The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, April 18, 2016 — 7A

“When you’re away from home — and taking exams 

— it’s a huge transition,” Rondenelli said. “Plus, it’s 
such an opportunity to just isolate yourself and just let 
things get out of control.”

A balancing act
The services the University provides for students 

struggling with mental health issues span several 
arenas.

CAPS, the main University resource for mental 

health, spans three prongs: clinical, outreach and 
training. Within clinical aspects of CAPS, resources are 
divided between providing ongoing services and the 
demands of new requests and crisis appointments.

According to CAPS director Todd Sevig, the 

distribution of counselors currently heavily prioritizes 
short-term care. Sevig said one of the largest challenges 
for CAPS is how their counselors — to whom the largest 
portion of the program’s funding goes toward paying — 
are distributed within CAPS.

Reichel said he sought help from CAPS near the 

end of September of his freshman year and found the 
experience to be beneficial in helping him adjust to 
campus and learn to deal with his depression.

“It was definitely very, very helpful,” Reichel said. 

“Normally they don’t do (long-term) therapy there that 
much. Normally they just figure out what’s going on and 
help you find somewhere out in the community to send 
you to. They kept me around.”

Reichel noted, however, that there are some issues 

with the current system that he believes could be 
resolved through increasing resources and funding to 
the center.

“In regard to CAPS, they have really great stuff and 

they have really great people and they’re doing a lot 
of good things to help out — there just isn’t enough,” 
Reichel said.

For many, that sense of not having enough is frequent 

with CAPS — especially with long-term care like the 
kind Reichel received, for which funding is noticeably 
limited.

Since 2011, CAPS’ budget has increased by more 

than 30 percent. In 2016, CAPS received $3.0 million in 
funding from the University’s General Fund — the vast 
majority of which goes to counselor salaries, according 
to Sevig. Other funding for projects come from 
donations: The Gatof Foundation funded the creation of 
CAPS’ After Hours hotline and the CAPS Stress Busters 
app, and funding from the Logan Family Foundation 
created a QPR (Question Persuade and Refer) training 
video for new faculty and students aiming to prevent 
suicide.

But this increase in funding has been accompanied 

by significant increases in demand. Last year CAPS had 
more than 25,000 appointments — about 1,300 of which 
were crisis appointments. The numbers break down to 
4,197 individual patients seen for clinical services in the 
last year alone.

Every year for the past five years, CAPS has 

experienced an average increase in appointments of 
7 to 9 percent. This year, the average increase for the 
Fall semester in comparison to that of last year was 
20 to 25 percent. During one of the first few weeks of 
the semester, CAPS experienced a 43 percent increase 
in new appointments. CAPS staff, in contrast, has not 
increased at nearly that pace, according to Christine 
Adiado, CAPS’ associate director of community 
engagement and outreach.

“There is a 43 percent increase from 2010 to now — 

our staff has not increased 43 percent,” Adiado said

Sevig said the increases have prompted CAPS 

personnel to start looking for new answers in how they 
do things, a conversation he added that the program 
can’t have on its own.

“What we’re all trying to figure out is sort of new 

answers to new questions: What if next year we have 
a 40 percent increase? And then the year after that? 
What is the best way to meet that level of student needs 
on mental health?” Sevig said. “That’s where we can’t 
figure this out on our own, we need to answer those 
questions together with students — including faculty, 
staff and administration. We can adapt, we can add, 
but if that level of increases continues then we have to 
rethink some new ways.”

For CAPS, the patient increases are a double-edged 

sword: While on one hand the counseling center is 
happy to see new clients and more students on campus 
seeking help, the increase in demand leads to resources 
stretched thin. CAPS staff said they largely credit the 
recent increase in students seeking help in the past five 
years to an increased de-stigmatization of seeking help 
for mental health issues.

“I don’t know if anyone’s figured out the answer (to 

the increase in demand) but what people are seeing and 
what we’ve experienced both anecdotally and looking 
at our data, there are a few multiple reasons,” Sevig 
said. “The first is stigma has decreased over this time 
period.”

Sevig pointed to several University outreach 

mechanisms as potential reasons for that decrease, 
such as the “Do Something” campaign, which promotes 
a positive campus environment. He estimated that 
at least 15,000 students are influenced by outreach 
initiatives such as those annually.

“When we wake up in the morning we are devoted to 

the people who walk in our doors — our clinical work,” 
Sevig said. “But when we wake up we are also trying to 
think of literally every student and also the culture of 
this place, the campus climate around mental health. 
And that’s where I think both of these things — when 
I think of the last five to 10 years this is a big part of the 
increase.”

The wait
The limited resources of CAPS is manifested most 

readily for students in appointment wait time — it’s 
one of the most talked about complaints students have 
about CAPS, and one that has seen a renewed push of 
attention this semester.

Kinesiology freshman Shanze Noorani, who is not 

affiliated with any mental health advocacy groups on 
campus, is currently petitioning to increase funding for 
CAPS. To date, the petition, which emphasizes the need 
for shorter appointment wait times, has garnered 1,836 
signatures.

“I think it’s something everyone does feel really 

passionately about,” Noorani said. “It’s one of those 
things. I think I actually got a lot of support because it’s 
not like a debatable thing; I think it’s pretty much across 
the board that everyone feels that this is an important 
issue — especially here at Michigan.”

Noorani said when the petition reaches 5,000 

signatures she intends to present it to University 
administration.

“Currently, wait times to make appointments 

here are approximately 3 weeks long, which is not 
very beneficial to those that are suffering NOW,” 
Noorani’s petition reads. “If funding for CAPS is 
increased, more staff members can be hired so more 
students can make appointments and work through 
their hardships. In order to make our campus a more 
conducive environment to preventing tragedies like 
this from occurring, mental health services should be 
made a priority so that those suffering from depression, 
anxiety, and other mental health disorders can get the 
help that they need.”

Noorani said in her own experience, CAPS wait 

times have been problematic.

“I’ve tried to make appointments there multiple 

times and I always end up having to cancel it because 
you have to make it three weeks in advance, and, like, 
who knows what they’re doing in three weeks? Or if 
they’re even going to need it in three weeks?” Noorani 
said. “I think the main thing they could improve is 
hiring more people that are available to talk to. I’m not 
saying CAPS is the worst thing because I know it has 
helped so many people, which is great, but there are 
also so many more people that it could be helping.”

In response to the petition, Sevig said the three-week 

wait periods aren’t true.

“It’s never been three weeks; it’s a myth and a 

misunderstanding.”

Business junior Kelly Lewis said her first time making 

an appointment at CAPS was difficult. She was told she 
would have to wait two weeks to get an appointment, 
but when she asked if there were any other options she 
was pointed to see the on-call counselor, which she said 
worked out fine for her.

Lewis discovered last semester she had a physical 

disability causing her eyes to not see at the same time. 
Soon, her disability began to have a negative effect on 
her mental health as well. Lewis said she lost trust in 
her body — everything she thought she perceived, her 
mind doubted.

Lewis didn’t not need long-term counseling, but said 

even the short period she dealt with CAPS scheduling 
was a hassle.

“I really enjoy my counselor, and have a lot of good 

experiences with him, but it is frustrating — even 
as someone using the resource — trying to set up an 
appointment,” Lewis said. “Even though I’m in the 
system, and set up to see him, we have a very hard time 
scheduling.”

Adiado said she thought perceptions of long wait 

time may stem from scheduling issues.

“I think it is more of the student not being able to 

make an earlier time so the thing that maybe works 
with their schedule is a couple of weeks later, but it’s not 
because we have a waitlist or a wait time of two weeks 
or three weeks,” Adiado said. “It’s really essentially 
eight days.”

The wait period for appointments is updated daily on 

the CAPS website.

A focus on North Campus
Reichel, who noted feelings of isolation as a freshman 

in Bursley, isn’t alone in his sentiments on the necessity 
of increasing services to North Campus as part of 
increasing CAPS service. 

In recent weeks, multiple organizations across 

campus have called for reform to North Campus 
options. LSA senior Marlee Beckering and five other 
students recently started the Help CAPS Catch Up 
Campaign, a group advocating for better mental health 
resources on campus. The campaign, which began as 
a project for the course Organizational Studies 203, 
aims to find ways to better increase CAPS’ resources. 
On April 6th, the Campaign launched its survey of 
students on what they would like to see done to address 
mental health on campus. The survey is still open and 
collecting data but thus far the top two responses were 
increasing funding overall and increasing resources for 
students on North Campus.

Engineering freshman A.J. Ashman president of 

Bursley Hall, said he believes the University needs to do 
a better job at broadcasting the mental health resources 
available. In particular, he said he felt there was a need 
for a CAPS clinic on North Campus given that the 
majority of students there are freshmen and may be 
having trouble adjusting to college.

Though there is no branch of CAPS on North 

Campus, there are counselors available for students in 
colleges based on North Campus, such as the College 
of Engineering and College of Music, Theatre & Dance. 
CAPS launched the program of “embedded counselors” 
two years ago as part of a restructuring of the system 
to reduce wait times, and has since expanded to 
professional schools on Central Campus as well, 
hiring seven new counselors for the initiative. Each 
school on North Campus has one embedded counselor 
whom students in need can e-mail for an appointment. 
This past year CAPS expanded the initiative into 
professional schools such as Law, Business, Rackham 
and Dentistry, and are working on a study to see the 
benefits of the program — hoping to ultimately expand 
it into other colleges.

In recent months, Central Student Government and 

LSA Student Government have each proposed several 
resolutions to broaden mental health services onto 
North Campus. CSG party newMICH, who recently 
won the CSG presidential election, ran partially on the 
platform of creating a CAPS center on North Campus, 
along with hiring 11 new counselors to decrease the 
ratio of counselors to students from the current 1:1,300 
to 1:1,000.

At a recent LSA Student Government meeting, LSA 

sophomore Nicholas Meier, who proposed a resolution 
for a campus-wide “Mental Health Day,” highlighted 
the importance of increasing mental health resources 
in “isolated” areas of campus like North Campus.

“People should not be prevented from having access 

to the same resources as other students just because of 
where they were randomly assigned to live,” he said. 
“We need to get something there now, so they can get 
the help they need now. Not in a month or five years, 
but now.”

Students who live on North note that it often has a 

worse reputation of isolation or lack of community 
than the reality. Ashman said Bursley Hall Council 
works hard to promote activities to build a sense of 
community.

Baits II residents Sabrina Wong and Elan Johnson, 

both LSA freshman, echoed Ashman’s sentiments, 
saying while logistic issues like buses to Central 
Campus are not ideal, there is a sense of community. 

That given, Wong said she “didn’t know how isolating 
North Campus would be” until she got on campus, and 
while there are benefits of the community setting, she 
said there are noticeable drawbacks.

“It’s kind of nice to have your own community to 

escape to” Wong said. “I think that the social aspect 
of it, I think it’s a lot harder. I live in Baits so your own 
house is like your own community and there’s like 
maybe 200 people that live in a house. It’s really quiet 
and unsocial. If I lived in Markley or East Quad or South 
Quad, I feel like I’d have a lot more people to talk to and 
hang out with.”

Johnson said Baits Residence Hall does a good job of 

promoting social activities and creating a community.

“It’s a little bit isolating but if you make the most of 

it then it’s not as bad as everybody says,” Johnson said. 
“I think if anyone gets on North Campus, while it is 
sometimes disappointing, if you make the most of it 
then I think it’s not as bad as everyone says it is.”

Reichel said overall, expanding resources would 

have helped students like him.

“Being on North Campus, coming down to the 

Union can be hard at times, too,” she said “If they had 
a satellite clinic or something up on North that would 
be cool, too.”

Moving forward
The increase in demand, though it’s prompted student 

outcry and concerns, has also been accompanied by 
University and student efforts to provide more services 
and shift campus culture.

Initiatives such as the embedded counselor program 

have already seen progress in reducing wait time. When 
the program was implemented two years ago, wait 
times were cut 60 percent to an average wait time of 
four days, according to CAPS.

One of the main pillars of the Help CAPS Catch Up 

Campaign is ensuring funding is at a satisfactory ratio 
based on the research of Daniel Eisenberg, an associate 
professor in the Department of Health Management 
and Policy at the University, who found that college 
counseling centers should have $1 million per every 
15,000 students. Under the increase in the 2016 budget, 
CAPS is now receiving what Eisenberg deems is the 
proper amount — prior to this year, though, it was below.

Lewis said another initiative the campaign supports 

is one Central Student Government has mentioned 
implementing: a mental health liaison for student 
organizations. This would be a person who is trained 
in the resources on campus, though not necessarily a 
counselor themselves.

“I’m in a 300-person organization,” Lewis said. “If 

somebody is having a moment where they just need 
to figure out who to go and talk to, they can go to this 
person and say, ‘Hey, who do I go see? What’s the 
wait time like at these different places? What are my 
options?’ ”

Beckering was interested in working to improve 

mental health resources after dealing with her own 
issues and experiencing others’ firsthand — noting 
countless instances of the impact of mental health issues 
in her sorority. She said she believes the widespread 
nature of mental health issues is a result of counselor’s 
limited resources.

“Unfortunately, one of my (sorority) sisters 

committed suicide as a sophomore. As a 19-year-old 
I had to plan her memorial service and support other 
19-year-olds who were going through a period of loss, 
and that was really, really hard,” Beckering said. “Then 
when I was a junior, I intervened in a situation where 
someone was trying to commit suicide. There have 
been so many other situations throughout my college 
career where I’ve seen people who aren’t able to gain 
access to what they need — and that’s including myself.”

The group has also found lack of long-term care 

in the form of follow ups after CAP appointments is 
an area students feel CAPS is less effective in due to 
underfunding.

Beckering said several suggestions have been made 

to alleviate this, such as having CAPS call patients who 
skip their appointments, or check in on them after they 
are referred to an alternative private practice to see how 
it’s going.

“CAPS doesn’t have the resources to call and check 

in and say, ‘Hey, how are things going with the person 
we referred you to?’ ” Beckering said. “They’re amazing 
people and they have the capacity to make amazing 
change in the people that they do help.”

Smith, who utilized CAPS when struggling with 

mental health after coming to the University, said she 
stopped going after a few sessions. She said she felt her 
counselor wasn’t a good fit for her and she started to 
have anxiety about it, but a follow up visit might have 
helped encourage her to come back.

“Part of me is like, ‘You should probably just try 

again,’ ” Smith said. “But it’s also hard because my 
schedule is really packed. It’s kind of hard because 
CAPS is only open during the day when we have classes, 
but I should probably just try again.”

Overall, students interviewed for this article echoed 

the same sentiment over and over again — any increase 
in campus mental health resources will be a positive.

Across the board, the primary solution presented 

by students was increasing the number of counselors, 
whether at CAPS’ current location, a new North 
Campus clinic, or more embedded counselors.

Sevig said he was interested in hearing student 

input on what steps should be taken moving forward to 
improve CAPS. Improvement models CAPS is currently 
considering, he said, include whether to expand the 
embedded counselor program or change the current 
model’s focus away from prioritizing crisis work, as well 
as more attention to ongoing follow up appointments.

“Yes, we’re all aware of what’s going on right now,” 

Sevig said in regard to student concerns. “There’s a 
lot of student cries and demands: ‘We love CAPS, we 
need more CAPS.’ We’re all hearing it. What we’re all 
trying to figure out quickly is what is the best way to 
meet student needs, but don’t forget the president, the 
provost, the vice president of student life have decided 
to add seven new staff members in the last two years. 
That’s not a small thing.”

In an interview, E. Royster Harper, vice president 

of student life, echoed Sevig’s sentiments, saying the 
administration wants to hear students voices on the 
subject.

“We are open to hearing what students are saying 

and we are open to making changes based on what 
students are saying.”

HEALTH
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