NEWS
The Battalion I 4.15.15
4
COUNSELING CONTINUED
anxiety, stress and relationship issues are the
four main reasons students request help.
“Typically, we try to get students in as
soon as we can for an initial appointment to
assess what their needs might be,” Stachowiak
said. “In the interest of time, sometimes we
will stop other activities — like committee
meetings — and use that time to provide
services to students.”
Bryce Durgin, statistics graduate student
and member of the Graduate and Professional
Student Council, has co-authored a proposal
urging Texas A&M administration to support
the hiring of new staff members for the SCS
in order to efficiently accommodate students’
needs. He said more than 50 percent of college
students suffer from depression or anxiety and
feels waiting weeks to meet with a counselor
is unimaginable.
“When I was an undergrad, I was in really
bad shape and without the help
of my university’s counseling
services, I don’t think I would
have finished school,” Durgin
said. “Classes are hard and you
probably know people suffering
more than you. Without
[SCS], capable students really
can’t reach their full potential
to make a difference in this
world.”
The Graduate and Profes
sional Student Council has
requested that university end
its hiring freeze with specific
regard to staff for the SCS. In
February, Interim A&M Presi
dent Mark Hussey announced
vacant non-faculty staff posi
tions would be eliminated to
save the university $8.2 million
annually.
Gartner said the freeze is not
gone, but exceptions for the
SCS have been granted by ad
ministration.
“Dr. Hussey said the freeze would not affect
health or safety, and it has not,” Gartner said.
Matthew Fitzmaurice, Graduate and Pro
fessional Student Council president, said wait
ing for two to three weeks to see a counselor
just isn’t fair and every student’s case is im
portant. He said efficient care can help with
student retention.
“[SCS] is one of the more evident places on
campus that helps students and they’re dras
tically understaffed,” Fitzmaurice said. “The
amount of students they have per staffer is al
most double the national recommendation for
university counseling programs.”
As SCS makes moves to expand, Kari
Keller, psychologist at the SCS, said it also
works to maintain quality of service.
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Kelly Burroughs — THE BATTALION
“We monitor the wait time for an initial
appointment closely and do our best to make
sure there is an initial appointment available
within a couple weeks,” Keller said, “Once
a student meets with a
counselor, the two of them
together decide what level
of treatment that student
needs. Students also have
the ability to utilize our
crisis services if they are
experiencing a crisis that
requires immediate atten
tion — no appointment
needed.”
Gartner said progress on
the proposition has begun
to kick into gear and she
has begun the hiring pro
cess for two psychologists
and a counselor. Gartner
said assuming the applicant
pool is good, the process
will likely not finish until
late May at the earliest.
“But for us to align
with the national average
of one staffer to 1,000 to
1,500 students, we would
need almost 15 new hires,”
Gartner said.
Gartner’s five-year plan is to request three
new therapists each year, a number of person
nel she believes can be reasonably incorporat
ed into the SCS. Reaching the national goal
will depend entirely on the budget.
“The current state legislature ends in May
and that is when state funding is known,”
Gartner said. “Sometimes, I have not found
out what my budget is until August as the
Board of Regents must also give their approv
al. Many layers above my position must ap
prove the university’s budget before I find out
for sure how much is allocated to the SCS. ”
Students interested in making an appoint
ment with SCS should visit scs.tamu.edu and
register online. More immediate help is avail
able for urgent needs or crisis intervention.
"In the interest
of time,
sometimes we
will stop other
activities —
like committee
meetings
— and use
that time
to provide
services to
students."
Ted Stachowiak, associate
director of counseling
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