A record-breaking freshmen class and residential population have kept the Wellness Center staff overly busy this semester. Students seeking counseling may face long waits due to an increased demand for services. Anita Sahgal, the Wellness Center’s director, addressed the wait times and explained what is being done to meet students’ counseling needs more efficiently.
The Crow’s Nest: Is the Wellness Center suffering due to lack of staff?
Anita Sahgal: The Wellness Center is not suffering due to lack of staff. I believe our staff have always been and continue to be responsive to the needs of the students. However, with that being said, I do feel it would be beneficial to have another counselor on staff to assist us with providing services especially at busy times of the year.
Our center operates within a time-limited model in part due to the structure of our resources, but mainly to stay within the scope of our services. Most university counseling centers apply this model because that is what is best suited for our population and what our staff is able to competently provide. Amount of sessions students receive is based on our policies and what the student needs, not on how many staff we have currently.
What may happen in some cases, due to staffing issues, is that students will have to wait longer to get in for services. This again is common amongst university counseling centers and our wait time is not unrealistic when compared to other centers.
CN: How is this affecting students, and how many students are affected?
Sahgal: Some students may have to wait longer to be seen. I don’t have numbers as to how many students are impacted by this because we also have to factor in their scheduling conflicts that may contribute to a longer wait-time.
CN: Is this a new problem for USFSP?
Sahgal: We have had the same number of counseling staff since I started here in 2008. I believe we are feeling it more this semester because the demand for our services is increasing, likely due to the student population increasing and us getting more referrals. Due to these factors, I do believe we could benefit from adding an additional staff member. However, I would not consider this to be a problem that students need to be “alerted” to, but rather something to think about in terms of how we expand our services.
CN: There are a lot more students living on campus this year. Do you believe this attributes to the influx of students seeking counseling? Did the Wellness Center foresee this increase in demand?
Sahgal: Yes, I do think that a larger residential population can impact how counseling services are utilized. The center anticipated that demand could increase and we are closely monitoring this year to see what is happening to demand and how best to handle it. We feel it’s important to have some data to support our decisions for the future, especially with all the changes our campus has experienced this year and not knowing what to expect.
CN: Are there plans to hire additional staff? When can this be expected?
Sahgal: Our current plan is to hire a part-time temporary therapist for the spring semester. Our hope is to possibly have this position continue on in the future if indeed our demand continues to increase and perhaps consider turning it into a full-time position. But again, we will monitor the needs of the center to make the best decision.
We are also hiring a health educator to start in the spring. This will be a full-time position. While this position will not do therapy, they will be able to take on responsibilities with regards to our educational programming, which I believe will be another great asset for the campus.
CN: How is the Wellness Center handling the situation until additional staff is hired?
Sahgal: We are doing our best to get students in for services as soon as possible, being very diligent about how we prioritize our time. We are also being honest with them about the expectations of any delays so that if they prefer to have other options, we can discuss that immediately. We are also always available for urgent situations in case students needed something that they could not wait for.
This interview has been edited for space and content.
