Students had the chance to voice concerns and get clarification on counselling changes in an open forum held last Thursday in The Cave.
The hour-long event was organized by the Lethbridge College Students’ Association (LCSA) and was designed to give students an opportunity to speak face-to-face with executives that made the counselling decisions.
Feb. 1 marked the complete launch of Shepell-fgi counselling services for Lethbridge College students, a telephone and online-based service that provides access to counselling 24/7. On Feb. 3, one new counsellor moved in after the previous four on-campus counsellors were moved out.
LCSA president Kevin Hong says the forum was organized because the student body had the right to know exactly what was going on and why the sudden change with the counselling services.
Simon Griffiths, vice president of corporate services and Coreen Roth, executive director of human resources fielded many questions. Major topics were the timing of the decision to roll-out the program mid-year and why so many counsellors were let go.
Griffiths reasoned that they didn’t want to “wait until all the students had gone and then sneak it in” in the summer. To satisfy the question of cost, Griffiths says, “It’s cheaper. There’s a significant saving. The driver was to get a better service, hand on heart that’s the truth.”
When asked about whether one counsellor on-campus was enough for the student body, he said that they don’t know at this point, but they are “certainly committed if one isn’t enough we’ll be looking at putting in more.”
Shann Colgate, a first-year correctional studies student was at the forum and she says she is disappointed with the changes.
“What they didn’t understand when they took out the counsellors is that we all have a relationship with the old counselors,” says Colgate. “So now when I have to go see the new counsellor, I have to build up the rapport. That means I have to go through my entire life story again and it’s just too much work than just going to my old counsellor.”
Colgate believes that those making the decisions shouldn’t be looking at it as a corporate money matter. “I can kind of see where they’re coming from with the recent budget cuts, but I think you can’t really put a price on health,” says Colgate. “A lot of people who go to counselling have a mental problem and you can’t put a price on getting help for that person. Saying ‘oh, it’s cheaper,’ does that mean you’re not getting us the best help now?”
Hong says the forum went well and that it was good to have the executive directors speak candidly with students.
“It did get a little heated at some points but that’s just the students expressing their feelings,” says Hong. “We were really happy that Simon came out and said money was one of the major issues. That was the biggest thing that upset us in the past because when I was away for Christmas break they had an interview on Global and they said money is not an issue with this change. So, at that time they pretty much lied to the public and the students. Now Simon came out and said, ‘yes money is one of the major issues’ that settled it a little more. It was really good that they said that.”
Hong says most of the students he’s talked to wouldn’t have had an issue with the change if it happened in the summertime. “For me personally, I believe it would have worked better because in the summer there are less students around, they can do the soft launch there,” he says.
There is a possibility of hosting another forum, depending on how many students want to have it, according to Hong He says he is taking students’ names and questions and e-mailing them to the executives for answers as they arise.