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STUDENTS ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE COUNSELING FEE
Source: The Daily
Author: Kim Lee
Date: Feb 29, 2008
By Kim Lee
February 29, 2008
From papers to finals, relationships to full-time jobs, college students have a lot on their minds.
The Counseling Center at the UW is staffed with mental health counselors who provide assessment and counseling to students. While an intake session and the first five counseling sessions are free, additional sessions cost $30.
GPSS President Dave Brown and ASUW President Tyler Dockins are striving to make counseling services accessible to all students. At the UW Board of Regents meeting last Friday, they proposed to eliminate the $30 fee.
“Our mission is to help students academically,” said Ellen Taylor, director of the UW Counseling Center. “It’s usually something in their personal life, relationship problems, or the experience of a family loss that affects students the greatest.”
The impetus for calling for the removal of the fee came for several reasons, Brown said.
“Historically, the Counseling Center was free at the UW. It wasn’t until the late ‘70s or early ‘80s during the budget shortfall that they made the decision to institute the fee,” he said. “Our concern is that once a student exhausts his or her six free visits, all of a sudden there’s a really prohibitive barrier.”
Mental health professionals recommend 10 counseling visits, Brown said.
“For many students in our community, who are smart enough to be here, who work hard enough to be here, don’t we have the responsibility to give them the tools they need to be successful while they’re here?” Brown said.
The UW is also one of few public institutions that charges fees for counseling services.
“We’re in the very small minority,” Taylor said. “And those who do [charge fees] don’t charge $30.”
While requesting a fee waiver, Brown and Dockins are advocating funds for adding three Ph.D. counselors to the center. According to the Mental Health and Student Insurance Work Group, the UW has about 17 counselors who serve the entire campus of 40,218 students, translating to one counselor per 2,415 students.
As compared to peer institutions, Dockins said, the UW has seven full-time Ph.D. level counselors, below the national average.
“The state Legislature is about to fund one mental health counselor for four institutions across the state,” Dockins said. “One would be the University of Washington. That’s great and it’s a step closer. But we want to make sure that there’s a commitment, that we bring it with parity to the other peer institutions within the next five years.”
The UW has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of students looking for counseling this year, and a 180 percent increase over the last six years.
“Students are taking more and more on their plates for the most part,” Dockins said. “We’re all trying to be competitive when it comes to the real world and the job market. It gets to the point where we get really stressed out.”
Depression, anxiety and relationship issues, Taylor said, are the top three issues students bring for counseling.
While the need for increasing accessibility to counseling services is vital for student wellness, it is equally significant for campus safety issues. Campus safety cannot be discussed without considering student wellness, Brown said.
“A lot of incidences that have been happening on campus are with students identified as [having] mental health problems,” Dockins said. “Mental health is not only a wellness issue, but it’s also a campus safety issue in that it’s a preventive measure for any form of violence or aggression.”
With support from vice provost for student life, Eric Godfrey, Brown and Dockins are optimistic about the likelihood of their proposals following through. Changes would be implemented for the next academic year.
“Eric Godfrey is a great partner in this effort and has been doing his absolute best to find a way to make this happen,” Brown said. “I’m very optimistic.”
[Reach reporter Kim Lee at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]
February 29, 2008
From papers to finals, relationships to full-time jobs, college students have a lot on their minds.
The Counseling Center at the UW is staffed with mental health counselors who provide assessment and counseling to students. While an intake session and the first five counseling sessions are free, additional sessions cost $30.
GPSS President Dave Brown and ASUW President Tyler Dockins are striving to make counseling services accessible to all students. At the UW Board of Regents meeting last Friday, they proposed to eliminate the $30 fee.
“Our mission is to help students academically,” said Ellen Taylor, director of the UW Counseling Center. “It’s usually something in their personal life, relationship problems, or the experience of a family loss that affects students the greatest.”
The impetus for calling for the removal of the fee came for several reasons, Brown said.
“Historically, the Counseling Center was free at the UW. It wasn’t until the late ‘70s or early ‘80s during the budget shortfall that they made the decision to institute the fee,” he said. “Our concern is that once a student exhausts his or her six free visits, all of a sudden there’s a really prohibitive barrier.”
Mental health professionals recommend 10 counseling visits, Brown said.
“For many students in our community, who are smart enough to be here, who work hard enough to be here, don’t we have the responsibility to give them the tools they need to be successful while they’re here?” Brown said.
The UW is also one of few public institutions that charges fees for counseling services.
“We’re in the very small minority,” Taylor said. “And those who do [charge fees] don’t charge $30.”
While requesting a fee waiver, Brown and Dockins are advocating funds for adding three Ph.D. counselors to the center. According to the Mental Health and Student Insurance Work Group, the UW has about 17 counselors who serve the entire campus of 40,218 students, translating to one counselor per 2,415 students.
As compared to peer institutions, Dockins said, the UW has seven full-time Ph.D. level counselors, below the national average.
“The state Legislature is about to fund one mental health counselor for four institutions across the state,” Dockins said. “One would be the University of Washington. That’s great and it’s a step closer. But we want to make sure that there’s a commitment, that we bring it with parity to the other peer institutions within the next five years.”
The UW has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of students looking for counseling this year, and a 180 percent increase over the last six years.
“Students are taking more and more on their plates for the most part,” Dockins said. “We’re all trying to be competitive when it comes to the real world and the job market. It gets to the point where we get really stressed out.”
Depression, anxiety and relationship issues, Taylor said, are the top three issues students bring for counseling.
While the need for increasing accessibility to counseling services is vital for student wellness, it is equally significant for campus safety issues. Campus safety cannot be discussed without considering student wellness, Brown said.
“A lot of incidences that have been happening on campus are with students identified as [having] mental health problems,” Dockins said. “Mental health is not only a wellness issue, but it’s also a campus safety issue in that it’s a preventive measure for any form of violence or aggression.”
With support from vice provost for student life, Eric Godfrey, Brown and Dockins are optimistic about the likelihood of their proposals following through. Changes would be implemented for the next academic year.
“Eric Godfrey is a great partner in this effort and has been doing his absolute best to find a way to make this happen,” Brown said. “I’m very optimistic.”
[Reach reporter Kim Lee at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]