Matt Woodward
Contributing Writer
In the second week of classes this semester, the Longbrake Student Wellness Center lost one of its counselors, creating a campus-wide demand for additional mental health services on campus. In response to the current situation, The College of Wooster recently conducted a search for an additional counselor at the Wellness Center. The search corresponds with one of Dean of Students Scott Brown’s goals for The College of Wooster, which is to focus on “mental, personal and physical health” in order to increase the quality of life for students.
The search involved multiple student leaders meeting with candidates near the final stages of the hiring process.
Reagan Kazyak ’19, SGA senator at large, is one of the student leaders who was able to meet with the three candidates. On her involvement, she said, “I got involved initially with this process because I am the SGA representative who has decided to tackle the counseling issue. Mental health for our students is so essential, and it frustrated me to hear of how many students aren’t able to get the help needed. It takes a lot of courage to even admit, ‘I need help,’ and then to hear you can’t get the help because there is a waitlist was very disheartening.”
Spencer Gilbert ’17, SGA president, was able to meet with one of the three candidates. Regarding the hiring process, he said “I think that the hiring process has gone well so far. The Wellness Center made a clear effort to involve students in the process from the beginning. It was also very clear that they got quality candidates into the pool. I personally only met with one of them, but I have heard mostly good things from the other student interviewers.”
Regarding the importance of having more counselors available, Gilbert said, “We need quality counselors. And though I know there have been strong efforts made to bring in people in the past, if at the end of the day the resources are not there, then all students are done a disservice.”
Fredi Carey ’19 said, “It’s really a shame that we didn’t have enough counselors here for a good part of the past few semesters. How can a college support its students if it’s impossible to get an appointment with a mental health professional?”
Regarding the candidates for the position, Kazyak said, “All the candidates we’ve met with have been fantastic. All three are extremely experienced and anything they lacked, they were willing to learn. From my opinion the last two candidates we saw were the best. Both have a strong background in crisis control, and one wants to do more outreach with the students. We would be very lucky to have either.”
The interview process is already over and was streamlined due to the urgent need. There should be a new counselor working by the start of the Spring 2017 semester.
Hopefully the new hire will be able to contribute positively to The College of Wooster’s growing mental health services.