COUNSELING CENTER Statement of Purpose
2014-2015 Results
The Counseling Center’s (CC) core purpose is to enhance the emotional, relational, and psychological well-being of students. The CC strives to facilitate students’ personal growth and enhance their academic success through accessible, culturally congruent clinical and outreach services. The CC works in collaboration with other wellness and university departments and community partners. 1. Studied methods to reduce the wait time and increase service availability for students seeking same-day care. Identified an online solution for same- or nextday appointments and will implement this in fall 2015. 2. Completed an in-depth review of 100 Counseling Center cases from 2013–2014 to identify areas for improvement in delivery of services. 3. Revised psychiatric guidelines to address the increase in need for psychiatric services and the unit’s capacity to provide them.
Highlights
4. Evaluated the efficiency of the psychology practicum training program; found that the program is highly efficient and made recommendations to further increase efficiency. 1. Continued to serve increasing numbers of students, 1,206 (+17% from 2013-14). The utilization rate, 14.4%, continues to exceed the average rate (9.9%) for universities with student populations of 7,501 to 10,000. 2. Provided 342 psychiatric consultations to students (+97% from 2013–2014); this was made possible by temporarily funding an additional psychiatrist this year. 3. Offered seven counseling groups and 11 anxiety workshops for a total of 75 group sessions for 83 different students. 4. Responded to 55 after-hours emergency calls (-29% from 2013–2014); decrease is likely due to increased gatekeeper training and the reduced number of high-visibility mental health concerns known to the campus community.
2015-2016 Outcomes
1. Reduce the wait time for students seeking same-day care by developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating new same- or next-day CC appointment system. 2. Increase the quality of service delivered in high-risk cases by developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating new quality control tracking system for high-risk cases. 3. Identify methods to address the increased need for psychiatric services by further refining and adapting psychiatric services procedures and possibly enhancing collaborations to support the needs of USD students.
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