UEA announces closure of postgraduate counselling courses

Last month, UEA discreetly announced the removal of counselling courses from the list of courses offered to Postgraduate students due to begin studying in September 2017. This includes both postgraduate certificates and diplomas in counselling, although students currently enrolled on these courses will be able to finish them.

On top of this, the decision has had the wider impact of cutting the counselling hours provided free-of-charge by the Student Support Service. It is estimated that around 1,000 counselling hours will be lost, and it is the equivalent of losing four full-time members of staff. This loss will have a significant impact on a campus where 40 per cent of students suffer from depression.

The assistance provided by fantastic charities such as Mind and The Sue Lambert Trust has been disregarded and overlooked in favour of this callous executive decision. This will further crush the Student Support Services who have seen a stagnation in funding over the last couple of years.

A spokesperson from UEA commented: “The view was that a decision to withdraw the counselling courses would not have a detrimental impact on the UEA counselling service and the support it offers students and staff. These support services are routinely reviewed and adjusted to take account of requirements and the best way of supporting these.”

The statement led on to say that UEA is embracing a “new model” for well-being, and would be introducing other “evidence-based and cost-effective services”. This was disputed by Postgraduate Education Officer, Maddie Colledge, who said that “no evidence has been provided to demonstrate the rationale behind these changes”.

Discussion over what a “cost-effective” mental health service would look like has been mixed; some believe that an interactive online service may be introduced. One user of UEA’s mental health services, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder and chose to remain anonymous, highlighted that this change would be “infuriatingly inadequate”.

They said: “Anyone who needs counselling knows such an alternative is never going to be enough. In an age of increasing electronically induced isolation the digitisation of human contact is a step that only a university that doesn’t understand the needs of its students would take.

“The point of a mental health service is to be there for you when you feel like you can’t turn to anyone else. It’s supposed to be a physical form of advice and guidance, and talking one on one with someone, with no holding back, is integral to getting better. Whilst I appreciate that they’re trying, a lack of staff can’t be remedied by an online service”.

An online petition against the planned cancellation has gained over 2000 signatures, although time is running out for officers such as Maddie, who recognise that “we have already hit breaking point”. UEA has failed to outline its mental health plan, whilst continuing to neglect to inform students of how they will deal with the mental crisis on campus, and few are likely to be reassured by this latest news.