The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government met Tuesday evening to discuss the open letter Counseling and Psychological Services recently sent, the upcoming CSG elections and a ballot proposal that would ask voters their opinion on an unarmed campus crisis response team.
Last week, CAPS staff delivered an open letter to Martino Harmon, vice president of student life, describing the high turnover rates due to what signees say is an uncompetitive salary. The assembly welcomed CAPS Embedded Psychologists Dr. Ashley Jacob and Dr. Reena Sheth as guest speakers.
The assembly discussed a resolution that would have CSG formally endorse the open letter, share it on their social media accounts and express their support to University administration, including Martino and University President Santa Ono. Jacob called on CSG to pass the resolution and thanked CSG for their initial support of the letter.
“There is an ongoing crisis of clinician turnover directly impacting the mental health care we provide to the students and in upholding the mission of the university,” Jacob said. “We are grateful for the efforts of CSG and the resolution created in support of our concerns, and we really hope that Vice President Harmon and the Student Life (administration) will respond to our letter and accept our invitation to start this important dialogue that is grounded in our passion for this meaningful work — the importance of student mental health and the University’s mission.”
Sheth said because of the high turnover rate, CAPS was losing highly qualified staff members of various identities.
“Part of the turnover also includes some of my colleagues who identify as people of Color … (and who) really specialized and showed up for student groups on campus who identified with those same identities,” Sheth said.
The resolution was approved unanimously by the assembly.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Rackham student Alejo Stark, a member of the Graduate Employees’ Organization, encouraged the assembly to consider a proposal that would add a question to the March 2023 CSG election ballot. The question would ask voters if they believe University administration and the Board of Regents should fund an unarmed and non-police emergency response team for students, staff and faculty.
Stark said he believes having an alternative to calling police in an emergency situation would benefit the University, adding that similar unarmed response units have been implemented in other cities across the United States, including in Portland and Denver.
“We should have an alternative to calling 911,” Stark said. “(Unarmed response teams have) been considered in other municipalities … and the University should consider funding here as well.”
Currently, CAPS has a Crisis Response Team that offers support for students, faculty and staff when faced with a mental health crisis or trauma through consulting sessions. CAPS also has a Counselor on Duty available during certain hours who can advise members of the campus community virtually or in-person in addition to after hours support outside of those hours.
The University does not have a deployable team of therapists or trained mental health specialists to respond to 911 calls in place of Division of Public Safety and Security officers.
Karthik Pasupula, LSA junior and assembly speaker, who introduced the proposal, said he wanted to clarify that the motion would ask about additional funding for an alternative response team — the proposal does not call for defunding DPSS.
“This would be a separate (emergency) phone number in addition to DPSS and nowhere in this motion or the proposal or GEO’s platform does indicate that … they are demanding the abolition or even defunding of police,” Pasupula said. “They’re asking for the allocation of money towards this response.”
The proposal was passed unanimously by the assembly, meaning the proposed question will appear on the CSG ballot in March.
The assembly also unanimously approved a resolution affirming the importance of campus safety and mental health at the University in response to the Feb. 13 shooting at Michigan State University.
LSA senior Tyler Fioritto, one of the resolution’s sponsors, said because so many U-M students have personal connections to MSU, it is important for CSG and the University to do everything they can to ensure the University’s campus is a safe and supportive environment.
“Something personal like this … it shouldn’t just be nothing that … come(s) out from it,” Fioritto said. “We should actually do something because I think people like me, and people … who also have family members who are sick of this happening and who are told to go back to school not even a week after it happens, are really not being served by their community.”
The assembly then discussed a resolution to allocate funds to student organizations for their participation in CSG elections to incentivize high voter turnout. CSG had previously suggested an allocation of $100 per eligible student organization, but the resolution sought to change the system to provide $500 for three randomly selected organizations that promote CSG elections.
Fioritto said reducing the overall amount of funding distributed to student organizations for their civil engagement would not incentivize more students to participate in CSG elections. He urged the assembly to reconsider the proposal.
“This amount is not satisfactory to (organizations), especially after we presented a higher amount (before),” Fioritto said.
Fioritto motioned to amend the proposal so that 10 student organizations would be randomly selected to win a prize of $500 each instead of the original three. He also proposed allocating an additional $5,000 to advertising for the election.
The amended resolution was passed with unanimous approval.
Daily Staff Reporter Astrid Code can be reached at astridc@umich.edu.