(Gabriella Cullen | Student Life)

With the start of the new semester, Uncle Joe’s Peer Counseling & Resource Center announced that they will no longer be providing 24-hour services, a change that was mandated by the Washington University administration. Their new hours of operation are from 7–1 a.m. by phone and from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m in person at their office on the South 40 in Gregg House.  

Maya Dieterle and Rachna Vipparla are seniors and co-directors of Uncle Joe’s, an organization that provides peer counseling services to WashU students. They said that the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Support and Well-Being, Kirk Dougher, cited preventing counselor burnout and ensuring student safety as the primary reasons that mandated the change. 

Dougher stated that the administration’s goal was to optimize the care that counselors can provide to students during peak hours, reducing fatigue and helping counselors to maintain a healthy commitment to their Uncle Joe’s responsibilities. 

“The hours were changed in response to continued escalation in the stress and pressure [that Joes] have been talking about over the last few years.” Dougher said. “I’m always worried about our Joes, and I want to do whatever I can to be able to protect them.” 

Dougher said that the administration had been in communication with former Uncle Joe’s leadership about the job’s potential impact on student counselors. However, the current Uncle Joe’s counselors were not involved in discussions about this decision. 

“Many members were really upset to hear the news when it was shared with them, and it honestly came as a surprise to both [co-directors] as well,” Vipparla said. 

Dieterle and Vipparla said that they never felt complete drain from their Uncle Joe’s phone duties, which consist of two to three 48-hour shifts per semester. 

“I can only speak for myself, but I’ve definitely felt tired — sometimes you get a call in the middle of the night, and it can be just exhausting,” Dieterle said. “But I’ve never felt burnt out.” 

Both co-directors said that there is a very supportive culture within Uncle Joe’s counselors. “We really want [Joes] to put themselves first,” Dieterle said. 

The other reason for the restricted hours was that the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services is not open 24/7, so Uncle Joe’s would be unable to connect students to them in the case of a crisis where a professional is needed. Without additional support networks to fall back on in the case of an emergency between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m., the peer counselor and student would be placed under lots of stress. 

Both Dougher and Uncle Joe’s leadership team said that students seeking out help during the early morning hours are encouraged to seek out alternative resources, including Timely Care, a 24-hour outside virtual care service. 

Dieterle and Vipparla said that they believe the administration’s decision to curtail hours of service was not meant to delegitimize the importance of mental health needs in the student body. They said that regardless of the hour change, Uncle Joe’s mission remains the same, and students are still encouraged to engage with counselors in the same way they have in the past. 

“Our service and mission really remains the same,” Dieterle said, “We hope that Uncle Joe’s is just as accessible to students as it has been for the last 50 years.”