The administration confirmed that they are finally funding those additional five counseling positions to reach the ratio we demanded. I remember sitting in my dorm crying because I could not find an opening and today I am just relieved that future students will not have to wait weeks for help. …
July 6, 2017
Final supporters
We, the students, faculty, and staff of the University of California, San Diego believe that mental health is an integral part of students' success on campus. Students need to be ensured timely access to mental health resources on campus, especially in the case of an urgent need.
As it stands, the mental health services at the University of California, San Diego received a C+ rating in 2016 by the UC Student Association (UCSA), which rated CAPS on measures such as accessibility, diversity of staff, and number of counselling psychologists. While UCSD has taken big steps in improving such statistics, we are currently still 5 psychologists away from the minimum 1000:1 student to counselor ratio. Every time the student population grows by 1,000, there should automatically be funding for 1 more counselor.
While there are hotline services to ensure that students with urgent needs are taken care of, the average waiting time for a CAPS appointment is about 2-3 weeks currently. However, many of the counselors are overbooked at CAPS, so, this is an unsustainable wait time that will increase if more counselors are not hired.
We demand that there should be more funding and spaces allocated to CAPS to better the student to counselor ratio, as well as to have a student affairs case manager for each of the six undergraduate colleges. With a diverse population at UC San Diego, we should also factor in the historically underrepresented groups that need more specialized attention at CAPS. There is a dire need to hire two culturally proficient and multilingual psychologists at UC San Diego, and we hope to be able to push for not just more funding but spaces allocated to CAPS.
We, the community of UC San Diego, demand that there should be more funding for mental health. We hope that the UCSD administration will hereby consider increasing the budget/funding for mental health and CAPS on the UCSD campus.
Updates
May 27, 2017
Seeing this level of support reminds me of my own nights spent waiting for an appointment that felt like it would never come. This momentum proves that we all recognize how broken the current system is for students in crisis.
May 27, 2017
I spent the morning reading through the stories shared in these comments and the exhaustion in your words is heartbreaking. We are still fighting for those five missing positions because a two week wait for a student in crisis is not a service but a failure of our university.
Reached 100 supporters
May 27, 2017
39 Comments
I haven't followed through with my interest in seeing a counselor at CAPS because of how difficult they make it seem to make appointments. My problems feel like a burden since there's a lack of counselors to assist.
CAPS is an invaluable resource for many on our campus and I personally know students who benefit from its services. However, the average waiting time for an appointment is ridiculously long, spanning from 2-4 weeks. Students need to be able to have access to the services CAPS offers in a timely manner so that they have the resources to take care of their emotional well-being. Mental health should never be a secondary priority.
Wait times are waaaaayyy too long and the psychologist I met with always complained about not having enough spots open and we always had trouble scheduling a next appointment. He stopped seeing me already and told me to visit over summer because "he was booked"
I don't know what I would have done during my first two years of medical school at UCSD without CAPS. The convenience of an on-campus therapist made therapy an option during my busy student schedule. In order to have effective progress, sessions need to be regular and within a reasonable timeframe. Sometimes I couldn't get an appointment for months, during which time I did not have support and so much has changed in my life that my therapist and I had to start fresh at my next session.
The only reason I was able to schedule an appointment in a timely fashion was because I expressed that I was feeling suicidal. The soonest appointment time would have been weeks later otherwise. That isn't right.
Last year I had PTSD, Depression, Anxiety and Cyclothymia and I did not receive adequate help.
CAPS is an extremely valuable service, but due to lack of funding it has ridiculously long wait times. This could discourage some students from seeking out the help that they need. We should not have to wait that long to get help.
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
Your share link
The administration confirmed that they are finally funding those additional five counseling positions to reach the ratio we demanded. I remember sitting in my dorm crying because I could not find an opening and today I am just relieved that future students will not have to wait weeks for help. …
July 6, 2017
Final supporters
We, the students, faculty, and staff of the University of California, San Diego believe that mental health is an integral part of students' success on campus. Students need to be ensured timely access to mental health resources on campus, especially in the case of an urgent need.
As it stands, the mental health services at the University of California, San Diego received a C+ rating in 2016 by the UC Student Association (UCSA), which rated CAPS on measures such as accessibility, diversity of staff, and number of counselling psychologists. While UCSD has taken big steps in improving such statistics, we are currently still 5 psychologists away from the minimum 1000:1 student to counselor ratio. Every time the student population grows by 1,000, there should automatically be funding for 1 more counselor.
While there are hotline services to ensure that students with urgent needs are taken care of, the average waiting time for a CAPS appointment is about 2-3 weeks currently. However, many of the counselors are overbooked at CAPS, so, this is an unsustainable wait time that will increase if more counselors are not hired.
We demand that there should be more funding and spaces allocated to CAPS to better the student to counselor ratio, as well as to have a student affairs case manager for each of the six undergraduate colleges. With a diverse population at UC San Diego, we should also factor in the historically underrepresented groups that need more specialized attention at CAPS. There is a dire need to hire two culturally proficient and multilingual psychologists at UC San Diego, and we hope to be able to push for not just more funding but spaces allocated to CAPS.
We, the community of UC San Diego, demand that there should be more funding for mental health. We hope that the UCSD administration will hereby consider increasing the budget/funding for mental health and CAPS on the UCSD campus.
Updates
May 27, 2017
Seeing this level of support reminds me of my own nights spent waiting for an appointment that felt like it would never come. This momentum proves that we all recognize how broken the current system is for students in crisis.
May 27, 2017
I spent the morning reading through the stories shared in these comments and the exhaustion in your words is heartbreaking. We are still fighting for those five missing positions because a two week wait for a student in crisis is not a service but a failure of our university.
Reached 100 supporters
May 27, 2017
39 Comments
Mental health is very important, and 2-3 weeks of wait time is not acceptable. CAPS is doing their best once you actually get an appointment, but they need more resources to deliver the help when it matters the most.
I haven't followed through with my interest in seeing a counselor at CAPS because of how difficult they make it seem to make appointments. My problems feel like a burden since there's a lack of counselors to assist.
CAPS is an invaluable resource for many on our campus and I personally know students who benefit from its services. However, the average waiting time for an appointment is ridiculously long, spanning from 2-4 weeks. Students need to be able to have access to the services CAPS offers in a timely manner so that they have the resources to take care of their emotional well-being. Mental health should never be a secondary priority.
Wait times are waaaaayyy too long and the psychologist I met with always complained about not having enough spots open and we always had trouble scheduling a next appointment. He stopped seeing me already and told me to visit over summer because "he was booked"
I don't know what I would have done during my first two years of medical school at UCSD without CAPS. The convenience of an on-campus therapist made therapy an option during my busy student schedule. In order to have effective progress, sessions need to be regular and within a reasonable timeframe. Sometimes I couldn't get an appointment for months, during which time I did not have support and so much has changed in my life that my therapist and I had to start fresh at my next session.
The only reason I was able to schedule an appointment in a timely fashion was because I expressed that I was feeling suicidal. The soonest appointment time would have been weeks later otherwise. That isn't right.
Last year I had PTSD, Depression, Anxiety and Cyclothymia and I did not receive adequate help.
CAPS is an extremely valuable service, but due to lack of funding it has ridiculously long wait times. This could discourage some students from seeking out the help that they need. We should not have to wait that long to get help.
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
Your share link
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
Mental health is very important, and 2-3 weeks of wait time is not acceptable. CAPS is doing their best once you actually get an appointment, but they need more resources to deliver the help when it matters the most.