In March of 2018, Chad Porter (a COEPD student) and Dr. Mindy Backus met with Student Affairs about the possibility of starting a Therapy Dog Program at Marshall University. Mr. Porter was awarded the Undergraduate Creative Discovery and Research Scholar Award. The award project was to research the benefits of a college therapy dog program (research can be provided if needed). After meeting with Student Affairs, ADMIN-9: Procedure for Animals on Campus was signed. This Procedure included “therapy animals” in the definitions of animals on campus. (See Appendix 1)
After including therapy dogs in several events in the COEPD, we decided to hopefully expand the use of therapy dogs to the entire university. In April 2019 the Executive Committee Resolution SR -18-19-53 EC was passed (See Appendix 2).
An ad hoc committee was created and began work in September 2019. Upon being given permission to have therapy dogs on campus to aid in gathering information and research, the committee’s first charge was to name the potential program: MU PAWS (Providing Awareness, Wellness, and Support). Handlers and dogs were provided shirts and bandanas to be readily identified while on campus.
The committee decided to first provide information to the campus about what a therapy dog is. Mike Powers, videographer for University Communications, created a video (a campus visit with a therapy dog) with one of our handlers (and trainer/tester of therapy dogs) and her therapy dog (see video) and an email was sent to each college on campus explaining the differences among the service, emotional support, and therapy dog (See Appendix 3) and asking for faculty input on benefits and concerns of having a therapy dog program (See Appendix 4). The committee used the information provided by faculty to create a survey that went out campus-wide to faculty, staff, and students (See Appendix 5) in February 2020. The results were obtained by the first of March, 2020, and the committee anticipated sending a Recommendation to Faculty Senate in April 2020. But as with everything else, the pandemic halted plans. Up to that time, our handlers and therapy dogs had been visiting many places on campus throughout the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semester. A DRAFT Procedure for Therapy Dogs on Campus had been created by the MU PAWS Committee (See Appendix 6) as well as a Request Form (See Appendix 7). When students were sent home in March 2020, our handlers and therapy dogs made videos that were placed on Drinko Library’s site. Sarah Mollette (Drinko Library) said the videos were the “second-most popular page, second only to the guide’s home page!” (Sarah Mollette)
With the concerns of the pandemic, the committee decided to delay approaching Faculty Senate until students returned to campus. Thus, no recommendation was sent to Faculty Senate in the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters. Our handlers and therapy dogs made only a few visits to campus upon request. With students returning to campus in Fall 2021, it was time to revisit the Recommendation. From Fall 2019 to the present day, our therapy dogs and handlers have been involved in various activities and have become recognized as a part of mental health in UNI 100 classes as well as in the campaign to recruit students. The recommendation passed Faculty Senate in Fall 2021 to make MU PAWS an official program under Student Affairs.
