Differences in the staffs of the Big Ten’s counseling centers often boil down to the needs and budget of the centers, some Big Ten mental health service providers and administrators said.

“Some of it comes down to some states being really conservative in how they give money,”  University of Nebraska Counseling and Psychological Services Center coordinator of outreach and innovative services Charlie Foster said. “If you’re a large state school, then that money has to be divvied up across the institution.”

The importance of a well-trained staff is essential to providing students with quality care, she said. 

“Most people don’t deal with someone in the middle of a panic attack on a daily basis, and our staff has to be prepared for that,” Foster said. 

Andrea Lawson, the clinical director for counseling and consultation services at the  University of Wisconsin-Madison University Health Services department, said administrative services staff serve as a type of frontline for counseling centers.

“They are the people students talk to on the phone and see when they first walk in,” Lawson said.

Lawson said differences in the number of interns employed also varies based on budget. 

“A lot of centers will prioritize training, but depending on the amount of space and staff available other centers may not be able to do this,” she said.

The mental health services category of the graph incorporates a wide range of mental health professionals, from psychologists to social workers and psychiatrists. While many schools house their mental health service providers in one department, some do not.

Associate director at the  University of Maryland Counseling Center David Petersen said psychologists and psychiatrists at the university are kept administratively separate.

“Our approach to services are really different,” he said. “It’s more developmentally-focused and holistic here (at the counseling center).”

Editor's note: Only full-time positions included in mental health services and administrative staff statistics. Staff size statistics obtained from counseling center websites and interviews with counseling center staff. Student population figures based on most recently available statistics online.