Student Health Center fees reconsidered

By Anna Koeppel

Published Feb. 8, 2008

After the UM system Board of Curators tabled student fee recommendations at its meeting last week, students, administrators and health care providers on campus are reconsidering the Student Health Center fee recommendation.

The Student Fee Review Committee reported that the Student Health Center offers services that are available at the Wellness Resource Center or the Counseling Center.

For example, both the Counseling Center and the Student Health Center offer psychological services.

But Student Health Center Director Susan Even said the increased fees were necessary to provide proper care. For example, the Counseling Center does not have any psychiatrists.

“At this point, the main reason we’re looking for the fee increase is to support the cost of psychiatric care that the counseling center doesn’t have,” Even said. “We need to communicate ways that we collaborate so that students will feel supported and not overtaxed.”

In November, the Student Health Center requested a fee increase of $4.02, but SFRC and the Missouri Students Association Senate recommended an increase of $2.32. The recommendation was a 2.6 percent increase, which matched the projected inflationary cap at the time.

The Student Health Center is requesting a 4.1 percent increase.

Even said when Student Health Center staff psychologists treat a student for depression or anxiety, it’s typical for them to send the student to a Student Health Center psychiatrist instead to the Counseling Center. She said records are more easily shared within the Student Health Center than from one center to another, which requires explicit release of information from the student.

Even said students often come to the Student Health Center because of physical symptoms associated with mental issues. After a medical evaluation, the Student Health Center physicians or psychiatrists might write prescriptions for those symptoms.

Cathy Scroggs, vice chancellor for student affairs, said that until three years ago, the Counseling Center was under-funded and that other centers provided services the Counseling Center could not.

Student fees make up 15 percent of the Counseling Center’s total budget, and it reports to the Office of Student Affairs, Interim Counseling Center Director Rosean Bishop said. Student fees pay for 85 percent of the Student Health Center’s services and it reports to the School of Medicine, Even said.

Scroggs and representatives from the three centers have been meeting since before the start of the school year to discuss the issue.

MSA Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays said he hopes the meetings will lead to action.

“It’s not enough to just be in touch with each other,” he said. “It has to get down to a student level.”

Mays said the best solution would be to tie additional health center funding to a long-term agreement between the three centers.

“Between now and April, we need specifics,” Mays said. “We need to pinpoint every major intersection between the health center, Counseling Center and Wellness Resource Center, and we need long-term commitments that all three centers will work more closely to refer students from one to another and to make sure students don’t have to comparison shop before they ask for counseling.”

Bishop said counseling and psychotherapy services should be centered in the Counseling Center.

Even said she wants all health-related services to be in the same facility.

“Right now that’s just not feasible, but maybe someday it will be,” Even said.

Scroggs said that ideally, she would like to have a system where the Wellness Resource Center provides prevention services, the Counseling Center provides mental health services and the Student Health Center provides physical health services.

“I feel like we have been slow to increase charges of things we charge for,” Even said. “We want students to have an understanding of where they can get the services that they need.”

Mays said the centers should streamline and simplify their services and communications to students.

“They need a comprehensive student health guide to their services, in print or online,” Mays said.

Mays said MSA needs a long-term plan for the Student Health Center to reduce its reliance and that the health fee increases are not sustainable at the current rate.

“The only way to accommodate them is to cut other student services in a year or two,” Mays said.

Wellness Resource Center Director Kim Dude could not be reached for comment.