The Director position at the MSU Counseling Center is in a state of flux and it has been in this state for two years, ever since Jan Collins-Eaglin left the position in 2013.
In the meantime, Scott Becker has been filling in as interim director while he also fulfills the duties of his associate director position.
“He’s taking on the responsibilities of two jobs,” ASMSU Vice President for Governmental Affairs Bryn Williams said. “Which, as I’m sure you can guess, is quite stressful and busy, especially when you’re dealing with the amount of clients that we see the MSU Counseling Center have.”
The large volume might have made the dual-role unrealistic — if it weren’t for the assistance he has received from other staff members.
“While Dr. Becker has been in the interim position, other members of the staff have assumed the responsibilities of the associate director, helping staff manage the caseload at the center,” Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Allyn Shaw said via email.
But if the associate’s duties fall to the rest of the staff, it could have an impact on the staff’s performance of their own jobs. Williams said if they did have a director, the load off of other staff members could make it more realistic to improve the Counseling Center’s mental health resources for students.
But, Williams said Becker is more than qualified to handle the added responsibilities, and has done a great job of balancing them so far.
“Dr. Becker has been easily the best thing that could be happening to the counseling center right now,” Williams said. “He has been so good to work with and very, very knowledgeable and passionate about mental health.”
Williams said after two years of vacancy, a search committee was formed and began seeking a new director in May.
“The committee has been working through candidates — it’s been operating as a search committee does,” Williams said. “But the decision on the actual candidate seems to have been delayed extensively.”
But it appears the delay is over, and a decision could be imminent. Shaw said via email that the search committee has completed their search and put forward two finalists — a decision was expected last Monday, but was delayed again, for unspecified reasons, Williams said. He said a decision is expected to occur soon.
“National searches for higher education positions at this level take time to conduct,” Shaw said via email. “We wanted to make sure we had qualified candidates for this critical position.”
