December 2, 2015
Dear Povosts Weintraub Austin and Mittelhammer, Members of the Steering Committee, and Members
of the Faculty Affairs Committee:
Although I am aware that my small voice may not change the decision of Dean Trevisan and other
decision makers of the university to close down the Counseling Psychology program at WSU, I hope that
my voice as a Clinical Associate Professor and 2003 graduate of the Counseling Psychology program may
move you to reconsider this decision as I address the three reasons given to close down our program in
response to a 5% budget cut (~$300,000), and present some facts related to the importance of our
program to the college of education, the university, and our overall Palouse community.
The first argument Dean Trevisan presented regarding the Counseling Psychology program closure was
that “the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. and Master’s in Counseling programs are not central to the core
mission of the college, particularly at the graduate level in which these programs reside.” The core
mission of the college, as stated on the College of Education website, is an overall commitment to
service to the community through the following: (1) advancing knowledge through scholarly and applied
research; (2) developing globally-aware and culturally competent students, leaders, educators, and
scholars; and (3) improving education to contribute to quality of life for families and communities. This
mission mirrors the overall mission of Washington State University and, I hope, guides decision making
when considering the weighty consequences of cutting programs.
On the point of mission congruence, the mission describes exactly what counselors and counseling
psychologists do. We work hand in hand with educators and are educators ourselves. Our faculty are
leaders in research and education as evidenced by national awards for their excellence in both scholarly
research and leadership in diversity and social justice education. This is typified by alumni employment
as directors (please see attached “Letter 1” from Dr. Fernando Ortiz, Director of Gonzaga University),
training directors, and coordinators in multicultural student services centers in universities across the
country. Additionally, several graduates of the Counseling Psychology program hold positions at
Washington State University; including Dr. Jane Barga, who serves as the Training Director at Counseling
and Psychological Services, and Dr. Raymond Herrera, who serves as the Assistant Dean for Recruitment
and Retention and the Principle Investigator and Director of the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate
Achievement Program. Relatedly, most counseling psychologists work in educational institutions and we
graduates of counseling psychology epitomize globally-aware and culturally competent leaders,
educators, and scholars who are instrumental in improving the mental health of our universities, K-12
schools, veterans and overall community populations (please see attached “Letter 2” from Dr. Ger
Moua).
The wording of “…not central to the core mission of the college…” in Dean Trevisan’s original email was
changed on the Office of the Provost memorandum to state “the college has decided to concentrate on
STEM education, special education, cognition and learning, testing and evaluation, and diversity issues.”
Psychology is a STEM field and the remaining focus areas are all sub-specialties within Counseling
Psychology. All in all, as evidenced by the aforementioned information, there is considerable evidence
to suggest that the Counseling Psychology program is congruent with the College of Education’s mission
statement and, thus, there appears to be insufficient rationale to justify the decision to phase out the
Counseling Psychology program due to a mission incongruence issue.
The second argument Dean Trevisan presented was: “the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program is an
expensive program, likely the most expensive graduate program in the college.” This rationale fails to
consider the bigger economic picture. Specifically, that the Counseling Psychology program may be the
ONLY program in the college that is sustainable on a university level. Specifically, our graduate students
complete 1-4 years of practicum at WSU Counseling and Psychology Services (CAPS) as a program
requirement. This means generally 10-15 counseling psychology students provide counseling services to
our community of Cougars each year for free (incorporated in the cost of their tuition). Beginning
doctoral students see undergraduate Cougs with adjustment issues who tend to be our incoming
freshman. Freshman Cougs who do not adjust to university tend to leave, along with their tuition
dollars. Advanced doctoral students in counseling treat more serious issues, such as significant anxiety,
depression, trauma histories and suicidal ideation. Regarding advanced students, CAPS provides
positions for three-four Counseling Assistants from our program and three-five alcohol and drug
counseling and prevention services (ADCAPS) Graduate Assistants who provide “Booze, Sex, and Reality
Checks” and IMPACT training to our university student population. Much of the mental health outreach
programming to residence halls, the Greek system, and to specific classrooms are done by our
counseling psychology graduate students. All this service provision is provided to our community of
Cougars to improve their mental health and academic functioning, thereby aiding student retention, and
it is provided at a significant cost savings to our university!
The October 27th, 2015 announcement the university published regarding the necessity and accessibility
of mental health resources for members of the WSU community accentuates the detriments of
untreated stress and anxiety as well as the benefits of receiving psychological services. As stated in the
announcement, the congruence of the campus-wide survey data with national trends “reinforces the
need for mental and emotional wellness as a critical consideration for student success.” Indeed, mental
health issues are directly related to student drop-out in nine out of ten top reasons for students leaving
university and indirectly related to the top reason: finances. Should WSU CAPS be compromised by the
loss of counseling psychology students, there is a steep cost to WSU due to student drop-out and the
loss of tuition dollars. Of course suicide also affects a student’s ability to pay tuition. We had five
campus deaths, including three suicides that occurred before November 1st this year. In addition, CAPS
has a waiting list of over 60 students. Only forty of these students on the wait list will be covered by the
two psychologist positions that Interim President Bernardo just approved. Closing down the counseling
psychology program would mean that the university would have to hire at least four full time counselors
and/or psychologists to replace the students who will no longer be available due to the closing of our
program—that still leaves 20 waitlisted students who remain unserved. University Student mental
health is a serious problem, it seriously affects student drop-out and retention, and therefore seriously
affects tuition dollars. Cutting the Counseling Psychology program at WSU is a short term solution to a
budget problem that is going to be a long term bad decision for WSU (please see attached “Letter 3”
from the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, Drs. Cornish and Baker).
The Office of the Provost memorandum also stated that our program relies “upon other units within the
university to contribute essential education services and is not positioned to collaborate with other
faculty within the university.” On the contrary, our relationships with CAPS, Multicultural Student
Services (Please see attached “Letter 4” from Manuel Acevedo), Office of Financial Aid, Academic
Success and Career Center(please see attached “Letter 5” from Dr. Terese King and Stefany Unda) and
The Access Center (please see attached “Letter 6” from Juli Anderson) have been mutually beneficial
over many years. Our students help support these programs and in turn, these programs value our
students. By providing graduate assistant positions to Counseling Psychology students, our university
partners support the Counseling Psychology program and students within the program provide excellent
student services to our Cougar family at a low cost to the university.
The third argument Dean Trevisan presented was: “because of departures that have already occurred
and near term future retirements, the program can be eliminated without any layoffs.” This rationale
assumes that this is the most “humane” decision for the College of Education; however, it is clearly not
the best decision for our university and our community. In attempting to reduce the immediate
discomfort of layoffs, Dean Trevisan is trying to make a wise decision; however, the bigger picture of
humaneness is being missed: the profound and enduring university and mental health implications of
phasing out the Counseling Psychology program. As evidenced by the information presented above, the
decision to phase out the counseling psychology program would: (1) reduce the number of graduate
students serving as counselors at CAPS, thus reducing the number of students who can be seen at CAPS
and exacerbating the growing number of students who are experiencing mental health concerns, which
directly affects students’ academic achievement and retention; (2) result in WSU needing to reallocate
and increase economic resources to CAPs at a cost deficit to the university; (3) eliminate the last APAaccredited Counseling Psychology program in the state of Washington, which will similarly affect citizens
statewide; and (4) contradict the university’s mission “to apply knowledge through local and global
engagement that will improve quality of life and enhance the economy of the state, nation, and world.”
While the 5% give back in the permanent budget level is a pressing concern, we face unprecedented
need for counseling services at the university, community, state, and national levels. It is truly hard to
quantify the return on WSU’s investment because we in counseling psychology benefit our local,
national and international communities hundredfold (please see attached “Letter 7” from Dr. Steve
Saladin at the University of Idaho).
In summary, we need more graduates of programs like ours (not less) who are able to critically assess
systemic issues prevalent in our communities which impact the mental health of the masses. Given the
information presented above, we suggest assembling a turnaround committee of stakeholders (e.g.,
university administrators, program faculty, CAPS administrators, and counseling psychology students
and graduates), to develop an adaptive and holistic solution which simultaneously addresses the 5% give
back in the permanent budget level and the increasing mental health needs of the university student
population. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jeanne M. Steffen, WSU Clinical Associate Professor
Washington State University Counseling Psychology Graduate (2003)
Please refer to the following list of graduates from WSU Counseling Psychology who read and wanted to
lend their signatures to this document and whose services benefit the local, national, and international
communities which they serve:
Candace Schmidt, Licensed Psychologist, Private Practice in Spokane, Washington (2006)
Fernando Ortiz, Director of Counseling Services, Gonzaga University (2005)
Alice Emerson, Coordinator of Multicultural Services, Eastern Washington University (2006)
Elizabeth Haviland, Mental Health Counseling Program Director, Central Washington University (2001)
Ger Moua, Psychology Instructor, Spokane Community College (2006)
Sarah Rangel, Independent Mental Health Practitioner, Seattle, WA (2013)
Shellah Imperio, Licensed Psychologist, Tulalip Tribes, Tualip, WA (2006)
Samantha Schwartz-Oscar, Licensed Psychologist, Green Bay Correctional Institution (2012)
John Gruenewald, Assistant Professor and Director of School and Family Based Counseling, University of
La Verne (2009)
Amy La, Senior Staff Psychologist at UC Irvine (2011)
Sara (Frazier) Allen, Psychologist (2008)
Thu Dang, Kaiser Permanente, San Jose, CA (2012)
Alicia del Prado, Assistant Professor, The Wright Institute, Berkeley, CA (2007)
Talitha Parish Easterly, Staff Psychologist, Michigan State University Counseling Center (2009)
Sara (Clancy) Hernandez, Licensed Psychologist, Irvine, CA (2010)
Humberto Hernandez, Staff Psychologist, CSU Long Beach Counseling and Psychological Services (2011)
Rachel (Robertson) Stewart, Licensed Psychologist, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center, Torrence, CA
(2009)
Jeremey Roark, Staff Psychologist, UC Santa Barbara (2009)
Patricia Celaya, Licensed Psychologist, San Diego, CA (2012)
Yu Harumi, Licensed Psychologist /Adjunct Instructor, Southern Methodist University (2006)
Cheryl Anderson Harumi, Licensed Psychologist, Addison, TX (2011)
Karen Williams, Counselor/Psychologist at Cornell University Gannett Health Services (2006)
Jung-Eun Hannah Lee, Assistant Professor, Indiana University Northwest (2012)
Omar Sanchez-Armass, Department Chair, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí (2006)
Doylene Chan, Licensed Psychologist, San Jose, CA (2007)
Isabella Lin-Roark, Staff Psychologist, UC Santa Barbara (2009)