Thursday March 31, 2016
NorthernStar
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Volume 116 Issue 50
One NIU takes SA elections Turnout goes down despite joint election Alexander Chettiath News Editor
DeKalb | The One NIU ticket swept the Student Association Executive Election with the presidential candidate winning by nearly 400 votes Wednesday. The SA serves as the voice of the student body to the administration and is responsible for allocating the $6.5 million to provide services to students, according to the SA website. The SA Executive and Senate elections opened 9 a.m. Tuesday and closed 6 p.m. Wednesday. The One NIU ticket was composed Giuseppe of President- LaGioia elect Giuseppe President-elect Votes: 617 LaGioia, Vice President-elect Rachel Jacob, Alex Forgue Treasurer-elect Losing presidential candidate Brian Robinson Votes: 226 and Student trustee-elect Matthew Holmes. The presidential race was the only opposed executive race. All 20 Senate candidates were elected. “I am ecstatic,” LaGioia said. “This is a position that I’ve been looking forward to since I was a freshman starting out as a senator in the [SA]. I am really happy to represent all the NIU students and I’m glad they see me as being a well-fit candidate for this position.
Nick Bosshart | Northern Star
Matthew Holmes, Student Association student trustee-elect, (far right) hands out flyers for the One NIU ticket and urges students to vote Wednesday in the Martin Luther King Jr. Commons. The One NIU ticket, with only the presidential position being contested, won the SA Executive Election on Wednesday.
So I’m really ecstatic and looking forward to the next year.” LaGioia said his first initiative in office will be to get more SA recognition due to concerns over a Rachel Jacob lack of election Vice president-elect Votes: 777 promotion and not enough people knowing what the SA is. He said he hopes to have
a kickoff party to inform students on the SA’s responsibilities. Opposing presidentia l candidate Alex Forgue, who received 226 votes, said he will not pursue Brian Robinson any other SA Treasurer-elect Votes: 776 position. “Honestly, it’s what I expected considering the bias of the [SA]
to Greek Row,” Forgue said. “I expected to lose to Greek candidates. I do feel like the [SA] did not do enough outreach to get the students involved enough to actually vote. Matthew Holmes Either way, win Student trusteeelect or [no] win, I am Votes: 771 still committed to fighting [for NIU students].”
SA Senate winners All 20 Student Association Senate candidates were elected in Tuesday and Wednesday’s Senate elections. Go to bit.ly/1VUzq8X for a complete list of the senators elected and votes accumulated. Read Elections | Page 2
Counseling reports high student-to-counselor ratio Scott Nicol Staff writer
DeKalb | The NIU Counseling and Consultation Services’ student-to-counselor ratio is 2,061:1, compared to the recommended national ratio of 1,500:1, leaving staffers concerned about the quality of their services. The mission of Counseling and Consultation Services is to support the academic, emotional, social and cultural development of students. The s t u d e n t - c e n - Brooke Ruxton tered programs Executive director include coun- of Counseling seling, assess- and Consultation Services ment, psychiatric treatment, crisis response, outreach, consultation, training
and educational services, according to its website. In the 2014-15 academic year, NIU had 20,130 total students enrolled and a student-to-counselor ratio of 2,061:1. NIU’s Counseling and Student Services accrediting body, the International Association of Counseling Services, recommends a student-to-counselor ratio of 1,500:1. However, the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors has found that schools the size of NIU have a student-to-counselor ratio of 3,552:1. Brooke Ruxton, executive director of Counseling and Consultation Services, said these numbers may be a little skewed as they were not able to include three full-time interns and five practicum students who are allowed to provide counseling services to students, but NIU
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would still fall outside the International Association of Counseling Services’ recommendation. “It is challenging because [counselors] are here because we want to help students, and we do everything we can to make sure they are connected to resources either here or in the community, but we can’t meet all the needs of all the students all of the time,” Ruxton said.
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We are impacted just like the rest of the university when it comes to budget cuts being difficult and anxiety provoking.” Brooke Ruxton Executive director of Counseling and Consultation Services
Likely consequences of the ratio being higher than recommended are longer waiting lists, difficulty
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providing services to students experiencing increasingly more severe psychological issues, liability risks to the counseling center and university, support for the academic success of students decreasing and counseling centers becoming less available to help support the campus community, according to International Association of Counseling Services’ website. Ruxton, who has been executive director of Counseling and Consultation Services since 2012, said the university has been overall very supportive of the work they provide and how vital they are to students on campus by replacing vacant spots in recent years, despite a 13 percent decrease in state funds since 2010 and a proposed 32 percent decrease in state funds for Fiscal Year 2016. NIU has yet to experience
Counseling and Consultation Services
Counseling and Consultation Services is in the Campus Life Building, Room 200. Office Hours: Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Walk-In Hours: Monday-Friday 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. layoffs due to the budget decrease and current impasse, however NIU has not rehired for 228 positions as of September 2015, according to a chart by the Human Resource Services.
Read Counseling | Page 2
Dekkinga 54 wins away from 100 Women’s tennis sophomore Abigail Dekkinga has made a name for herself at NIU, following in the footsteps of her older sister who was a letter winner with the team from 2010-14. Read more on Page 11.