The MSU Counseling Center is looking to fill vacant counselor positions and add a new MSU-funded sexual assault counselor as a result of ASMSU and student group’s advocacy on campus.
ASMSU claims, “The (sexual assault) program strives to assist many students, but because it is understaffed, has a waiting list of two to four weeks.”
An investigation by the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives found that the office, known as I3, had received 81 student claims of sexual misconduct in the 2013-2014 school year, out of which 21 received a formal investigation.
In order to combat the issue of long waiting lists, and to prompt MSU to hire another university-funded counselor, ASMSU and the Council of Graduate Students passed bills in December, which demanded the $50,000 for George Will’s compensation instead go to funding for more full-time sexual assault and mental health counselors.
“It’s good that MSU is willing to footnote the bill and focus on getting more counselors on campus and decreasing the wait times students have,” Council of Graduated Students Vice President of Internal Affairs Dan Clark said.
There are currently three sexual assault counselors in MSU’s sexual assault program – two of whom are paid for by a federal grant called the Victims of Crime Act. This means only one of the sexual assault counselors is a full-time MSU employee.
“Having another full time employee means we don’t have to rely on grant money that has to be renewed every year,” said ASMSU Chief of Staff Kiran Samra.
Vacant positions that are expected to be filled at the counseling center include a “counselor for black males, a counselor for Mandarin speaking international students, and a director for the counseling center’s testing center who helps assess the needs of students,” according to an ASMSU statement.
The three positions the counseling center is looking to fill have been “vacant for an extended period of time,” President of ASMSU James Conwell said.
More counselors will create better and more effective service for students, he added.
Besides advocating for the hiring of more staff, ASMSU collaborated with other student organizations to help fundraise nearly $2,500 for the counseling center’s sexual assault program. Funds will provide for things such as supplies for individual therapy and group services, emergency transportation services, materials for survival packets and educational initiatives, and to help restock the MSU sexual assault resource library.
“We’re happy that our work has lead to MSU funding another sexual assault counselor for the program, and it’s certainly a win for ASMSU, but our advocacy does not stop here,” Samra said.
Sexual assault and mental health have been serious issues for colleges around the country Conwell said.
“Forty-six percent of students report that MSU counseling services help them remain in school, and 62 percent say that services from the counseling center help improve academic performance,” he said.