A new semester is under way, and the dedicated staff at the University Counseling Center wants students to know we are deeply committed to their well being, and we are here to assist them 24 hours a day.
As you might know, we recently engaged several students, faculty and staff on a review committee focusing on the UCC’s clinical services, outreach and prevention efforts and operations. Early feedback from committee members has been extremely positive and productive, and it has strengthened UCC ties across campus. These developing and newly enhanced partnerships will lead to an even broader campus-wide approach to mental health interventions, education and prevention.
We have been taking steps to make the UCC an even better place for students. Thanks to the feedback from committee members over the last several weeks, we have accomplished many things, including re-designing our lobby to be more welcoming and provide more privacy; streamlining our outreach programming request process; designing a client assessment survey and updating our website to facilitate student feedback.
In addition, we have organized a group-counseling program that makes for easier referrals and participation, recruited and hired more staff to meet the growing needs of the center and increased the number of advisors for the Active Minds student organization. We have also established a Twitter account,
@GWBeWell, to publicize health and wellness information. Finally, we have designed an update to our referral management system to better connect students with community mental health resources when necessary.
Additionally, we have been taking steps – and will continue to everyday – to make the UCC an even better place for staff members. We recently added a new staff psychologist, Dr. Mai Kindaichi, and we will have two new staff members joining our team in February. We are in the early stages of our national search for a new center director.
It is going to be a transformative year for us at the UCC, and we are already off to a good start. We look forward to sharing additional updates with you throughout the semester.
Mark Levine is the senior associate dean of students and the UCC’s interim director.
