New counseling center in planning stages

North Lake's administration is proposing changes that could help increase the visibility and reach of the college's counseling program.

Carole Gray, director of Disability Services at North Lake, wants to make students aware that the program exists because of what she sees as an increasing need among students on campus.

“Because community resources are drying up, I see students coming in with more mental and emotional issues than ever before,” said Gray.

Dr. Ida Baty, one of the college's counselors, said that the problems students have are much more diffi- cult to deal with than in the past.

“Students used to come in with more academic issues, and we still get a lot of those,” said Baty. “But now students come in that are totally stressed out or overburdened with responsibilities and it is almost too much for them.”

Students who have full-time jobs in addition to school are often the most susceptible, but Baty said she believes her clients can see the benefits of talking to someone about their problems. “They come in and they are surprised to see how helpful it is,” she said.

Dr. AvniVyas, another of North Lake's counselors, believes that now is a time when the service they provide is crucial. “A lot of military personnel are coming back, and they have to deal with what they saw in the war,” said Vyas.

International students are also aided by the service, according to Vyas. “New immigrants can often have adjustment issues,” she said. Vyas sites day to day cultural issues, missing home and lack of social relationships as the most common problems facing international students.

Gray hopes that in the future the college will have a counseling center that will be a more accessible and visible part of the North Lake community. “Right now, they are kind of isolated,” said Gray. “It would be nice if there was a center that the students knew was available.”

The counseling center is in its planning stages, according to Gray, and will find a home in the new Student Life Center, which is part of the future expansion plans at NLC.

“Dr. Glasscock is really supportive of that,” said Gray. “It is a vision that has support from the administration.”

In the short term, Gray hopes that changing the way the program is staffed can provide better support for students. She and Vice-President Mary Ciminelli have proposed to the DCCCD the creation of a twelve-month full-time counselor position.

The position would replace the current faculty counselor positions.

“We'd like to see a full-time counselor position instead of a faculty counselor because the faculty counselor is also expected to teach,” said Gray. “That takes away from counseling hours for students.”

Currently, the counseling program consists of two part-time counselors and three fulltime counselors. Vyas and Baty are at North Lake as “visiting scholars;” a program that contracts with educators for preiod of two years. Baty's contract expires this December and Vyas' ends August 2007.

Until District officials decide if they will allow those positions to be created, Gray, Baty and Vyas hope to create group sessions that would allow students to interact with the counselors as well as other students who find themselves in similar situations.

Vyas said that groups dealing with both small and large issues would have a great deal of value for students.

“For instance, adjustment issues and getting to know your way around this culture, to issues like how to deal with a breakup or issues that are more emotionally tasking would be beneficial,” said Vyas.