (2016). The relationship between suicide ideation, behavioral health, and college academic performance. Community Mental Health Journal, 52(5), 534–540.
Brownson, C., Drum, D., Becker, M., Saathoff, A. & Hentschel, E. (2016). Distress and Suicidality in Higher Education: Implications for Population-Oriented Prevention Paradigms. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 30, 98–113.
Tran, K., Wong, J., Cokley, K., Brownson, C., Drum, D., Awad, G. & Wang, M. (2015). Suicidal Asian American college students perceptions of protective factors: A qualitative study. Death Studies, 39, 500–507.
Lytle, M., De Luca, S., Blosnich, J. & Brownson, C. (2015). Associations of religious and racial/ethnic identities with suicidal ideations of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning individuals. Journal of Affective Disorders, 178, 39–45.
Wong, Y., Brownson, C., Rutkowski, L., Nguyen, C. & Becker, M. (2014). A mediation model of professional psychological help seeking for suicide ideation among Asian American and White American college students. Archives of Suicide Research, 18, 259–73.
De Luca, S., Yueqi, Y., Lytle, M. & Brownson, C. (2014). The associations of race/ethnicity and suicidal ideation among college students: A latent class analysis examining precipitating events and disclosure patterns. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviors, 44, 444–56.
Brownson, C., Becker, M., Shaddick, R., Jaggars, S. & Nitkin-Kaner, Y. (2014). Suicidal behavior and help seeking among diverse college students. Journal of College Counseling, 17, 116–30.
Brownson, C., Drum, D., Smith, S. & Denmark, A. (2011). Differences in suicidal experiences of male and female undergraduate and graduate students. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 25, 277–94.
Wong, Y., Brownson, C. & Schwing, A. (2011). Risk and protective factors associated with Asian American students suicidal ideation: A multi-campus, national study. Journal of College Student Development, 52, 396–408.
Brownson, C. (2010). Conducting research in college and university counseling centers. Mental Health Care in the College Community (pp. 325–42): John Wiley and Sons.
Drum, D., Brownson, C., Denmark, A. & Smith, S. (2009). New data on the nature of suicidal crises in college students: Shifting the paradigm. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40, 213–22.
Morpeth, E., Boyer, B., Pitasky, S. & Brownson, C. (n.d.). Perfectionism typologies among undergraduate and graduate students: prevalence and associations with psychosocial adjustment and academic performance. Journal of American College Health. doi:10.1080/07448481.2022.2128686.
Hildebrand Foundation (2018-present)
Along with 3 other UT faculty/administrators, received $3,600,000 grant to create and sustain SHIFT, an initiative that engages the UT community to change the culture of campus substance use from one of misuse to one of well-being.
UT System Board of Regents Mental Health and Well-being Initiatives (2022 - present)
Oversee $16,500,000 allocation to lead implementation and evaluation of after-hours crisis lines, tele mental health, online and in-person suicide prevention training, well-being mobile phone app, online sexual assault and high-risk drinking prevention training, and college health benchmarking for all fourteen academic and health institutions in the UT System.
UT System Board of Regents Alcohol Initiatives (2015-2018)
Oversaw $2,398,800 allocation to lead implementation of on-line alcohol prevention, early intervention for high-risk drinking, and collegiate recovery centers for all eight academic institutions in the UT System.
UT System Board of Regents Mental Health Initiatives (2014-2018)
Oversaw $2,552,268 allocation to lead implementation of after-hours crisis lines and bystander intervention initiatives for all fourteen academic and health institutions in the UT System.
Teach For America/UT College of Education Collaboration (2013-2015)
PI on a 2 year, $50,000 project that provided training opportunities to doctoral students in the Counseling Psychology program who worked as mental health consultant trainees to Teach For America.
UT System Board of Regents Collegiate Recovery Initiative (2012-2015)
Oversaw $942,000 allocation to establish collegiate recovery centers at all nine academic institutions in the UT System.
Hogg Foundation Grant (2017-2020)
Co-PI for $398,000 3-year grant called Well-being in Learning Environments, a program designed to develop and study well-being in the college classroom in collaboration with faculty at UT.
UT System Board of Regents Well-Being Initiatives (2018 - 2022)
Oversaw $5,995,000 allocation to lead the implementation and evaluation of after-hours crisis lines, bystander intervention initiatives, collegiate recovery programs, online sexual assault and high-risk drinking prevention, early intervention for alcohol misuse, well-being mobile phone app development, college health benchmarking, and an alcohol and consent initiative for the fourteen academic and health institutions in the UT System.
Longhorn Innovation Fund for Technology (2014-2015)
Co-PI on grant of $100,243 from the University of Texas at Austin Information Technology Services to develop an iPhone app to enhance wellness in UT students.
Texas Impact Award, Mental Health America of Texas (2016)
Chancellor's Health Fellow, University of Texas System (2014)
Award for Excellence in Counseling Center Scholarship, Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors (2012)
The Eyes of Texas Award, University of Texas Students (2007)
Early Career Psychologist of the Year, American Psychological Association Division 17, Section on College Counseling Centers (2004)
Round Rock ISD Evaluation Fellowship, Round Rock ISD/UT Austin (1998 - 1999)
Livingston Fellowship, UT Austin (1997 - 1998)
University Continuing Fellowship, UT Austin (1996 - 1998)
Bascombe Royall and Frances Fallon Fuller Scholarship, UT Austin (1995 - 1996)
Courses by year and semester| Year | Semester | Course |
|---|
| 2024 | Spring | EDP 385C: 12-Acad/Stdnt Aff In Higher Ed |
| 2022 | Spring | EDP 385C: 12-Acad/Stdnt Aff In Higher Ed |
| 2021 | Spring | EDP 385C: 12-Acad/Stdnt Aff In Higher Ed |
| 2019 | Spring | EDP 385C: 12-Acad/Stdnt Aff In Higher Ed |
| 2017 | Spring | EDP 385C: 12-Acad/Stdnt Aff In Higher Ed |
