Central Washington University Board of Trustees May 16, 2019 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – Counseling Services Update: One-Year Post-Fee Increase
Background: In May 2018, the Board of Trustees approved a $12/quarter increase to the Medical and Counseling fee to offset a state-mandated increase in the hourly pay rate for nurses employed by Medical Services; to fund a new permanent treatment provider for Counseling Services; and to provide telepsychiatry services. The addition of a new staff member was intended to meet Ellensburg campus students’ growing demand for mental health counseling and crisis services by: • Increasing the number of students able to receive services • Decreasing, or at least not increasing, wait time for: o First appointments o Urgent crisis appointments (when a student walks in or calls in for an unscheduled appointment due to risk of harm to self/others, emotional crisis, or distressing life event) o Ongoing individual therapy • Increasing Counseling Services’ ability to connect to the university community more broadly • Moving toward meeting the International Association of Counseling Services recommended ratio of 1.0 FTE per 1,000 to 1,500 students • Having a psychiatrist available to provide services to the most severely ill students Search Outcome: Two rounds of searching for a master’s level, licensed counselor resulted in failed searches, with location and salary identified as barriers for candidates. The search strategy was adapted, and the position was changed to an entry-level psychologist position. A current doctoral intern was clearly the top candidate for the position; she has been offered and accepted the position. Not only is this person an exceptionally qualified entry-level professional, she also identifies as a woman of color. She will begin September 3, 2019. Given the extreme difficulties Counseling Services has had with hiring, the goal to add visible diversity to our staff, and the success in recruiting racially and ethnically diverse doctoral interns, Counseling Services is contemplating changing the hiring strategy to emphasize local development of long-term staff members. Telepsychiatry Outcome: The original option for telepsychiatry through the University of Washington School of Medicine, was not viable due to their own difficulties with staffing. Private companies offering telepsychiatry were investigated, but were cost prohibitive ($70,000 a year for eight hours of service per week). Partnership with Kittitas Valley Healthcare also was not feasible financially, from their viewpoint, due to low reimbursement rates for psychiatric services. Meeting Demand for Services: Counseling Services made several changes to its service delivery model to mitigate the impact of the inability to secure a suitable hire during FY19. The goal was to increase,
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