College to Offer Counseling Services
Anxiety and depression have become a growing concern among college students, and unfortunately Bluefield College is not immune to that trend.
As a result, BC administrators have been exploring ways to offer mental health services to students, and they’re set to do that in the near future.
Counseling services are becoming common on college campuses these days, and the most recent research suggests that participation in counseling helps students with academic performance and persistence in school.
In fact, Josh Arnold, BC’s associate vice president for student development, said he was pleased to find out that Bluefield College’s Board of Trustees was very supportive of the college offering mental health services as early as the next academic year.
“A small task force has been reviewing models for counseling services, and funds have been requested in the 2019-2020 budget,” Arnold said, “though the annual budgeting process has not yet concluded and the final budget will ultimately need to be approved by the Board of Trustees at their next meeting (in April 2019).”
The typical model at most colleges and universities is one licensed professional counselor (LPC) per 1,600 students, meaning a college the size of Bluefield should have one full-time LPC, according to the model.
Some colleges even employ a counselor who is licensed to supervise trainees or interns who are completing a graduate program in counseling or working toward completing their minimum supervised hours required for licensure.
“This is a great way to scale services, since you can provide more counselors and accommodate a wider variety of schedules, but requires a steady, predictable supply of trainees/interns from neighboring programs.” Arnold said. “We have to assess if this is viable within our region.”
Other institutions provide tele-counseling services or supplement live services with tele-counseling. Bluefield College leaders are exploring all of these options, Arnold said, and are working diligently to try to provide the best possible counseling services for students.