A five-year plan that will improve Student Counseling Services is in the works, according to Vice President for Student Affairs Bobby Woodard.
SCS, located on the second floor of the Medical Clinic, is the primary counseling center for undergraduate and graduate students. Students are allowed 10 free individual counseling sessions per academic year. SCS provides other services, such as animal-assisted therapy and group therapy, for students waiting for one-on-one sessions.
Currently, students seeking individual counseling must wait up to one semester before they begin regularly meeting with a counselor. Students are usually seen for an intake appointment within a week of contacting SCS. People in need of urgent care are assigned to a counselor right away, said Director of Student Counseling Doug Hankes. However, if the student does not appear to be in immediate danger, he or she will be put on a wait list.
Hankes, who called the length of the wait list “terrible,” said he is encouraged by the attention mental health has received on campus lately. The student-led mental health task force will make its findings public soon.
“I’ve never been more optimistic,” Hankes said.
“We’re going to get there,” Woodard said. “But it’s not going to change overnight.”
*Details for the five-year plan and the mental health task force's findings have not yet been made public. Check ThePlainsman.com for updates as soon as they become available.
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