As the end of the semester approaches, many Kent State students may be feeling anxiety, stress and depression. In extreme cases, these feelings can trigger suicidal thoughts.

Fortunately, the College of Education, Health and Human Services has the highest ranked counselor education program in the country, according to the Academic Analytics’ new Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index. Part of the counseling program consists of the Counseling and Human Development Center in White Hall, Room 325.

The center is a free on-campus counseling service to Kent State students and has been available for years. But some students are unaware of the center’s existence.

The Counseling and Human Development Center hours Mondays – Wednesdays: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Thursdays: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Fridays: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturdays: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

“I know students who have paid for counseling, on campus,” said Brittany Resnover, sophomore fine arts major. Resnover said a friend once paid $24 for on-campus counseling because they didn’t know about the free service to students.

“It’s strange that the center has been around for over 25 years and so many people don’t know about (the counseling program),” clinic director Jason Miller said.

The center sees close to 1,000 clients a year, and of those, around 800 are Kent State students. Miller said students mostly seek counseling for depression and severe anxiety, but suicide is a growing concern on all college campuses.

Graduate and doctoral students provide the counseling as part of their required 60 credit hours, which is higher than most graduate schools, to receive their degrees. The students are supervised by licensed counselors, who evaluate the students throughout the semester. Miller said 35 students work in the center each semester.

Miller said the amount of returning students is a good sign the center is working well. “We have (clients) that return three to 20 times a year.”

The Counseling and Human Development Center is located in White Hall, Room 325 and can be reached at 672-2208. Miller said students could meet with a counselor within an hour after contacting the center.

Contact College of Education, Health and Human Services reporter Joe Harrington at [email protected].