Sinéad Baker | Co-Editor-at-Large
Concern has been expressed about the future of the ability of the Student Counselling Service to continue to provide its services at its current standard, The University Times has learned.
These concerns come as funds to the service are due to be cut, and as the number of students using the service continues to grow.
According to the draft counselling service annual report, dated September 2014, “unprecedented funding cuts and steady referral increases pose a significant, on-going risk” to the service. Similarly, the Student2Student (S2S) programme, Trinity’s peer mentor programme which assigns an older student as a mentor to every Junior Freshman student, and is run by the counselling service, “remains at risk as funding is not consolidated”.
The Student Counselling Service provides support to TCD students in terms of counselling for both personal and academic issues. The service co-ordinates the Student2Student peer mentoring programme and Student Learning Development (SLD), which provides support including exam success and self-management techniques. For the academic year 2013-2014, the counselling service reached 5,700 students, of which 1,904 students received counselling support.
Speaking to The University Times, Deirdre Flynn, director of the counselling service, confirmed that the situation with regard to budget cuts was not “fully clear”, saying: “I understand that there will be reductions on all budgets across the College. As the exact budget cuts have not yet been confirmed, I don’t yet know what the impact on service levels will be”. She further confirmed that: “I can assure you that the Service will do the best it can within its resources to find ways of responding to students’ needs”.
These fears come at a time when the counselling service is being used more than ever before. In the year 2011/12, the service saw 1,305 counselling clients, 1,542 in the year 2012/13 and 1,904 clients in 2013/14. In December 2013, The University Times reported that a growing number of students were using the service, with the percentage of Trinity students seeking help from the counselling service increasing from 4.39 per cent in 2005/06 to 7.7 per cent in 2011/12.
Due to these increased numbers, and the potential staff shortages that could result from vacancies, resignations, illness and maternity leave, and which “threaten service quality”, over fifty students waited longer than three weeks for an initial appointment with Student Learning Development (SLD).According to the report, the counselling service has also lost its full-time co-ordinator which has resulted in a decrease in workshop service provision.
The report also outlined the importance of the service to students. In a feedback survey circulated to counselling clients, over half cited counselling as a factor in remaining in Trinity, and over 70 per cent said services offered by the counselling service were a factor in helping them develop skills applicable to future employment.
Speaking to The University Times, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union Welfare Officer Ian Mooney said that: “The student counselling service is a vital service for all students in Trinity. Cuts to the service would have a very damaging effect on many students who rely on the service to receive support throughout their time in Trinity and, in some cases, to stay in College”.
The report suggests that, in order to combat these developments, they plan to investigate supplementary funding and to undertake a full quality review.
Photo by Edmund Heaphy for The University Times
