THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF PENNSYLVANIA
online at thedp.com
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014
DOCUMENTS CONFIRM CAPS COMPLAINTS Emails and notes give inside look at wait times and internal operations of CAPS BY SARAH SMITH Senior Writer In 2012, a psychiatrist at Penn’s Counseling and Psychological Services emailed the CAPS director to discuss the lengthy wait time for students to get an initial appointment. Nick Garg, who served as a full-time CAPS psychiatrist from 2003 until 2012, was concerned about what he perceived as an increase in the time it took for students to get an appointment. But his concerns were brushed aside, Garg said. He said he tried to discuss what he viewed as problems at CAPS with CAPS Director Bill Alexander and other administrators, without success. Documents provided by Garg to The Daily Pennsylvanian — including notes on cases he was involved in, emails between CAPS staffers and intake forms for students calling CAPS — give a glimpse into the inner workings of an office that has come under scrutiny this semester after two suicides just weeks apart. The documents confirm several common complaints about CAPS, including the long waits to get an appointment, and raise questions about other aspects of CAPS’ operations. Garg was fired from CAPS in September 2012 for allegedly slapping a CAPS psychologist during a staff meeting in June of that year — an allegation he denies. He filed a complaint against Penn in
the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations over his dismissal, alleging wrongful termination. Alexander declined to comment on Garg’s specific complaints, citing the University’s policy of not commenting on ongoing litigation, but he was willing to speak generally about CAPS practices and policies. “I disagree with [Garg’s] characterization of CAPS and its processes,” Alexander said in an emailed statement. “CAPS provides counseling and psychological services on a confidential basis to all students, on an urgent (walk-in) or appointment basis, providing immediate care to those in need. CAPS uses a collaborative treatment team approach that involves clinicians, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and trainees, to provide the best possible experience for all students.”
Wait times and call-backs
Even before the increased attention on CAPS this semester, there were complaints of long wait times to get an appointment. A University Council committee that took a detailed look at CAPS last school year found the most often reported issue was the long time it took for students to be seen. The committee criticized the degree to which students need to advocate for themselves to get services and recommended ensuring
that students receive initial visits within three days of calling CAPS. On Feb. 28, 2014, in an interview with the DP unrelated to Garg’s complaints, Alexander said the wait during CAPS’ busiest times for someone not in a crisis can reach three to three-and-a-half weeks. From July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, the average wait time was 13.2 days, Alexander said in a January interview also unrelated to Garg’s complaints. After CAPS’ announced on Feb. 6 that it would hire three new clinical staffers, the wait time dropped to two to three days, Alexander said in the February interview. He expected it to rise as the new hires’ schedules filled. However, the notes Garg provided from initial phone calls that students make to CAPS show firsthand that some students have had to wait much longer than the 13-day average. In additional interviews the DP conducted with students regarding mental health on campus, students reported wait times ranging from several days to just over four weeks. In late June 2012, Garg sent descriptions to his lawyer of cases in which he believed CAPS had not provided adequate care to students. He detailed the cases from his memory and his personal notes. Several of the cases involved students’ mental states worsening, he said, SEE CAPS PAGE 6
From
July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, the average wait time was
13.2 days. Appointments for the 2012 spring semester filled up on April 12. CAPS had to start scheduling June appointments
50 days before June.
An undergraduate who called suffering from insecurities about school and relationships
on the day before classes in fall 2011 was told to wait
20 days.
Ongoing Investigation: Mental Health at Penn
For Hillel cooks, change starts at the ‘Grassroots’
From Coursera to classroom: a path to Penn
Connie Kang/Photo Manager
Yolanda Chen/News Photo Editor
Troy Harris and Karreem Wallace were two of the workers who worked with the Student Labor Action Project and Teamsters Local 929 to unionize dining hall workers on Penn’s campus in 2013. Now they’re starting Grassroots, a kosher vegetarian food truck.
Troy Harris and Kareem Wallace, both cooks at Falk Dining Commons, hope their planned kosher vegetarian food truck will provide jobs in the community BY LAUREN FEINER Staff Writer Troy Harris and Kareem Wallace consider themselves the lucky ones. Each morning, they wake up in their West Philadelphia homes surrounded by their families, and head to work at Hillel’s Falk Dining Commons. As workers with steady jobs who successfully led the charge to unionize dining
hall workers on campus last year, the two say they are proud to hold respectable jobs - more than others in their neighborhood can say. Harris noted that some of his neighbors have criminal records, which make it difficult for them to find work. They are at risk of falling back into illegal activity. “The streets got no
BY JESSICA MCDOWELL Staff Writer College freshman Taha Tariq’s journey to Penn began with an online Coursera course. As a high school senior in Lahore, Pakistan, Tariq knew he wanted to come to the United States for college, but was never able to visit schools before applying. “As an international student, you don’t get the opportunity to fly around visiting all of these campuses. You really have to rely on what is available online,” he said. While researching Penn, Tariq discovered Modern Poetry, an online course taught by Professor Al Filreis on Coursera, a free platform for Massive Open Online Courses, commonly known as SEE COURSERA PAGE 3
SEE GRASSROOTS PAGE 7
Editorial (215) 898-6585 • Business (215) 898-6581
College Freshman Taha Tariq took the Modern Poetry course taught by Kelly Writers House Faculty Director Al Filreis on Coursera while he was a high school student in Lahore Pakistan.
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