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Thursday, November 8, 2012
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canada’s only Daily Student Newspaper • founded 1906
Volume 106, Issue 37
Admin responds to Fearnall Campuses struggle
with mental health Iain Boekhoff Gazette Staff
Ritchie Sham GAZETTE
SETTLE DOWN. University Students’ Council President Adam Fearnall addressed students as part of Western’s “Untold Story” on October 22.
Alex Carmona News Editor
In late October, University Students’ Council President Adam Fearnall gave a passionate speech to students addressing his concerns about the relationship between Western’s administration and the USC. Fearnall cited, among other things, a climate of competition, rather than collaboration, between the two bodies when it comes to handling student needs and the USC’s lack of a significant voice at the university policy-making table. John Doerksen, vice-provost of academic programs and students for Western, said he was unaware of these issues prior to Fearnall taking to the stage. “I wasn’t aware of any specific concerns—they haven’t been brought to me in other venues,” he said. Doerksen did not fully agree with Fearnall’s assessment of the relationship between the university and the USC. “This is certainly an enormous priority for Western, and my sense of it is that we do work very closely with students, both with the student leadership in the USC and the Society of Graduate Students, and also with student senators. In fact, I would say that we do work together collaboratively.” As an example, Doerksen raised the contentious issue of study space, or lack thereof, on campus.
“We heard concerns some years […] there wasn’t enough meeting space for students on campus. Now, any new construction has to have a certain proportion of common space included in it—look at the newly renovated Astronomy and Physics building, with all the
My sense of it is that we do work very closely with students, both with the student leadership in the USC and the Society of Graduate Students, and also with student senators. —John Doerksen
Vice-provost of academic programs and students at Western
space for students there, or at Stevenson and Lawson Halls and so forth. There’s a real attempt on the part of the university to understand where are the student needs, and how can we best respond to them.” Doerksen also stressed that the lack of specific concerns raised in Fearnall’s address prevents the university from taking any concrete measures at this point. Fearnall argued specific talking points are far less important than the overall message he was trying to
impart on students. “Western has a tendency to get caught up in specifics and often forgets to have the philosophical discussions necessary to build strong relationships. If we can’t agree on a philosophy of studentcentred decision making, then we will have difficulty moving collectively towards the details,” he said. Fearnall went on to lament the thought that the USC, and by extension, students, currently have the level of negotiating power owed to them. “We’re disappointed the university thinks students have a multi-million dollar voice on campus. It worries us that administration says they had not heard of the concerns raised at [last month’s address], because students have raised these issues for many years. This leads us to believe students must not be at the right discussion tables.” That’s not to say the administration isn’t open to taking a critical look at how they approach their relationship to student government. “I’m not aware of specific issues of concern, or they haven’t been brought to my attention,” Doerksen said. But, at the same time, I want to signal that if students and their student leadership feels there is an area of concern, I want to be open to listening, and to finding a way to respond and to move forward in a collaborative way together.”
The mental health of post-secondary students is gaining increased attention in Ontario. A report from the Focus on Mental Health conference, held in Toronto in May, highlights the difficulties students face, and the challenges universities and colleges have in addressing mental health issues. “We want to make sure that all of our students have the programs and services that they need to be successful at our university,” Jim Weese, dean of health sciences at Western, said. “We’re trying to find out from students what their needs are, and trying to listen to them about the realities that they’re involved in.” However, Alysha Li, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, said mental health is difficult because of the range of issues that are used under that definition. “Right now it’s identified as one thing, [but] mental health is a variety of things, and the diversity of issues amongst mental health is hard to address,” Li said. “It’s hard to have a ‘one size fits all’ solution for all mental health issues—it doesn’t exist.” Myuri Komaragiri, vice-president campus issues for the University Students’ Council, agreed the broader issue of mental health needs to be examined. “I think that it’s really important to look at mental health, not
at just depression or other reasons that students might go to Student Health, but wellness as a broader holistic concept,” Komaragiri said. “Peer support and building a community around this can really support students so they know how to respond when one of their peers comes to them and says their mental health isn’t what it used to be.” Komaragiri explained Western has areas for improvement, especially in the communication of services the university offers. “If you’re a first-year, then you can go to three different places, so that’s really difficult,” Komaragiri said. “Down the road, I think there should be a centralized place for everything you need.” Komaragiri expressed concerns over the wait times students face in getting an appointment for counselling and treatment. “It is concerning that if a student is waiting a few weeks for an appointment, it begs the question of what is happening to them in those few weeks,” Komaragiri said. Li said she thinks the way forward for helping students is cooperation between other universities in Ontario. “What really needs to be addressed in terms of mental health support is being able to share best practices between all the institutions,” Li said. “Being able to share your programming that worked, and what didn’t work, with each other so we don’t duplicate efforts and end up back at the starting point.”
Cameron Wilson Gazette