“The first time I had even heard that this was a possibility was when the PowerPoint slide came up on the screen this summer during the meeting about restructuring,” Kara Carnes-Holt, Associate Professor in Counseling, said. “I know that my heart sank in Oct. when I heard that it was being proposed to cut the Doctoral program.”
Among potential restructural changes proposed by UW Provost Kevin Carman, the Mental Health Counseling program’s Doctoral track is up for elimination.
“My initial response was one of shock, followed by extreme disappointment,” Tanya Brown, a Counselor Education, and Supervision Doctoral student said. “Given the state of mental health in the state of Wyoming, the town of Laramie, and even on-campus itself, I was in shock that they would even consider cutting a program that directly serves the mental health community.”
In a letter to administration signed by students and MS cohort members, Master’s student Emily Simpson breaks down why the doctoral program is so critical to the division’s survival.
“Right now each Ph.D. student works about 5 ½ hours supervising the Master’s students and that allows us to see clients,” Simpson said. “That in of itself is very unique to Master’s programs and mental health counseling.”
Eliminating this Doctoral program would mean Master’s students could no longer operate under licensed supervision for hands-on experience in the field.
Consequently, UW’s WellSpring Counseling Clinic would have to lower its patient intake and suffer from understaffing.
“They are essentially terminating everyone in the program,” Simpson said. “People have to apply for their jobs back, and there’s no real guarantee on what will happen.”
Amidst long-lasting consequences of COVID-19 and high suicide rates, those from the Mental Health Counseling program fear this reduction in resources may mean the worst.
“As we told Dean Scott, changes to the counseling program will reflect in increased suicide rates as fewer people are able to obtain mental health services in Wyoming and ultimately, cost the university and the state millions in financial loss,” Brown said.
In a statement to faculty on Nov. 4, Provost Carman stated he was “recommending additional time for further consideration and implementation of college reorganizations.”
Students and faculty are unsure what to expect.
“I am not sure if this will change anything. As a counselor and educator, I choose to remain optimistic that using our voices and advocating makes a difference and can impact change,” Carnes-Holt said.
An online petition created by the supporters of the department, entitled ‘Make Keeping Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Wyoming a Priority’ on Change.org, is well on its way to 1,500 supporters.
