Outsourcing counselling comes at the cost of the campus community: Opinion

While institutions have taken many steps to address mental health concerns and issues, those that have opted to outsource counselling to third-party vendors have done so at a cost to campus community, argue Philip J Rosenbaum and Richard E Webb for Inside Higher Ed. “As institutions, we have evolved toward viewing ourselves as not only providing education but also experiences,” they write, and this in turn has led to the cultivation of a community of support on campus. In addition to issues with specialization and training, Rosenbaum and Webb argue that third-party service professionals are not a part of the campus community and so do not have a stake in or understanding of the community’s welfare. To resolve this issue, the authors encourage reinvestment in on-campus counseling centres and a renewed understanding of the community on campus. Inside Higher Ed Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.