MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 4, 2023
Immediate Action Needed in the Student Wellness and Counselling Centre (SWCC)
Newfoundland and Labrador is experiencing a mental health crisis. People of this province aged 18-34 have the worst self-reported mental health of any province in the country, including the highest rates of mood disorders and substance abuse.
The Student Wellness and Counselling Centre (SWCC) at Memorial University has maintained one of the province’s two Doctoral Residency in Professional Psychology programs since the 1990s. The SWCC Residency was developed to address a severe shortage of registered psychologists and is now responsible for producing many of the practice-ready doctoral psychologists that our healthcare system urgently needs. The SWCC has maintained full accreditation from the Canadian Psychological Association—the gold standard within the field—since 2003. Such accreditation is an exceptional achievement and a mark of excellence for Memorial University. Following years of faculty cuts by senior administration, Counselling faculty attest that the SWCC Residency program has now reached the point of imminent collapse and its accreditation is at risk as a consequence of these cuts.
The loss of the SWCC program will have dire mental health consequences for Memorial’s students, the entire campus community, and the province at large. A letter to the premier as well as an information bulletin to MUNFA members have been sent. MUNFA is demanding immediate action to properly resource the SWCC so that it can maintain its national accreditation.
Dr. Lisa Moores, SWCC Counselling Faculty member and incoming MUNFA Member-at-Large and Dr. Josh Lepawsky, MUNFA President-Elect, are available to do media on this issue.
The MUN Faculty Association is the certified bargaining agent for more than 800 academic staff members at Memorial University.
For more information, contact:
Isabel Ojeda, Organizing, Membership Engagement & Communications Coordinator
(709) 730-6581 | membership.munfa@mun.ca
