University of Missouri System completed first phase in resource investigation

On Wednesday, the University of Missouri System president Tim Wolfe announced the first phase has been completed in looking at sexual assault and mental health resources.

All four campuses completed a detailed inventory of its current resources, policies and practices.

The issue of sexual assault came to the forefront back in February after new details came out about the Sasha Menu Courey case.

Menu Courey was a swimmer for MU and claimed she was raped by an MU football player before killing herself in 2011.

The Women’s Center, Wellness Center, the RSVP center, LGBTQ center and counseling center are all places on the University of Missouri’s campus that students have available to them.

Identifying those resources was the first of three phases in this system wide approach to making sure Missouri campuses are equipped to help students through sexual assaults and mental health issues.

“What that has shown us is that we have a vast array of resources available on our four campuses,” said John Fougere, Chief Communications Officer for the University of Missouri System.

MU counselors told ABC 17 News that they have a comprehensive approach, but are always looking at ways to do more.

“For a campus our size we could have several additional staff members that would be very helpful in meeting the full needs of our campus,” said Christy Hutton, MU psychologist and outreach counselor.

The National Association of Campus counseling suggests a ratio of one therapist to every 1,500 students.

“We are sitting somewhere between the 1 to 2,000 plus range at Mizzou,” said David Wallace, director at MU’s counseling center.

President Tim Wolfe plans to provide campuses with additional resources and money if the task force finds it necessary.

As of Wednesday the task force is in phase two which is assessing all of the resources.

They will then give their recommendation to the board of curators by the end of the semester.