Ohio University student IDs will now be printed with the Counseling and Psychological Services, or CPS, phone number on the back.
Student Senate helped push for the initiative in order to aid students while they complete classes remotely.
“I think right now, especially with (COVID-19), freshman students may not know some of the resources,” Senate interim president Janie Peterson said. “It is so important, and CPS has so many great counselors, that I think this just makes it easier for students to be aware of those resources.”
CPS now provides services for students through telehealth due to the pandemic, along with multiple well-being services. It is providing all of the same resources remotely as they would in person.
“CPS is able to provide all its services, including drop-in appointments, individual and group therapy, single sessions, Coping Clinic, and psychiatric evaluation and treatment remotely through telehealth,” Paul Castelino, director of CPS, said in an email.
Senate has been working to make students more aware of the many resources and counselors CPS has, Peterson said.
The new OU IDs will have a mix of the new design and the previous design, university spokesperson Carly Leatherwood said.
The initiative to add the CPS phone number to the back of IDs was put forth in part by Senate and Graduate Student Senate.
“At the recommendation of the Student Support Review committee, which is co-chaired by our Student Senate and Graduate Student Senate presidents, the University has been working to redesign the OHIO student IDs to include critical information, including the phone number for Counseling and Psychological Services,” Leatherwood said in an email.
Last year, the Student Support Review committee looked at campus engagement for CPS, Peterson said. The committee held focus groups, where students could share their thoughts and concerns on CPS. The idea for CPS’ number on IDs was suggested in those sessions, and it then turned into a committee recommendation.
“When I took over office back in April, we were like, ‘Let’s try and complete some of these recommendations that the committee put together,’” Peterson said.
Senate worked with the Office of Information Technology, or OIT, and Bobcat Depot to redesign the student IDs.
“I would really say a lot of it comes down to people over at OIT,” Peterson said. “And we also worked with the Bobcat Depot. They sent over a sketch of what it was going to look like to do this.”
Despite Senate’s initiative to print the phone number on IDs, the request had already been fulfilled by the OIT.
“Our vice president, Danielle, looked into it, and we talked to some of the people over at the Bobcat Depot store, and they had put the CPS phone number on the back of the student ID,” Peterson said. “And that was already done, so we were really excited that that project was almost completed before we really had to start it.”
The coronavirus pandemic slowed down the redesign process a bit, Leatherwood said. As of now, only Phase 1 IDs have been redesigned and include other information on the ID other than the CPS number.
“Fall semester Phase 1 IDs are a mix of the previous design and the new design, including the phone number for Counseling and Psychological Services,” Leatherwood said in an email. “Moving forward after fall semester, all OHIO student IDs will include the phone number for Counseling and Psychological Services.”
Providing students with the CPS phone number at their disposal will aid students with emotional support and crisis handling, Castelino said.
“Having the CPS number easily available to students is a great thing,” Castelino said in an email. “When students are in crisis and need to talk to a counselor, it can be difficult to remember what number to call and who to contact. Now they can easily look at their ID card.”
