(BROCKPORT, NEW YORK) - At a recent United University Professions (UUP) visit to Brockport, student Daniel Dale outlined a pretty simple math problem.

Some 600 students are registered to utilize the Brockport Student Accessibility Services Center, which helps students with anxiety, depression and ADHD by offering, among other programs, accommodation for extra test time for students working through mental health struggles.

But how do you fit them into just 11 seats and eight desks with computers available on site?

“Most disturbing was (Dale) was talking about students who want to succeed,” UUP President Fred Kowal said. “And yet the resources aren’t there. Not even close.”

That story is just one of many that bring into focus the breadth of the on-going mental health crisis in higher education, a crisis exacerbated by poverty, food and housing insecurity, and other social issues students and Staff alike grapple with.

It was the subject of a recently-held New York State Assembly hearing at which representatives from UUP, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) and NYSUT detailed proposals for how to tackle the needs that pre-date, but have only grown since, the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Among the common refrains from Union Representatives was the need to bring down Mental Health Counselor-to-student ratios statewide.

UUP President Fred Kowal said SUNY needs to hire 50 Counselors system-wide to approach the International Accreditation of Counseling Services-recommended Counselor ratio of 1-to-1,000 students.

PSC’s James Davis said while City University of New York (CUNY) has made progress, they too need to hire more Counselors, with current ratios standing at 1-to-roughly 2,000.

Of course, disparities exist across campuses.

Kowal noted that at smaller campuses, the ratios are lower.

His home campus, Cobleskill, is in the relatively enviable position of having one Counselor for every 347 students.

But University Centers are in a tougher spot, with the University at Buffalo dealing with a 1-to-1,406 ratio, for example.

Yet in an ironic twist, Kowal said for Faculty and Staff, there is far less access to mental health services in smaller towns like Cobleskill, where “mental health care deserts” exist.

The result of swollen student-to-counselor ratios can be unacceptable wait times for on-campus services, with some CUNY students waiting weeks, if not months, for an appointment, according to Davis.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: www.nysut.org/news/2022/november/higher-ed

NYSUT Editor’s Note: Pictured Above - Preparing to testify on mental health needs in higher education (from left to right): UUP President Fred Kowal, PSC President James Davis and NYSUT Legislative Director Alithia Rodriguez-Rolon.  (Photo Courtesy Of UUP)