Stressed: Demands, counselor shortages strain campus mental health systems

Counseling and psychiatric services at Midwest universities are buckling under the increased demand from students – many of whom are entering schools with more serious illnesses than ever seen before.

Indeed, many counseling programs are failing to meet the nationally accepted standards for counselor-to-student ratios, leading to longer waits for assistance and a limited number of sessions, an investigation by a consortium of Midwest journalism faculty and students has found.

The five-month examination of programs was conducted by the Investigative Journalism Education Consortium, a network of journalism faculty and students at Midwest universities and colleges. The project is funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation based in Chicago.

The story of nitrogen: A trip down the Mississippi

A nondescript barrel at a CREP site helps scientists monitor nutrient levels in the water. Source: Lauren Mills, IowaWatch

Everyday, Iowa, Illinois and seven other states unload massive amounts of nitrogen into the mighty Mississippi River, largely through underground tiles buried beneath thousands of acres of corn, soybeans and other products.

When it reaches the Northern Gulf of Mexico, it creates an eerie, watery wasteland known as the hypoxic area, a dead zone that’s getting bigger and worse and damaging people’s livelihood along the Gulf Coast.

Publication continues on stories from McCormick-funded project

Publication is continuing on stories produced thanks to a grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

For the past five months, students and staff from several universities across the Midwest investigated issues surrounding mental health on their campuses, including the availability of mental health services, the effectiveness of state laws governing campus security and the challenges of students struggling with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

Publication starts on stories from McCormick-funded project

Publication has started on initial stories produced under a grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

For the past three months, students and staff from several universities across the Midwest have investigated issues surrounding mental health on their campuses, including the availability of mental health services, the effectiveness of state laws governing campus security and the challenges of students struggling with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

A 2010 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors found that:

Bridging the gap

The need for regional public service stories is greater than ever because of dramatic cuts over the past 10 years in staffing and resources at traditional news organizations in print and broadcast. Many news organizations now are focusing on local or hyper-local issues, having closed or sharply reduced state and regional bureaus. This means it is difficult, if sometimes not impossible, for citizens to learn how regional and widespread an issue or problem is, and to see how the problem might have been solved in another locale.
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