Outside the door to the temporary Counseling and Psychological Services office at Foster-Walker Complex, four large plastic signs stand upright clearly printed with CAPS’ name and phone number. Arrows point towards a doorway.
For the past month and a half, CAPS staff members have been working out of converted dorm rooms at Foster-Walker, while their old offices at 633 Emerson St. undergo construction.
“They had to take some brick off the building and do a lot of work while we were in there,” assistant director Roki Abakoui said. “It was extremely noisy. When we’re trying to do counseling, it’s hard to do when the building is really loud.”
The move took place the Monday after students left campus for winter break, allowing sufficient time for CAPS staff members to settle in and prepare for students’ return at the start of Winter Quarter, Abakoui said.
“Facilities Management helped us a lot,” she said. “They gave us new carpeting, we have window treatments and we got some furniture that fits with huge filing space, so it’s a really nice space.”
But some students are concerned that the new site, which is located within NU’s largest residence hall and shares a home with more than 600 students, may make the new CAPS offices less approachable.
“People might not feel comfortable walking into the counseling center because it’s not as anonymous as the old health center was,” said a student who visits CAPS on a weekly basis, and wished to remain anonymous. “Whereas in the old health center, that was also somewhere you would go if you needed a physical or if you were getting an X-ray. I know some people might feel uncomfortable walking into this door that very clearly states it’s just CAPS.”
Because of the building configuration of Foster-Walker, the CAPS offices directly face the west side dining hall at Foster-Walker.
“You would see people going in and out of Searle (the old location) and you can’t assume that they’re going in for counseling because they could be going in for a number of things,” she said. “It’s just that, people don’t want other people to know that they’re getting counseling.”
Proximity to Searle was the main reason Foster-Walker was chosen as the temporary relocation site for CAPS, according to executive director John Dunkle. The door to House 4 at Foster-Walker, where CAPS is situated, is directly behind Searle.
“I figured they did the best they could,” said SESP senior Sunny Lin, a member of the CAPS Student Advisory Board. “They did a really great job inside. If you walk around, it has all the facilities that they need, and a lot of space, even though it’s kind of strange being in a dorm right now. I guess it’s a means to an end.”
Because the move took place over break, Lin and other CAPS Student Advisory Board members had little to do with the actual move. For Lin and the rest of the board, their job is to get the word out about CAPS.
“It’s just a matter of getting students to actually see CAPS and not be afraid and go and check things out,” Lin said. “That’s something that could always be improved.”
Though the individual offices are smaller, the temporary location at Foster-Walker actually provides more office space for the CAPS staff.
“We didn’t have enough office space for all of our counselors, so we had people sharing offices,” Abakoui said. “In fact, we still have people sharing offices … so we are always juggling things. There are a lot of logistical questions to take care of.”
The planned expansion and renovation of Searle will allow CAPS to expand and have more physical space, not just for staff, but for students as well, Abakoui said. Last year, almost 1,400 students were served with triage calls, or 15-minute phone appointments, and more than 1,000 students visited CAPS for an intake, she said.
“Our utilization rate is higher, meaning we see more students per thousand than other schools of comparable sizes,” Abakoui said.
Dunkle estimates that CAPS will stay at Foster-Walker for about a year and a half until they’re ready to move back into Searle.
“We’re looking forward to going back to the renovated space,” Abakoui said. “But this is a nice space for temporary (purposes).”
