“10 Questions” is part of a weekly series in which a prominent person in the Iowa State and Ames communities. This week’s interview is with Terry Mason, director of Student Counseling Services.

What do you do as director of the Student Counseling Service?

I administer the center and oversee the operations of the service. I also make sure there are enough resources for the students. I work with a lot of students, which involves student crises, and I’m also responsible for the budget and allocating resources.

One of our big jobs is to get the students’ input, and we do the best that we can to make that happen.

How do you go about getting students’ input?

From focus groups that we have and the peer education programs. We have about 30 undergraduate students as peers. We get a lot of feedback from the students through our suggestion box and surveys. We encourage any student who comes into the center to give suggestions and feedback.

What programs does the center offer?

We have a broad range of programs. We have individual counseling, and we offer a number of groups, eight to 10, from eating disorders, children of dysfunctional families, substance abuse, stress management and survivors. We also offer a depression group. We get an idea of who we’re dealing with and then form the groups.

We have an outreach program where we would go off site to the Women’s Center or the residence halls. We don’t want to wait for students to come to us.

How do you know what students are out there to form groups?

We get the word out about what we offer through ads. Throughout the semester, we let the students know and look at the demand of how many students would fit into a group. Some fill up right away, and if they don’t, then the students are referred to individual counselors.

What have been your goals this year?

One of our main goals is to be responsive to the students’ needs and to set up a service where there is a minimum amount of waiting time for the students.

We wanted to expand the Cultural Kaleidoscope Group with more international peers. We also wanted to modernize and update the career exploration center and use more technology. Students come in and see all of our books in the library, and they don’t know which one to choose. We now have a program where a student can select a specific major, and the computer will print out a list of books for the student.

One of our other goals is to keep that waiting list of students under 30. I’ve been here for six years, and in 1993 when I came here, we had a waiting list of 200 students.

Why was there such a long waiting list?

We were understaffed, and the center just didn’t work efficiently. We took a look at the system, and we figured out how we could change it. If you look at past years, the demand for our services has been going up.

Can students call when the center is not open?

Students can always call on our crisis line in the case of an emergency when they need to talk with a counselor. That number is 294-5056. And since we do not operate 24 hours, they can call the Richmond Center at their 24-hour crisis line at 232-5811.

How are students chosen for peer educator positions?

The students fill out an application and are then interviewed. Martha Norton is the coordinator for that. We have approximately 20 undergrads. Sometimes we have grad students that serve as assistants, but it is a paid job.

What will be happening with the center this fall?

The counseling service will be celebrating 60 years of service. Our center is actually one of two established in the country; the other is at the University of Maryland.

Who does your staff include?

We have 11 doctors on staff, licensed or in the process of getting their license in psychology, two master-level counselors, four pre-doctoral interns, seven to 12 practicum counselors, 20 to 30 peers and seven support staff.