Student Government Association255 Heisman Drive – 3130 AU Student CenterAuburn University, AL 36849-5134

Hello,

My name is Michael Bullington and I am currently serving as the Assistant Vice

President of External Affairs for the Auburn University Student Government Association. In this

position, I am tasked with representing SGA and the entire student body, vicariously, when it

comes to all political, governmental, and alumni affairs. The new SGA administration has put a

much greater emphasis on student health and wellness, continuing a trend that began several

years ago across the nation. This issue has taken priority because of the incredible potential for a

positive effect on students, Lee County, and the entire state

of Alabama.

Student health and wellness has been addressed by

SGA and Auburn administration in several different ways.

In 2009, SGA led an initiative to build a new student

recreation center, and students strongly voted in favor of

increasing student fees to do so. Now, Auburn’s Recreation and Wellness Center is considered

one of the nation’s best and offers students a premier state-of-the-art facility to increase their

physical fitness. This $72 million facility has about 5,000 visitors a day, which constitutes a

333% increase from the 1,500 daily visitors to the old Student Activities building.

In 2014, the Auburn University Wellness Kitchen opened. This 10,000 ft2 dining venue

offers fresh and healthy food options at a variety of stations

and gives students, faculty, and staff access to foods that

they otherwise wouldn’t be able to find, such as gluten-free

products. The $6.6 million cost of the project was paid by

the Athletic Department, as the Wellness Kitchen also

serves as the “training table” for student athletes.

So far, Auburn students and administration have created the best possible opportunities to

facilitate physical wellness through athletic surplus funds and self-imposed student fees.

However, with the ever rising costs of living, tuition, and materials, there simply isn’t much more money to go toward an area that is very much lacking in investment: mental health.

Health and wellness does not consist only of eating a varied, natural diet and participating

in proper exercise. A pivotal part of one’s overall health is one’s mental health. Auburn offers

counseling services to students, but this service is significantly underfunded and lacks the size

and capabilities to help as much as it should. This is not only keeping students who need help from finding it, but it is actually costing Auburn and the state of Alabama a good amount of money.

Auburn does not have a psychiatrist on campus. This has led to a disparaging fact that

prevents many students from

having access to proper

mental healthcare. In the

Auburn-Opelika area, one is

very likely to wait months in

order to secure an

appointment with a

psychiatrist, and for many students, this is simply not an option. At Auburn University, the

average number of psychiatry hours per week is 4.4% of the national average, according to the

International Association of Counseling Services (IACS). This appalling statistic is further

compounded by the fact that Auburn University’s mental health services staff is 40% smaller

than IACS’s minimum

recommended staff size.

There should be one mental

health professional for every

1,000 to 1,500 students.

Based on this recommendation, Auburn University, should have a staff of 17-26 people. However, they only have 10 individuals on staff.

This is especially shocking when compared to other similarly

sized schools in the southeast. While there is not a source of

definitive information related to staff sizes at other colleges and

universities available, Auburn’s Director of Student Counseling

Services, Dr. Doug Hankes, has compiled some information. Auburn

National Average

AU Average

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

90.9

4

Average Number of Psychiatry Hours Per Week

*for 4-Year Public Universities with Student Populations of 25,000 - 30,000 Staff Size Student Enrollment

(in thousands)

Minimum Rec-ommendation

Current AU Staff

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

17

10

IACS Recommended Mental Health Professionals

*Based on IACS recommended ratios of one mental-health professional for every 1,000-1,500 students.

University has a counseling staff that is one-

half what competing colleges, Virginia

Technical

University and

North Carolina

State

University, have. An Auburn SGA Senator,

Trey Fields, compiled some information

concerning how many in-house staff

psychiatrists competing out-of-state

universities have. He found that the

University of Georgia has three, the

Universities of Florida and South Carolina both have five, and Texas A&M and Louisiana State

University each have one. Auburn University is behind on its ability to serve students compared to its peer institutions.

What is worse is that this has a tremendous cost on Auburn University, the Auburn area,

and the state of Alabama. After using formulas developed by the Collegiate Recovery

Community, an estimated 7,942 students at Auburn could meet the criteria for substance abuse,

with 1,508 students possibly classifying for substance dependence disorder. Roughly 4% of those

who meet this criteria seek help for their

problem, meaning there could be 378 students

seeking counseling services in relation to

substance abuse. As previously shown, Auburn University is currently not equipped to help this many students.

According to the information collected

by the College Board and Everfi, Auburn University could lose 55 first year students because of

alcohol-related attrition. With tuition currently set at $10,200 per year and increasing at roughly

4% each year, that’s a total direct loss of revenue amounting to $1,827,889 over four years.

Considering that a large number of students do not graduate in four years and that out-of-state

tuition is $27,384 per year, the total loss of tuition revenue for Auburn University could be

significantly higher. This significant loss of revenue would translate to a loss of revenue for the state through lost property taxes and sales taxes.

Virginia Tech Auburn University NC State Univ0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

20.4

10

23.25

3026

34

Counseling Services Staff As Compared To Student Populations

7942

1508378

15872

Auburn Univeristy Students Students with a Sub-stance Abuse ProblemStudents with a Substance Depen-dence DisorderStudents Seeking CounselingOther

Loss of Tuition RevenueOver Four Years

$1,827,889

Besides a loss of revenue, Auburn University and its students experience a tragic loss of

life. In the past year, alone, six Auburn students have committed suicide. While it cannot be

determined whether or not greater mental health services would have prevented this, it is clear

that there is a problem that has to be addressed. The Student Government Association has

attempted to address this issue, but there simply isn’t enough money available to us to provide a

properly funded counseling department. The University has seen a yearly decrease in state

appropriations of about $94 million since 2008 and has responded by cutting expense by $41

million and increasing tuition so as to raise $42 million per

year. With tuition increases likely coming again, the

University does not have the funds to commit to increasing

the budget for the student counseling services.

So, on behalf of the 25,700 voting-aged students of Auburn University, I ask you to try to find a way to increase Auburn University’s allocation in the Education Trust Fund so that services such as the counseling department can be expanded so as to increase student retention, to decrease student substance abuse, and to prevent more student deaths.

Thank you for your consideration, and thank you for your service to the state of Alabama.

Sincerely,

Michael Bullington

Auburn University Student Government AssociationAssistant Vice President of External Affairsmbullington@auburn.edu | (205) 617-7296

Please Help Auburn Expand These Kind of Services

Through Increased ETF Funding