Due to the recent student deaths on the Saint Louis University campus, we the students, call for the administration to step up and change their Mental Health and Counseling policies for the betterment of the community. The University's mission is "the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity," yet the service to their students, especially in the sense of mental health, is average at best. 

As of right now students are given 10 free counseling sessions a school year at the University Counseling Center. This is not enough. Research states that going to therapy once a week for 12 to 14 weeks is most effective, and one semester here at SLU is around 14 weeks. This means that a student in need of counseling wouldn't be able to get the most out of their free counseling sessions; and then still wouldn't have the opportunity to go again. Saint Louis University should allow all students 14 free counseling sessions to A. allow the students to go for the research supported recommended period of time and B. allow the students to go once a week for an entire semester. 

We also call for SLU to: add more highly trained counselors, allow students to change their counselor easily (without paper work or explanation), and extend the University Counseling Center's hours to 8am to 8pm and to add hours on weekends during this crucial time. Adding more highly trained counselors will allow more students to find a time get the counseling they need and aide in the added hours we need. Students are busy with their class loads, jobs and extracurricular activities and the current University Counseling Center hours aren't enough during this tough time. Lastly, the University Counseling Center randomly pairs students with a counselor that is available when they first need counseling. Then, to change the assigned counselor the student must fill out paper work and explain why they want to change their counselor. This is unacceptable. Typically, one would go to multiple counselors and decide which is a good fit and then continue their sessions with said counselor. That should be the case here at Saint Louis University too. One size does not fit all. 

We call on the Saint Louis University administration to make these changes to help all student's get the support they need. Student death's should mean more than a mass email and these changes would be a step in the right direction to support mental health properly here in Saint Louis. We understand that the University is working to expand the Counseling Center, but these are the things the students need now and going forward.