For many students, the Student Health and Counseling Center (SHACC)’s limit of 10 counseling sessions per person has become a source of distress, seen as not nearly enough by much of the student body. In reality, this number was a large increase from free appointments that had been offered until July of last year; however, various members of the Hofstra community see further improvement as not only possible but necessary for students’ well-being.
“I originally started to see a therapist back in California, where I lived,” said Haley Ecker, a junior forensics major. Even with the addition of more sessions for a total of 10, Ecker said, “[This] kind of deterred me originally from going to the [SHACC] unless I thought it was absolutely necessary, because my health insurance doesn’t really work out here.”
Hofstra’s SHACC has been developing an advisory board as a way for Hofstra community members to provide suggestions to improve its services and address complaints like these. This is just one way for the SHACC to get feedback from students and student organizations about mental health on campus.
According to Colin Sullivan, director of communications for Student Affairs, the current goals of the SHACC Advisory Board are: “To increase visibility of resources, to actively hear the student experience and how SHACC can best support the students through policy and resources and finally, to create a community of students that support and care about one another’s well-being.”
“The SHACC Advisory Board does not create policy,” Sullivan said. “They bring recommendations and experiences of the student body to the leadership of Student Health and Counseling for consideration and often will provide guidance and say, ‘Here’s your problem, here’s the perceived need of our community and here’s how as a student body we would suggest you go about making that change.’”
SHACC Advisory Board meetings are quarterly but without any specific dates put into place, with invitations to meetings sent to members weeks in advance. The Board has promoted membership through HofCast, encouraging students to nominate themselves to be part of the Board, and by working with student organizations like the Student Government Association (SGA).
Hofstra’s SGA was involved with improvements made to the SHACC last year. With Democrats of Hofstra, they helped remove the $30 copay originally needed after three appointments and extended the number of appointments. Since then, SGA has been involved with the Advisory Board to help fix problems that students have with the SHACC.
“We have been in contact with Dr. [John] Guthman … at the SHACC advisory council and he wants to set up a SHACC Advisory Board,” said Kathryn Harley, a senior public relations major and President of SGA. “He’d love to have SGA presence on there, so that’s kind of what we’re looking for in the near future regarding SGA’s involvement with reforms to SHACC.”
Harley said that SGA wants mental health counseling to be as accessible as possible for students and that there needs to be a conversation with the SHACC in terms of finding “sustainable long-term solutions for students.”
Miranda Pino, a senior history, public policy and public service major and President of Democrats of Hofstra said that while they support the improvements the SHACC has made, they still think that there’s a lot that can be done for both physical and mental health.
“I think for the mental health side, being more clear about what 10 sessions mean[s] and what happens after 10 sessions would be a good thing for them to do since they say 10 sessions are free, but there’s not a lot about what happens after that,” Pino said.
In response to students’ confusion about the appointment limit, Julie Burgos, administrative assistant at the SHACC, said, “The amount of counseling appointments per student is a case-by-case evaluation that students make with the team at SHACC.”
Still, some students have struggled with finding long-term care once the SHACC determines that off-campus counseling is more suitable for them.
“I’m initially from New York, but the insurance I got when my family moved out of state only really works where they are and not in New York anymore. I do work a job that I do get a couple health benefits from, but it was never really anything where insurance could have helped me, which is why the SHACC was so attractive to me. It was on campus and it was there,” said Jeffrey Schmelkin, a senior music composition major. Upon needing to find long-term treatment, Schmelkin said, “I found some places, I called some places, I emailed other places. For each one, there was some issue that came up. And I understand that it’s not really on Hofstra 100% to help with these things, but I feel like there is a system there. You know, we should be able to utilize it as what it is.”
Other concerns that students have mentioned include long waiting times and a general lack of information being spread.
“I think their access is absolutely horrible. I called in a crisis situation one time and had to wait two weeks to get an appointment,” said Danielle Verola, a sophomore psychology major. “I also didn’t know [of] half of the support groups and you can’t find [them] on Hofstra’s website, so you literally have to go into the Wellness Center, which most people won’t do because of the stigma around it.”
On students’ discontent on the wait times for appointments, Sullivan said, “We are always investigating and open to new ideas on how to speed up resources provided to our students.”
David Hymowitz, adjunct assistant professor of health professions and coordinator of Behavioral Health Awareness Training and Education at Hofstra University, further emphasized the importance of keeping students aware of the mental health resources available to them.
“People don’t usually pay attention to mental health programs until they need those services, so we need to continually get the word out there,” said Hymowitz, who is also the director of program development at the Mental Health Association of Nassau County. “Really anything is helpful – whether it be breathing techniques or meditation or yoga – if it helps the mental health of students. If they’re connected to the students all the time, then it’s just another way of creative outreach.”
Verola is forming a student-run group to promote mental health awareness.
“I’m starting a club on-campus called NAMI On Campus; it’s the National Alliance on Mental Illness. I’m getting it started in February and we’re going to start doing stigma-breaking. I don’t know of any clubs that do that at the moment, and that’s why I wanted to bring it to campus. I’m really happy about that, it’s just that won’t be there until February,” Verola said.
While the club is still in development, its plans include educating students on mental health stigma, diet culture and different forms of therapy.
“I think that’s a great idea as well,” said Julianna Grossman, an undecided freshman. “Like, I’m just telling you that I see a psychiatrist and that I’ve been to counseling most of my life, and it almost feels like a little bit risque to say those kinds of things. So, I definitely think that it’s important to have that kind of community to break those stigmas about mental illness and who receives help for it.”
With efforts forming from students and administrators alike to create a comfortable environment to foster and promote mental health, the Hofstra community can expect comprehensive improvements to the SHACC. “Since it is so early on in the inception of the Advisory Board,” Sullivan said, “they’re always willing to grow and to hear from new voices.”
Kay • May 10, 2020 at 12:53 am
This article beautifully conveys the voice of the students and their need for intervention. Thank you for bringing this matter to light. Excellent coverage; excellent writing.
[email protected] • Dec 15, 2019 at 2:21 am
—-“I’m starting a club on-campus called NAMI On Campus; it’s the National Alliance on Mental Illness. I’m getting it started in February and we’re going to start doing stigma-breaking.
I am absolutely sure the person who spoke those words does not realize HE is saying to students there is a stigma to mental illnesses.
I am absolutely certain editors who selected those words do not realize THEY are saying to students there is a stigma to mental illnesses.
Harold A Maio