Introduction to the Counseling Profession

Chapter 18

College Counseling andStudent Affairs

Chapter Topics

Introduction

What makes careers in college counseling unique from the careers of other counselors is that college counselors serve adult students who are working toward earning college or university degrees.

Unlike mental health counselors who work in community agencies or private practices, college counselors and student affairs professionals provide their services in a college or university setting in which the education of their clients is the primary focus, as opposed to the mental health issues of their clients.

“For counseling and student affairs professionals who have enjoyed being students most of their lives and love being in an academic environment, choosing a career in college counseling or student affairs could be a satisfying and rewarding decision.”

Introduction Most colleges and universities do have traditional counseling centers

that serve the mental health needs of their student populations, there are numerous other offices on campuses that employ counselors and student affairs professionals.

Counselors might be found in college and university programs that serve students with disabilities, international students, student athletes, students who are culturally different from the majority of the students on campus, and students who are nontraditional in some way (such as first-generation college students, students who enter college with low test scores or low high school grade point averages, female students seeking to enter traditionally male careers, or students who work full-time and study part-time.

Foundations“It is essential that counselors and student affairs professionals in colleges and universities understand theories association with several fields including the following: Counseling, college student development, adult development, leadership, and learning.”

College Student Developmental Theories College and university student development programs (including

counseling services) should be supportive of the overall goals of the institution of higher education in which they are found.

Student affairs staff members must form partnerships with faculty members, administrators, and other staff members within the institution and with professionals in organizations outside the institution for the benefit of the students who are being served.

FoundationsCollege Student Developmental Theories

Student development programs must be tailored to fit the unique student population for whom they have been developed.

Student development programs must be established with clear goals and include measureable objectives that can be evaluated.

Sensitivity to diversity of students must be included in all student development programs.

Advocacy for students is important and must be accomplished within the structure of the college and university where the student development program is located.

FoundationsInstitutional Goals

For counseling or student affairs programs to be successful, the programs must be in sync with their institutions’ purpose, vision, mission, goals, and stated objectives.

Partnerships

To effectively serve students, counselors and student affairs professionals must work with other people on their campuses and within their communities. A modern student development office on a college or university campus that is insular and distanced from the people and services students need to be successful will not last very long.

FoundationsPrograms Tailored for Unique Student Populations

The location of colleges or universities, their academic focus, their history, and many other factors affect the nature of the student populations who attend. Counseling and student development programs must be designed to meet the needs of the students in the colleges and universities where they are located.

Diversity and Student Advocacy

Counselor and student affairs professionals must be culturally competent and respect the differences inherent in the students they serve. Counselors and student affairs professionals must also understand their role as student advocates and perform that role within the structures of the institutions of higher education in which they work.

Counseling, Prevention, & Intervention The most common role of counseling centers, and the role reported as

one of the most important to directors and administrators, is the provision of individual counseling services.

Counselors in college and university counseling centers may provide counseling for a variety of personal, academic, and career needs, however most priority and time is given to personal needs.

A study of directors reported that counselors spend 80.7% of their time on personal counseling, 4.7% on academic counseling, and 2.8% on career counseling.

Counseling, Prevention, & InterventionPresenting Issues of Students In an annual survey of college counseling centers directors reported that

48.4% of their clients have severe psychological problems.

One classification model developed for college student presenting concerns groups problems into 13 areas:

Relationship Difficulties Depression Career uncertainty AnxietySelf-esteem issues Eating DisordersExistential Concerns Substance AbuseSexual Abuse or Harassment Sexual DysfunctionStress and Psychosomatic Symptoms Unusual Behavior In this classification, unusual behavior refers to confused thinking, hallucinations, social isolate,

paranoid ideation, and borderline personality.

Counseling, Prevention, & InterventionRole of Outreach and Prevention

Traditional aged college students are in a developmental period when many mental health issues emerge and, for most students, colleges is a high stress environment putting students at greater risk for mental health problems.

At the same time, only approximately 10% of college students will use the counseling center in a given year.

Thus, a role of counselors working in most counseling centers is to participate in outreach to the campus community to make contact with the broader student population.

Counseling, Prevention, & InterventionRole of Outreach and Prevention

At its most basic level, outreach may involve visiting classrooms to talk about counseling services that are available to students and describe reasons that students often seek counseling.

Counselors may also provide psychoeducational programs on various topics relevant to college students to help improve their experience at college and act as a preventative measure against mental health issues.

Some common examples of outreach program topics include:

Stress Management Time Management Relaxation TrainingTest Anxiety Sexual Assault Relationship

ViolenceCommunication Skills Assertiveness Skills Adjustment to

College

Counseling, Prevention, & InterventionSmall Colleges and Community Colleges

Colleges with fewer than 5,000 full-time students represent approximately 75% of higher education institutions in the U.S. though contain only approximately 23% of total enrolled students.

Community college refers primarily to 2-year institutions of higher education that grant associate degrees and certificates, although increasingly some community colleges grant 4-year baccalaureate degrees. Community college students account for 44% of all undergraduate students in the U.S.

Counseling, Prevention, & InterventionSmall Colleges

Small colleges often have fewer resources for counseling.

Employ more master’s level as opposed to doctoral level mental health professionals, and are less likely to offer on-campus psychiatric services.

Despite a lack of resources, counseling centers in small colleges are less likely to impose session limits or to refer students to off-campus agencies or private practitioners for long-term counseling than their larger counterparts, even when encountering students with more severe mental health issues.

Counseling, Prevention, & InterventionCommunity Colleges

Similar to small colleges, resources for mental health services are restricted at community colleges. For this reason, many community colleges lack a separate counseling services department and college counselors serve multiple roles in addition to personal counseling.

In addition to personal counseling, 78.8% of community counselors responding to a survey indicated involvement in committee work, 70% indicated providing academic advising, and 68.2% indicated providing career counseling.

A lesser, but significant percentage were involved in other duties including 41.9% teaching and 35.5% providing disability services.

Diversity and Advocacy

In 2009, racial/ethnic minority students accounted for 34.3% of students enrolled in degree granting post-secondary institutions.

In the same year, 39.1% of students were over the age of 25.

Additional examples of diversity and special populations on college campuses include international students, sexual minority students, student athletes, students with disabilities, graduate students, transfer students, victims of sexual assault, and veterans.

Given this diversity, it is important that counselors who work in college settings have training to increase their sensitivity in working with diverse populations.

“Today’s college student is anything but “typical.” In recent decades, college campuses have become increasingly diverse settings.”

Diversity and AdvocacyOffices and Organizations Serving Minority Students

Numerous campus offices exist to serve diverse student groups on college campuses with which counselors may be involved.

Generally, these offices serve to:

Create community among minority students.

Promote diversity awareness issues on campus.

Provide advocacy for students who face discrimination.

Connect students to relevant services that will benefit them.

Assessment

At an academic level, assessment instruments are used in measuring potential of applicants to aid colleges in making admissions decisions and measuring the performance of enrolled students to track their progress toward graduation.

When students experience academic difficulty, counselors may refer students for formal testing to collect information regarding psychological factors or learning disabilities that may hinder student achievement.

In counseling centers, counselors use assessments to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues, to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment provided, and to screen for suicidal and homicidal risk.

“From the admissions process to the day of graduation, colleges and universities are continually engaged in using assessment to collect information about students.”

AssessmentAssessments Used in Counseling Centers

Intake InterviewPersonality Inventories Symptom ChecklistsScreening for Alcohol/Substance AbuseScreening for Suicidal Risk Assessment for Depression and AnxietyMinnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI)Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS)Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)Mental Status Exam (MSE)

AssessmentAssessments Used in Career Services

Interest and Skill InventoriesPersonality InventoriesStrong Interest InventoryCampbell Interest and Skills Survey Self-Directed SearchMyers-Brigg Type Inventory

AssessmentAssessments Used in Academic Testing and Disability Services

ADHD screeningIntelligence TestingAchievement TestingNeuropsychological TestingConner’s Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS)Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R)Stanford-Binet Intelligence ScalesWoodcock-Johnson-III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III-ACH)

AssessmentNeeds Assessment

A needs assessment is a common tool counselors use on college campuses to better understand the needs of the students they are serving and to guide the development of programs.

In conducting a needs assessment, counselors collect information by using a combination of individual interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations, and archival data.

AssessmentIssues with the Use of Assessments

While assessment provides a resource for gaining information about students, it also presents some risks and challenges for those who use them.

Specifically, counselors must use discretion in the choice of assessment instruments and in the ways the results of assessment instruments are used. For example, assessments may discriminate against minorities or pathologize cultural factors.

Additionally, researchers have warned of the danger of relying on a single test result in lieu of a complete assessment.

Research and EvaluationColleges and universities are increasingly being called upon to demonstrate that their programs and services are effective.

Part of this demand comes from business pressures as institutions compete for students and funding.

Use of Research in Counseling and Student Affairs Positions

Within counseling and student affairs positions, ensuring quality begins by using research to guide the development of programs and services.

Published research can also provide information on the outcome of programs and approaches that have been implemented in other colleges and universities, allowing counselors to learn from others’ experiences.

Research and EvaluationEvaluation in Counseling and Student Affairs Programs and Services

In addition to producing and utilizing research, counselors working in college settings are often responsible for conducting evaluations of the services they provide. At its core, evaluation serves to provide feedback on the merit of programs.

For counseling and student affairs programs, evaluations can be distinguished into outcome and process evaluations.

Increasingly in colleges and universities, goals and objectives must connect to larger institutional goals and objectives and ultimately to the mission statement of the college or university.

By demonstrating how programs and services contribute to the ultimate goals of the university, counselors provide justification for the resources that are spent on the services they provide to colleges and universities.