Purpose:
To develop a system to collect, analyze, interpret, and report information relevant to the functioning of the Counseling & Psychological Services Center within the division of Student Affairs at WSU.

Our goal is to develop a system that will provide the following information:

Client information

Client satisfaction
Client demographics
Number of clients served
Nature of client issues

Clinical information

Number of clients served. Campus/community contributions (outreach, training, presentations, classes)
Patterns of use (within and between day, month, semester, year, etc.)
Type of service offered
Treatment satisfaction
Individual staff activity

Results will inform decisions regarding:

Center Policy
Equity within the center
Staffing level
Provision of services
Areas of outreach (e.g., identifying under served populations)
Areas of improvement (e.g., professional development needs)

Process and procedure for gathering information:

Given the time and cost of developing psychometrically valid assessment instruments we plan to use products that have already been developed and tested in university counseling centers.

A management information system called Protegee has been used by counseling centers to collect almost all the data types identified above. The important exception is client progress and satisfaction. An instrument called the OQ45 has been used in clinical settings to assess these areas.

These products would provide the CPSC with a state of the art management information system.

We are in the process of researching the possibility of using PDAs as a means of efficient, accurate, and cost effective data collection from students.

Due to the scope and nature of this system, it is not realistic to have it in operation Fall semester. Our goal is to research the system and determine its financial feasibility during this semester and, if feasible, implement it during Spring semester.

We propose to initiate a temporary system using a post-termination assessment instrument to assess client progress and satisfaction. We will continue to use our current system of tracking number of sessions, type of treatment, and counselor activity . This will allow us to address the immediate need for data and the opportunity to pilot an assessment program to identify unforeseen issues with data collection, interpretation, and reporting.

Summary of Outcome Goals:

-Initiate the use of a temporary client progress/satisfaction instrument Fall semester

-Research feasibility of a comprehensive data management system Fall semester

-Implement a comprehensive data management system Spring semester