Looking at Adequacy in Advocacy

It can be difficult to gauge the demand in resources when people stay silent. How available are these resources?

Erin Odell

CAPS is located in the Health & Counseling Services Building behind Dutch Quad. Photo by Erin Odell

Students at the University at Albany have several resources to turn to when faced with sexual assault- but are they enough?

A common theme was present throughout the research and conversations surrounding this project: Staffing issues. The Office of Health Promotion (OHP) has one advocate visit, once a week for an hour and a half. The Albany County Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center runs an online chat that’s supposed to run only on weekdays between 10AM and 2PM, although it’s currently not operating at all due to “agency staff changes.” The University at Albany’s Advocacy Center dissolved because the two people overseeing it no longer worked there.

“I go to the trauma specialists in CAPS, I wish that there were more trauma specialists in CAPS,” said Selwa Khan, a junior at the University. CAPS, or Counseling And Psychological Services, currently has over 10 psychologists listed in its staff directory. It has one trauma and resilience specialist, Kavanaugh Quick. An Albany Student Press article from this past Spring noted a meeting having “no specific plans were made for the future beyond increasing staffing at CAPS.”

According to the Office of Health Promotion’s Mackenzie Bachar, the Advocacy Center dissolved during the pandemic. Its last Facebook post was in December of 2021. Bachar stated that the Center’s closing “was primarily because the two staff members who oversaw it and created it left campus in those capacities.” However, there were additional concerns regarding confidentiality. Neither the OHP or Advocacy Center are confidential with state law, so the OHP looks to protect confidentiality as much as possible with its confidential on campus status. One notable service was going to the hospital with students.

“In some ways that was, you know, leading to mandated reporting… in reenvisioning these services we’re really doing it in a way that we won’t be putting students or anybody we work with in the position of possibly being subpoenaed,” said Bachar. So while Bachar may still go to the hospital, she “wouldn’t go in the room with them based on the fact that I can't keep the information confidential at the point that we enter that space.” In her words, the OHP is “all about filling in the gaps.”

Kelly Gorman, the Director of Health Promotion. Photo from the University's Health & Well-being Staff Directory.

According to Kelly Gorman, the University’s Director of Health Promotion, the OHP has “more staffing than the advocacy center ever had.” Previously, there was no dedicated employee for advocacy; It was split between Bachar and Gorman. This year, the OHP has a dedicated survivor advocate who is fully focused on advocacy, which Gorman notes is “unique within the SUNY system.” At least half of Bachar’s role still includes advocacy as needed.

Of course, it can be difficult to determine that need. In regards to figuring out demand, Gorman stated that “We are working towards a more robust data system so we can understand what % of folks who are experiencing sexual violence are reporting it to the institution.”

Although the University at Albany has previously been ranked #3 for sexual violence in NYS colleges, it’s resources do not seem to be less than that of other SUNYs. Stony Brook University, for example, also only has one advocate. The 2019 state “Enough is Enough” report noted that out of 193 reports that year- the most of any SUNY that year- only 5 resulted in suspensions and 2 resulted in students being expelled. The 2021 report, as referenced in the above graph, noted no expulsions and 3 suspensions out of 269 reports.