CAPS Vision and Mission

Our Vision

To be a positive and active agent of engagement and transformation in the evolving campus community at UC San Diego; opening pathways and promoting both, the individual and collective mental health and well-being of the student as a "whole person" embedded in a social context. CAPS manifests this vision through the excellence of services and programs that exist to support all students as they matriculate, learn, graduate, and pursue their educational and personal goals.

Our Mission

CAPS is committed to promoting student mental health and well-being at an individual and organizational level, as well as the preservation and sustainability of an environment conducive to growth and lifelong learning. In coordinated efforts with Student Affairs, CAPS strives to:

Provide the highest quality of care and services, commensurate with available University resources, to enrolled undergraduate, graduate and professional school students at UC San Diego;
Support students in their efforts toward their academic success and personal development, as they cultivate interpersonal relationships, leadership skills, and the unfolding of their potential in their quest for meaningful and balanced lives;
Advocate for student’s welfare from CAPS commitment to diversity, multiculturalism, social justice, and respect for the dignity of each individual;
Work to identify national and local trends affecting campus life to provide relevant consultation services and strategic, innovative outreach programs in alignment with current needs; and
Training the next generation of mental health professionals and engaging in research to deliver interventions based on empirical evidence and best practices.

The CAPS mission springs from a communal attempt to address the individual needs of students, and support and enhance the whole student within the best possible learning milieu so that development occurs at both the intellectual and human levels.

Core Values

Integrity
Respect
Compassion
Balance
Diversity
Accountability
Social Justice

We maintain integrity and respect in our work. We cultivate compassion to better human welfare. We value balance in our lives and in the lives of those we help. We embrace diversity and appreciate individual differences. We are committed to a standard of excellence in our therapeutic, professional, ethical, communal, social justice and environmental responsibilities.

CAPS Functions

Promote well-being and flourishing.

We function to promote the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual well-being of our students, the UCSD community, and ourselves. We facilitate the optimization of student functioning in all areas of their lives, especially academic functioning. We promote wellness and facilitate optimal student functioning through direct service, collaboration, education, prevention, crisis intervention, self care, advocacy, and social justice.