As of Oct. 14, 2024, Boise State Health Services terminated on-campus counseling resources for faculty and staff. Current clients have a soft deadline of Jan. 1 to seek counseling services elsewhere. Matthew Niece, interim executive director of Health Services and the director of counseling services for Boise State shared that this decision aims to make student mental health the priority.
“That is [prioritizing student mental health] the intent, absolutely,” Niece said. “We’re going to free up more availability … We’re now more available to students than we’ve ever been.”
Niece explained that Health Services discussed terminating the resource for a number of years, ultimately aiming to make Boise State more closely align with other university counseling practices.
“I think one of the things that is a little misleading is that it was a knee-jerk decision,” Niece said. “I think that’s what a lot of folks are thinking and don’t know [is] that it’s a conversation that’s [been] going on for a number of years actually, and just with us working to align ourselves with best practice in the field of University Counseling Centers.”
After moving to the Division of Student Affairs, Niece said that Health Services felt motivated to make counseling student-centric in an effort to align with the values of Student Affairs.
Niece acknowledged that there are two categories of individuals; faculty members currently seeking counseling services and those who are already utilizing them. Niece emphasized that the Jan. 1 deadline is not a hard deadline and Health Services will work with individuals on a solution.
“How we’re doing this for employees who are clients, is to set that tentative end date of Jan. 1, which would give our clinicians plenty of time to either wrap up care or get them transitioned into the community in an appropriate amount of time,” Niece said. “I say tentative because the idea is to not leave anybody hanging. If there are instances that staff need to continue to be seen, that’ll be on a case-by-case basis, to extend it past that Jan. 1 end date.”
While Health Services may be removing this resource, Niece emphasized that the organization still wants to advocate for faculty mental health.
“I think it’s ultra important to highlight that we’re not getting out of the game of supporting faculty and staff and their mental health, that we will always be there for consultation purposes and cases of crisis and to help them get connected to resources,” Niece said.
Laurie Cavey, a member of the Faculty Senate at Boise State shared her perspective on the shift, as well as what future communication looks like between Health Services and the Faculty Senate.
“There’s always the potential that any big change like this could have a negative effect on an individuals’ well being. However, I had an opportunity to speak to Matt Niece last week, and he assures me that they’re committed to working with faculty and staff through this transition,” Cavey said. “HR as well, I was able to speak with Brian Ray at the same time I met with Matt Niece and HR has also developed a strategy that they’ve shared with their personnel that will, you know, help individuals identify providers in the area.”
Cavey explained that Niece and a staff member from HR will be attending the next Faculty Senate meeting on Oct. 22 to answer questions or hear faculty concerns. These meetings are open to the public.
Cavey noted that the announcement was a surprise and disappointment for several individuals.
“I have heard from a few faculty that are disappointed and concerned about this shift and I heard from a faculty, one of the current senators, who had heard from one of their constituents about someone who felt like this was going to be a hardship for them,” Cavey said. “I will say, from personal experience, it can be really hard to find good providers in this area. There are not enough providers really to meet the need for mental health services, so I can certainly relate to others’ concerns about this.”
Bailee Malyszek, a Boise State junior majoring in business and marketing, disagreed with the decision to remove counseling services for faculty at Boise State.
“I think they [faculty] should get the counseling because they work here, and they deserve it too,” Malsyzek said. “They’re part of the community.”
Malyszek expressed that she doesn’t see how removing this service will help students or create a more student-centric experience.
As a business and marketing major, Malysezk shared that she doesn’t believe this is a smart publicity move for Boise State.
“I think it could show up as bad press because it shows that they don’t care about their workers,” Malyszek said.
While many aspects of this situation may be confusing or unclear for faculty members and students alike, currently Health Services is not accepting new faculty clients and current patients have a soft deadline of Jan. 1 to seek care off-campus.
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I’d like to know if this is a State paid program for the students and staff at BSU…. Because if it is, I can tell you why programs are being cut… they need to use the States taxpayer money to pay for executions.