campus, decreased stigma regarding counseling for many students, and increased general distress in the population at large due to economic and other factors likely contributing to the increase. Due to increased demand, along with inadequate staffing, the Counseling Services experienced significant difficulty meeting the demand for counseling services during FY2018. Demand typically outweighs supply to some degree, but not in the way that was experience last year, particularly in the Fall 2017. For the first time in its history, the Counseling Clinic created a waitlist for initial consultation appointments, as all scheduled screening appointment slots for the quarter were filled by the beginning of November. The average time from call to the clinic to screening appointment was 11 business days, an increase of 200% over Fall 2016. The median wait time was 8 business days, and only 44% of students seeking an initial appointment were seen within 7 business days of contacting the clinic. Over the course of the quarter, 99 students were placed on the waitlist for individual services, a 36% increase over the same timeframe in 2016. The average time on the waitlist was 14 days. 58 students on the waitlist were sent regret letters at the end of Fall quarter. The situation improved throughout FY18, as Counseling Services made adjustments to practices and resource allotment. By Winter 2018 the average wait from call to initial consultation was 6 days; in Spring 2018 it was 4 days. Counseling Services also made significant progress in FY18 on access to individual therapy services for those who wanted that particular service. The wait time for ongoing individual services was, on average, 2 weeks during Fall Quarter and decreased by 50% over the year to 1 week in Spring Quarter. Of those who had to wait for individual services, approximately half (49%) were offered an on-going individual therapy spot during the same quarter in which they went on the waitlist. In addition, 32.2% of students ever placed on the triage list for individual services were concurrently enrolled in other services while waiting for individual therapy. A greater percentage were offered other forms of service (such as group therapy or a workshop) and declined these services. The reader is encouraged to review the quarterly reports for Counseling Services to see the progression of service access over the course of FY18 as the program made adjustments in order to better meet student needs. It should be noted that improvement of access to care was achieved while still being significantly understaffed. Counseling Services was able to hire a full-time temporary staff person for the Spring Quarter, which was of significant help. However, Counseling Services currently has 2 vacant positions and the shift in the job responsibilities of the Director of Counseling (a role that used to provide significant clinical service delivery) means that we are really down something closer to 3 positions as we have gone into FY19. One of those vacant positions is a new position funded through the Board of Trustee’s approval of an increase to the student medical and counseling fee. Unfortunately, the search to fill that position failed and had to be restarted this fall. The recommendation from the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS) is 1FTE permanent (IACS excludes interns or trainees in their ratio calculations) counseling position per 1000-1500 students. Currently, Counseling Service ratio is around 1:2277. If one were to count doctoral interns and master’s interns into the formula, the ratio becomes 1:1250. Going into Fall 2018, Counseling Services have made a number of adjustments that have allowed significantly more students to be seen this Fall with less wait than last fall. The below table compares the first six weeks of Fall 2017 to Fall 2018.
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