Improving Mental Health Services at the University of Michigan Through Program Expansion

Thesis
To create a safer space that promotes student well-being, the University of Michigan should
proportionally increase funding for services and expand the number of resident professionals in
CAPS to adequately meet the needs of students on campus.

Background and Analysis

One in three. This is the proportion of first-year college students who reported mental health
issues in 2018. With the increasing need for student support regarding mental health on college
campuses1, it is essential to recognize the importance of providing adequate services to the
student body and how these services can improve academic performance and civic engagement2.
It has become clear across the country that despite increased demand for counseling services,
there has not been an adequate response in provided services at universities3.

Due to the onset of an era where increased efforts to destigmatize mental illness and emphasize
the importance of seeking help, more students than ever are turning to University resources in
order to cope with the inescapable burden of mental illness on campus4. Meanwhile, increased
funding for CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services), CAPS employees, and CAPS
facilities has not increased to meet with ever-growing demand.

A lack of adequate funding for CAPS culminated in a high-turnover rate for service-providers. A
high-turnover rate in counselors and therapists decreases the ability for students needing long-
term care to be able to find a staff member to give consistent and reliable long term care.
Additionally, the small, unstable amount of counselors has led to shortages in availability for
those needing immediate care, with wait times for appointments spanning weeks.

Policy Idea
The University of Michigan should create short and long term goals to improve the antiquated
structure of psychological services available for students. Short-term goals include creating a

1 Hess, Abigail. “Massive survey finds 1 in 3 college freshmen struggle with mental health—here are 4 things you
can do,” CNBC, October 4, 2018.
2 Mitchell, J. J., Reason, R. D., Hemer, K. M., & Finley, A. (2016). Perceptions of campus climates for civic
learning as predictors of college students' mental health. Journal of College and Character, 17(1), 40-52.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2015.1125367
3 Jennifer A. Hardy, Ryan D. Weatherford, Benjamin D. Locke, Natalie Hernandez DePalma & Nadia T. D'Iuso
(2011) Meeting the Demand for College Student Concerns in College Counseling Centers: Evaluating a Clinical
Triage System, Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 25:3, 220-240, DOI: 10.1080/87568225.2011.581929
4 Kinery, Emma. “Still Waiting: A look at mental health on campus,” The Michigan Daily, April 17, 2016.
CAPS center on North Campus to better service students, improving the CAPS staff to student
ratio to 1:500 to increase availability and reduce wait times. Long-term goals include developing
a more comprehensive psychological service system to help provide students with steps towards
long term care, be it within the university or the community at large.

Policy Analysis
With both the number of college students affected by mental illness and those seeking counseling
services on the rise, the University of Michigan should strive to be at the forefront of the
improvement on accessible mental health services. Currently, students have to wait an average of
4-6 weeks for an appointment with CAPS. However, improving this resource by increasing the
funding for and the resulting number of counselors at CAPS would allow all students to find
support for mental health issues at the University.

In making CAPS more accessible to all students, a new CAPS center should be created on North
Campus. The University of Michigan has continued to expand out of Central Campus and has
plans to move entire secondary schools in order to match student demand. By creating a CAPS
center on North Campus, located centrally near Pierpont Commons, the University would be
making a large stride to make mental health services accessible for all students - not just those
living on Central Campus.

Mental health is essential to both student wellbeing and academic success, and the University is
failing to uphold its obligations to the student body and community. Action must be taken to not
only expand access to CAPS but also to ensure the continued growth of CAPS in accordance
with student demand; it must be accessible to all students, regardless of socioeconomic status,
race, or ethnicity.

Talking Points
● The University of Michigan is failing to provide adequate resources to CAPS to match
student demand, consequently failing and underserving student mental health needs.
● College students are facing an epidemic of mental health issues; they must be provided
with CAPS services to combat this epidemic on the University of Michigan’s campus.
● CAPS locations are no longer geographically relevant due to campus expansion.
Furthermore, access to CAPS resources in secondary programs on campus have become
limited and largely unavailable.
Key Facts
● According to the University of Michigan Office of Budget and Finance, funding for
counseling services has only increased by about 1.044% when one accounts for inflation5
6
.
● Every year for the past five years, the Counseling and Psychological Services program on
campus has seen the amount of appointments made by students rise by 7 to 9 percent7.
● 61% of those with a mental disorder were not getting any treatment and only 35% of
students with a mood disorder received mental health services in the previous year8.

Implementation

To implement our policy plan, the University Endowment must proportionally allocate financial
resources to CAPS with the goal of increasing capacity and availability for the growing demand
of psychological services by the student body. To achieve this, we will reach out to the
University of Michigan Board of Regents, who control the endowment and allocation of these
funds within the University. Our primary communication with the regents will be done by
reaching out at their monthly meetings and petitioning for their support. Furthermore, we will
negotiate with both the Office of Budget and Planning (who manage and advise the use of
resources provided by the university) and CAPS administrators to achieve our goals of a 1:500
counselor staff to student ratio over the next 5 years and a 1:300 ratio by 2030 as our demand for
services continues to increase.

Action Plan
Implementing our proposed reforms to CAPS will require that the university provide increased
funding to CAPS specifically. In the past, CAPS has received its allocated endowment funds that
have been: “earmarked both in how they can be used and when”. To make our proposed reforms
reality, CAPS funding must be increased by the Board of Regents. In order to do so, we will
present the board of regents with our concerns and plans for CAPS reforms at their monthly
public meeting on February 20th and request increased allocated funding to adequately cover
mental health services.

5 University of Michigan. 2019-2020 Budget. University of Michigan, 2019.

6 University of Michigan. 2018-2019 Budget. University of Michigan, 2018.
7 Counseling and Psychological Services. CAPS 2018-2019 Annual Report. University of Michigan, 2019.
8 National Council on Disability, Mental Health on College Campuses: Investments, Accommodations, Needed to
Address Student Needs, National Council on Disability Members and Staff. Mental Health on College Campuses:
Investments, Accommodations, Needed to Address Student Needs, Washington D.C.: National Council on
Disability. Online, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED588497.pdf (11/24/2019).
To properly present our reforms, information about this policy as well as student concerns and
benefits will be shared with the Regents prior to the public meeting, by January 13th, to allow
them to properly review materials and fully understand the issue. According to public record, the
University of Michigan’s endowment has risen by hundreds of millions of dollars over the past
few years; yet, simultaneously, it still has one of the lowest per-student endowment spending
amounts out of all United States universities. By further investing in CAPS, the university will
be investing more in each student’s well-being and demonstrating a commitment to solve the
mental health epidemic.

In order to gather greater support for our reforms, we will reach out to the general student body
and specific student activist groups that have experience dealing with the Regents and
administration. By presenting demonstrated student support, the Regents and the University will
understand that this is an issue of high importance to the student body and will be forced to act
and reform the CAPS system. Preliminary meetings have been undertaken with the Michigan
Student Power Network and the Michigan Health Law Organization to discuss joint lobbying for
increasing CAPS funding and our reform plans. By aligning ourselves with existing student
groups, our reform plan gains both credibility and viability, demonstrating awareness for the
mental health crisis on campus and leading us on a path to necessary reform.

Bibliography

1. Hess, Abigail. “Massive survey finds 1 in 3 college freshmen struggle with mental health—here are 4
things you can do,” CNBC, October 4, 2018.
2. Mitchell, J. J., Reason, R. D., Hemer, K. M., & Finley, A. (2016). Perceptions of campus climates for civic
learning as predictors of college students' mental health. Journal of College and Character, 17(1), 40-52.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2015.1125367
3. Jennifer A. Hardy, Ryan D. Weatherford, Benjamin D. Locke, Natalie Hernandez DePalma & Nadia T.
D'Iuso (2011) Meeting the Demand for College Student Concerns in College Counseling Centers:
Evaluating a Clinical Triage System, Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 25:3, 220-240, DOI:
10.1080/87568225.2011.581929
4. Kinery, Emma. “Still Waiting: A look at mental health on campus,” The Michigan Daily, April 17, 2016.
5. University of Michigan. 2019-2020 Budget. University of Michigan, 2019.
6. University of Michigan. 2018-2019 Budget. University of Michigan, 2018.
7. Counseling and Psychological Services. CAPS 2018-2019 Annual Report. University of Michigan, 2019.
8. National Council on Disability, Mental Health on College Campuses: Investments, Accommodations,
Needed to Address Student Needs, National Council on Disability Members and Staff. Mental Health on
College Campuses: Investments, Accommodations, Needed to Address Student Needs, Washington D.C.:
National Council on Disability. Online, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED588497.pdf (11/24/2019).