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Nine members of the UNH Counseling Center have resigned throughout the current academic year after the retirement of Former Director Dr. David Cross in June 2016. According to two previous counselors, their resignations were influenced by a “toxic” work environment that was allegedly present in the Counseling Center during this transitional period.
By Jordyn Haime
Dear UNH Students,
Student Body General Elections
This is the first time I’ll have ever said that I have social anxiety in a public format. I used to be unable to tell my family members, let alone friends or complete strangers about it. It’s a shame that our culture instills in many of us. To not be comfortable with who we are, the challenges we face and the many ways in which we deal with those challenges.
At the urging of the Student Senate Election Committee, the petition phase for the positions of student body president (SBP), student body vice president (SBVP) and University System of New Hampshire (USNH) student board representative has reopened and will remain open until noon on Friday, March 10. To be included on the ballot, a student must obtain 300 undergraduate names and turn them in for validation by the Election Committee by that deadline.
UNH holds an open forum once a semester to discuss any topics concerning the UNH community, which allows for a question and answer dialogue hosted by President Mark Huddleston and Provost Nancy Targett, and is designed to be more democratic than the state of the university address.
According to Senior Vice Provost of Student Affairs and Dean of Students John T. Kirkpatrick, the resignation of five members of the UNH Counseling Center, three staff psychologists and two associate directors had no coordination with his decision to temporarily suspend the mandatory assessment trans students need before beginning hormone replacement therapy treatment (HRT) last semester, as reported by the Union Leader
Senior Vice Provost for Student Life and Dean of Students John T. Kirkpatrick sent an email on Monday, Nov. 14 informing the UNH student body of a reinstallation of previously cancelled counseling services for transgender students undergoing hormone treatment. The service requires students undergoing such treatment to receive mental health counseling and will be reinstalled on Dec. 9 after being suspended since the summer. This email led to slight confusion within the UNH community due to the lack of knowledge regarding counseling services for the trans community and the vague nature of the email. According to Kirkpatrick, UNH Health Services offers hormone treatment for students transitioning. Due to the strong nature of the hormones, the university requires that student transitioning take part in mental health counseling services to provide the safest treatment possible. “When a student who is transitioning wants to get hormone treatment...it’s recommended that you have a mental health assessment to assure the M.D. that you’re of the proper state of mind,” Kirkpatrick said. “These are pretty significant hormones, those drugs are pretty powerful.” According to Kirkpatrick, there is no national or state mandated licensure to partake in this practice as long as the counselor is a licensed clinical psychologist. However, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has created a certification that “publishes the Standards of Care and Ethical Guidelines, which articulate a professional consensus about the psychiatric, psychological, medical and surgical management of gender identity disorders, and helps professionals understand the parameters within which they may offer assistance to those with these conditions,” according to the website. “[WPATH is] a standard setter for the trans community in terms of its healthcare,” Kirkpatrick said. “When I took over and Dr. [David] Cross retired after 40 years as director of the center, I wanted to be sure that that assessment that we were offering in the counseling center was best practice. I want to assure all students here at UNH, no matter what identity or population group they come from, that I want to deliver to them the best clinical care, mental healthcare and medical healthcare we can give.” Because of the lack of training at the counseling center, Kirkpatrick suspended the program and offered students free transportation through the university to Boston in order to continue these mental health services at a certified professional’s office. Though Kirkpatrick insists his intentions were good, he did admit to understanding why the community was upset with his decision to suspend these services. “My view is it was more symbolic...in the wake of the election I think people who are feeling like ‘the other’ are feeling marginalized; they worry about their future,” Kirkpatrick said about why students may be offended. “So I said this was only temporary suspension, but I fully understand why members of the university student community were concerned.” In wake of this controversy, Student Senator Douglas Marino spoke of the issue and said he decided that this was just an example of poor communication. “It was upsetting that it happened and that there was a lack of communication through the student body, but the dean had acknowledged that,” Marino said. Marino also said that the Student Senate is now working on providing students more knowledge on what is and isn’t covered under the student insurance plan, as it was unclear to whether or not this treatment was covered beforehand. Marino also stated that this issue didn’t come into light until senior biomedical science major and Trans UNH Vice President Charlie Durkin attended a meeting for the President’s Commission on the Status of LGBTQ+ People. “Someone had asked if the counseling center could write letters for transition related hormones and this was when it was first announced that the service was suspended,” Durkin said, “[The suspension] was never actually announced by Dean Kirkpatrick to any students or anyone outside the counseling center.” Durkin also said he was devastated by this news and felt “completely blindsided.” “I was also so upset because I had gotten my letter for testosterone written by one of the counselors last year and it honestly saved my life,” Durkin said. “I just couldn’t imagine someone being in my position and not having this service available to them on campus.” Durkin also said he is a little disappointed in Kirkpatrick’s decision to keep the service suspended, and his decision to only send one counselor into the training due to the limited availability of the service after the training is over. However, Durkin said he does believe that Kirkpatrick’s intentions were not malicious. “I do believe that Dean Kirkpatrick wants to help, but he just thinks he knows best and hasn’t been really hearing us when we talk to him,” Durkin said. “I was also happy that we could convince him to send out a campus wide email to all the students to at least address this issue and he’s agreed to also have monthly meetings with other students and I so we can continue to try to better these services.”
Over 100 students showed up outside of Thompson Hall (T-Hall) to protest President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 15. With chants and songs, the students voiced their opposition to the controversial figure and his even more controversial policy proposals.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane; back to the grammar school basics. If you passed kindergarden, the “golden rule,” or law, was most likely ingrained into your brain. “Treat others as you wish to be treated.” It’s a pretty simple concept, yet seems to be one that is ignored after graduating the 5th grade.
Suicide was the second leading cause of death for New Hampshire individuals aged 15-24 from 2009-13 according to the 2014 New Hampshire Suicide Prevention Annual Report. In that age group, which includes most college students, there were 102 completed suicides. The only cause of death that eclipsed suicide in this age category was unintentional injury, which led to a total of 224 deaths. Though it hasn’t been since 2014 that a UNH student on campus completed a suicide, the issue has been and deserves to be a topic of relevant discussion at the university. Combating student suicide is a primary goal for the Campus Suicide Prevention Committee. Comprised of UNH faculty, staff and students, this group has a focus on increasing awareness of suicide prevention resources and support programs, while also working to eliminate the stigma that is often connected to the topic of mental illness. The Kognito program is one of the tools they promote and use for the cause. Established in 2013 at UNH by way of collaborative campus funding efforts, Kognito is an online suicide prevention program that utilizes avatars to simulate conversations that allow users to gain knowledge on how to identify individuals who may be at risk for emotional distress. In Kognito’s first two years at UNH, there were a total of four programs available for students and staff: “At Risk For College Students,” “At Risk for Faculty and Staff,” “LGBTQ On Campus For Faculty and Staff,” and “Veterans on Campus For Faculty and Staff.” Of those programs, the most widely used was the “At Risk” program, which had 1,443 student registrations and 872 faculty and staff registrations before Sept. 30, 2015. As of Oct. 5, 2016, those numbers have increased to 2,651 student registrations and 1,139 faculty and staff registrations for the “At Risk” programs. Last year UNH received the Garret Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant (GLS grant), which supplies $100,000 to the university per year for the next three years. A portion of this grant, sponsored by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), has been directly allocated to the funding of furthering the capacity of UNH’s Kognito program. There is now a total of seven programs available via the website, though the most popular program remains to be “At Risk.” According to a flyer regarding UNH’s Kognito program, 91.72 percent of students and 93.55 percent of faculty and staff members who have completed the “At Risk” program would recommend it to their peers. The recommendation percentages from the other five programs range from 91 to 97, respectively. Campus Suicide Prevention Program Co-Chair Amanda Fontaine said that the university receiving funds from the grant is contingent on meeting the goals for each year. The second year receiving the donation officially began Sept. 30, 2016. According to Campus Suicide Prevention Program Co-Chair and GLS grant Project Manager Sean Moundas, the annual cost of having Kognito available to the university is $31,830 and is completely covered by the grant. Fontaine said that she doesn’t believe there is a way to empirically measure whether or not Kognito has been a success since its incorporation at UNH. She said that the program relies on user ratings that are made publically available. “The programs consistently receive high ratings,” she said. “Every one of them has a current user rating over 90 percent… so the users who are taking it feel like it is relevant and very applicable to what they would do if presented in a situation of someone in mental health distress.” However, Fontaine also said that these user ratings don’t necessarily reflect all of the users. In this case, the information behind these recommendation percentages is only collected from individuals who opt into the survey that is offered upon the completion of any of the Kognito programs. “This is one aspect of a larger mission to foster campus conversations about mental health, and to make mental health a topic of priority,” Fontaine said. Junior psychology major Caleb Jackson has completed two Kognito programs since first registering for the program in fall 2015. He said that it was through his membership in the student organization Stop the Stigma that he first found out about the online program. “I think it is a great tool that doesn’t take long to complete, and it’s really interactive,” Jackson said. “It really teaches you well how you can identify kids that may need more help or attention than they are getting.” Jackson said that while he believes that the Counseling Center and other such UNH organizations have done a good job promoting Kognito, he also thinks that public knowledge of the program could be expanded across campus.
With a substantial growth in the amount of international students in New Hampshire, UNH has become more of a melting pot of cultures than ever before.
After years of heavy use by the UNH community, the 85,000 square-foot Hamel Recreation Center is in the process of receiving a facelift. With construction already underway, anexpansion project is in full force to renovate the recreational sports facilities.
On March 22, 2016, UNH Student Senate decided against renewing the university’s contract with Student Legal Services after this year, and many students have been left wondering why.
By Liz Haas
Suicide prevention is an important area of focus at UNH. Dr. David Cross, Counseling Center Director, has offered numerous in-person trainings over the years to faculty, staff and students. The training has focused on identifying the warning signs but also recognizing the risk and protective factors for students in distress. In addition to providing ongoing short-term individual, relationship, and group counseling as well as consultations regarding students of concern, the Counseling Center provides in-person (academic year hours: Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) same-day urgent services to students in distress; urgent services are also available via phone 24/7 at 603-862-2090. Additionally, the Adjunct Assistant Dean of Students, Denise Nelson, in consultation with the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) can require students to have a safety evaluation at the Counseling Center based on safety concerns reported by community members.
By Cierra Dubinsky
Solutions by The State News