Board of Trustees

205 Old Main,

University Park, PA, 16823
To the Board of Trustees,
Mental Health Appropriations are a serious subject that needs to be addressed at Penn
State. The Counseling and Psychological Services Center at Penn State is underfunded
and understaffed, causing long waiting times. In July 2015, CAPS received a $300,000
funding increase to higher new staff members. In February 2016, CAPS received
another $50,000 from Penn State employees. The students at Penn State have also
responded by making the 2016 Senior Class Gift an endowment to CAPS. While all
these generous donations are promising, there are still reports of long waiting times- up
to three weeks wait for one visit. These long waiting times can be detrimental to a
students mental health when in times of crisis. The 18- 24 year old age group, shows
the lowest rate of seeking help for their mental illness. This can be catastrophic to their
academic success, especially when around one third of all college students have stated
they have felt so depressed that they have had trouble functioning 1. Drawing from that,
it is no wonder that mental illness is associated with lower GPA and an increased
likelihood of withdrawing from college. In times of struggle, students may try to reach
out to counselors, and when suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in college
students, it is imperative that they are able to reach them.
[Personal Narrative]
As a member of the student body who is deeply impacted by the funding that the
Counseling and Psychological Services Center receives, I call on you, the Board of
Trustees, to appropriate more money to these services. They are vital to the health of
the student body. You have the power and duty to act on this to promote the welfare and
interests of students.
Regards,
[YOUR SIGNATURE]

[YOUR PRINTED NAME]

1 "Active Minds." The Issue: Student Mental Health. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.