Columns:: Merging services, expanding missions

since 12/15/98

Columns::February 25, 2002

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Forum essay
Merging services, expanding missions

By Thomas H. Burke

Recently you may have heard about the merger of the departments of counseling and testing and mental health at the University of Georgia into a single unit to be known as counseling and psychological services. This merger will become effective July 1, 2002. I would like to take this opportunity to explain that the motivation for this change is to have a more efficient and effective method of delivering counseling, psychological and psychiatric services to students. This merger is not intended to reduce or eliminate any services or programs currently offered through both units.
The department of counseling and psychological services will incorporate the best of what is now provided in two different units and will eliminate any duplication that occurs between the two. It should not be assumed that counseling and testing is becoming part of mental health but that both departments are combining and changing to reflect a broader and expanded mission. Students who are currently seeing a particular therapist can continue with that same therapist under the new structure. Once again, the focus of concern has been, and remains, how can we best meet the immediate counseling and psychological needs of our students.
I have also heard several specific concerns that I would like to briefly address:
1. Support groups that currently exist to meet the needs of specific student populations will continue as needed and desired by students.
2. Because of heavy demand from students, it is natural that the number of visits has to be reasonably limited. Without such limits, heavy usage of individual services by a few students would block access for other students.
3. There has been concern expressed that free services will be eliminated. Although the term “free” is a misnomer, many services will continue to be free, and a finite but generous number of individual sessions with a psychologist will be available without charge.
4. We are committed to continuing and supporting the excellent doctoral intern program accredited through APA.
5. There is no intent to reduce the number of counseling hours available for students. With the combination of the two units, it will actually be possible to offer extended hours.
6. This merger did not occur because of immediate financial gains for the division of Student Affairs and is not related to any state-mandated budget cuts.
A little history is helpful in understanding how we reached the decision to create one unit for counseling and psychological services. More than 20 years ago, the department of counseling and testing emerged to meet the career counseling needs of students. At the time, a counseling function was added to an already existing testing department, and the mental health unit existed to meet the emotional needs of students. With the establishment last year of a comprehensive Career Center, the primary role of career counseling was shifted to that unit. What remained in counseling and testing, and what continued in mental health, was a focus on the emotional needs of students. It was clear at this point that there was a similarity of mission between both units, and there was a need to reconcile duplicative administrative structures and processes.
Early last fall the office of the vice president for student affairs sponsored a “best practices” workshop with outside consultants from such institutions as the University of Virginia, Harvard University and North Carolina State to begin the process of discussing both the differences and similarities between the units. Following this workshop, the staffs of both units were asked to meet during the fall to decide how to resolve these differences and provide a more seamless approach to the delivery of counseling, psychological and psychiatric services for students. Valuable and productive discussion occurred but, in the end, some administrative decisions were left unanswered and had to be resolved by this office. The CAPS model incorporates the programs of both units, with the exception of the academic testing function. It is anticipated that academic t

esting will expand in the coming years and a determination will be made later concerning the best administrative location for a more comprehensive testing unit.
Once again, we believe that the consolidation of both units will eliminate existing confusion, that duplication of services can be minimized, that staff usage can be maximized, that financial efficiencies can be gained, and that combining the best aspects of both units will result in a much more efficient and effective service for students.
I am confident that the good work of our counseling and psychiatric staff will continue under this new structure, and I am equally convinced that our students will be well served.

Thomas H. Burke is associate vice president for student affairs

Forum Guidelines
To encourage discussion on issues affecting the university and higher education in general, the Forum section appears periodically in Columns. Faculty, staff, administrators and researchers associated with the university are invited to submit essays and respond to previous essays.
A committee appointed by University Council and Staff Council reviews submissions to determine which are of greatest interest to the university community. Faculty members of the Forum review committee for 2001-2002 are Jonathan Evans (English), Mary Frasier (education) and J. Scott Shaw (physics and astronomy). The staff representative is Melanie Andrews (legal affairs).
Opinions expressed on these pages do not necessarily reflect the views of the UGA administration or the review committee. Articles will be edited to conform with the Associated Press stylebook.

Guidelines for submissions
• Topics should be related to issues in higher education.
• Essays should have broad appeal in the university community.
• Essays should be no longer than 700 words.
• Send essays to Beth Roberts (columns@uga.edu; News Service, A-205 Stegeman Coliseum).

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