Dear Students:
The Counseling Center is committed to supporting the mental health of all Ball State students. For the past several years, the Counseling Center has worked to increase the availability of services and decrease wait times. This fall the number of students requesting services has increased far more than expected. Since August 1, the Counseling Center has had more than 1,100 students request services. This is more than half the number of students who were seen in all of last year.
As more students have called us, the increased demand for services this semester has overwhelmed the capacity of the Counseling Center’s current system to deliver services in a timely way. In response to the demand, the Counseling Center is changing the way we provide services so that more students can be seen, and students can access services more quickly.
Starting on Monday, November 4, students who contact the Counseling Center for mental health services will be scheduled to attend a Care Planning Group appointment. During these appointments, students will be asked to complete a confidential online questionnaire about the reason for their visit.
Students will then meet with two therapists in a small group of 10-15 students. The therapists will work with the students to develop an individualized and confidential Personal Care Plan that will help them effectively address their immediate concerns. The Care Planning Groups are designed to be confidential, and personal information will not be shared. Students will not have to talk about why they are coming to the Counseling Center in the Care Planning Groups, and the Personal Care Plans will not be shared with anyone else in the group. We will offer at least 10 of these groups each week at a variety of days and times that are convenient, so that it is easy for students to attend a Care Planning Group that fits their schedule.
Providing the Care Planning Group appointments will allow us to create space for students who have not contacted us yet and allow us to spend more time with students who require additional supports. We do not see this as a permanent change in the way we provide services, but this change will allow us to provide quicker access to services for the remainder of the fall semester.
We will continue to offer urgent and ongoing individual appointments to students as appropriate. We will closely monitor this new system to ensure that it is effectively meeting the needs of students. If you have questions or concerns about these changes, please contact me at 765-285-1264.
Sincerely,
