Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

CAPS Hires New Mental Health Staff

The Hoya/Danny Smith
The Hoya/Danny Smith
The Hoya/Danny Smith
The Hoya/Danny Smith

Georgetown will hire three new staff members, two to Counseling and Psychiatric Services and one to the Division of Student Affairs, in an effort to expand mental health resources, according to a campus-wide email sent by Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson on March 15.

Current plans propose adding a staff psychologist and a case manager to CAPS on the main campus and a staff psychologist to CAPS at Georgetown University Law Center. The new positions will be filled by fall 2016.

Olson wrote that the decision to add the three new hires is part of the university’s ongoing efforts to strengthen mental health services on campus.

“Colleges and universities across the country have seen greater use of mental health services by students in recent years,” Olson wrote. “At Georgetown, we recognized similar needs for additional counseling services for our students. Over the past few months we have

worked closely with students to address these needs on our campus.”

By expanding the staff, the university aims to reduce waiting times for routine appointments and to offer more personal support for students with complex issues.

The added case manager position will double the size of the current case management staff, according to a press release from the Georgetown University Student Association.

“They will be available to serve students’ mental health needs, ensuring that students receive proper follow-up care and can continually receive support when taking or returning from a medical leave of absence,” GUSA Director of Communications Will Simons (COL ’16) wrote in the press release.

GUSA President Joe Luther (COL ’16) said that he hopes this does not mark the end of mental health reform on campus.

“We view these hirings as a step in the right direction. One of GUSA’s priorities is to ensure that students have access to timely and high-quality mental health services,” Luther wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We will continue to work with the university to ensure that CAPS is adequately staffed and work to change the culture around mental health on campus.”

GUSA President-Elect Enushe Khan (MSB ’17) said while she is excited by the new hires, mental health reforms need to continue.

“This is amazing news, and something students have been advocating for a while, so it is incredibly exciting to see the university work towards expanding mental health resources,” Khan wrote in an email to The Hoya. “There is a lot more to be done, and this great addition to the CAPS program shouldn’t end the conversation on mental health resources and policies. We need to ensure that the conversation on mental health on our campus continues to expand.”

 

 

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