Counseling and Student Success

Transcription

1 Counseling and Student Success Detailed Assessment Report Mission / Purpose The University of West Alabama Counseling Services enhances opportunities for students to pursue a quality education and assists in the development of important qualities of independent thinking, respect for the ideas of others, personal integrity and character in order to realize their quests for a philosophy of life and self-fulfillment through provision of guidance to promote academic success and personal and professional growth. I. Goals and Outcomes/Objectives, with Any Related Measures, Targets, Findings, and Action Plans A. Goal: Address regional issues Address the major educational, social, cultural, and economic issues of the region and in doing so promote a positive image of the institution and the area. 1. Objective: Retention for at risk students Assist with retention efforts related to "at risk" students. a. Measure: Student Retention Counseling services will work to increase student retention, especially among at-risk student populations such as freshmen students who have been conditionally admitted. Increase retention for "At Risk" students by 5 percent. 2. Findings ( ) - Target: Not Met Retention for at-risk students were not increased by 5%. One of the problems was not targeting at-risk conditionally admitted freshmen in a structured way. This year that has been done. 3. Action Plan: Structured experience for conditionally admitted freshmen For the academic year, students who were conditionally admitted were placed in designated sections of UWA 101 where they were provided with extra academic support and a structured first year experience. Established in Cycle: Implementation Status: In-Progress Priority: High Implementation Description: Created designated section for conditionally admitted freshmen in UWA 101 Responsible Person/Group: Debbie Dean 2. Objective: Contact on excessive absences. Provide UWA faculty with an option for contacting students with excessive absences. a. Measure: Excessive Absence Follow-Up Follow-up will be conducted with students reported by faculty to have excessive absences. Page 1 of 6

2 Increase contact with students having excessive absences to 100 percent of all reported to Counseling Services by faculty. All students who were identified as having excessive absences were contacted and provided tutoring or counseling with regard to academic performance. 3. Objective: Success skills and tools Provide students with skills and tools necessary to achieve success in academics, social skills, personal growth, and personal development. a. Measure: Success Skills and Tools Personal and group counseling will be conducted and documented aimed at assessment, diagnosis and treatment of deficiencies in academics, social skills, and personal growth and development. Increase number of students utilizing Counseling Services for individual and group needs by 10 percent. Increased student participation of counseling service exceeded 10%. During the academic year, 42 students actively participated in counseling services on a weekly basis. 4. Objective: Education on mental health issues Educate students, faculty, and staff about mental health issues that may contribute to impairments in academic, social, and personal functioning. a. Measure: Mental Health Education for UWA Community Satisfaction with knowledge and help received through dissemination of mental health education materials and face to face educational events. Increase dissemination of mental health education to information racks in all residence halls and classroom buildings and at least one campus wide seminar during school year. Provided 11 informational workshops in Gilbert Hall regarding mental health promotions. 5. Objective: International student support Support success of international students attending the University. a. Measure: Satisfaction with Support for International Students Support provided by Counseling Services for international students attending UWA will be satisfactory per feedback from students and instructors. International students will indicate satisfaction with support from Counseling Services as reflected in satisfaction survey of students at least once per school year. Students, staff, and faculty verbally indicate satisfaction with support from Counseling Page 2 of 6

3 Services. B. Goal: Meet needs through use of information technologies Meet the needs of its various publics, both internal and external, through the comprehensive use of information technologies. 1. Objective: Student Success Coordinator guidance Provide guidance for Student Success Coordinators assigned to each academic college. a. Measure: Student Success Coordinator Feedback Feedback from academic college Student Success Coordinators that indicates satisfaction with support from Counseling Services. Attain 100 percent feedback from academic success coordinators during each semester of school year. Success Coordinators provided referrals to counseling services regarding students who were placed on academic probation or warning. Additionally, monthly reports about the format of UWA 101 course and other problem students were discussed. 2. Objective: UWA 101 support Provide support for the UWA 101 classes. a. Measure: UWA 101 Course Success UWA 101 courses taught by the Director of Counseling Services will be successful per student evaluations at the end of each course taught. Obtain feedback from students participating in UWA 101 courses taught each semester regarding their satisfaction with the UWA 101 course that reflects at least a 3.0 average satisfaction rate out of 4.0 satisfaction rate for courses taught. Student evaluations for fall and spring semester indicate an overall satisfaction rate of 3.6 for this course taught by the director of counseling services. 3. Objective: University committees Serve on and effectively contribute to appointed university committees. a. Measure: Contribution to Appointed University Committees Contribution of the Director of Counseling Services to appointed University committees will be satisfactory per feedback from University leadership and other committee members. 100 percent active participation in all appointed committees. Participated 100% in all committee assignments. 4. Objective: Academic college collaboration Promote collaboration between Counseling Services and University academic colleges. Page 3 of 6

4 a. Measure: Satisfactory Collaboration with Academic Colleges Collaboration between Counseling Services and University colleges will be satisfactory per feedback from leadership of respective academic colleges as indicated in response to written survey. Increase collaboration with academic colleges by 10 percent as reflected in completion of written surveys at least once per school year. 2. Findings ( ) - Target: Partially Met There was collaboration with academic colleges but no satisfaction survey was conducted. 3. Action Plan: Continue College collaboration Due to time constraints, a written survey is not necessary. Counseling Services will continue to work closely with academic colleges in meeting mental health and academic support needs of students. Established in Cycle: Implementation Status: In-Progress Priority: High Implementation Description: Collaborate with colleges Responsible Person/Group: Debbie Dean C. Goal: Seek additional funding Improve its financial status by increasing its efforts at productivity and by seeking additional funding from public and private sources. 1. Objective: Counseling services for online students Promote use of counseling services by University online students through grant funding through the PBI Formula Grant. a. Measure: Increased use of counseling services by University Online Students Increased incidents of use of Counseling Services by UWA online students through as evidenced by quarterly reports submitted by the Online Counseling Services Coordinator. Increase usage of Counseling Services by University Online students by 10 percent. Online counseling services was increased by 10%. II. Other Plans for Improvement A. Implement Electronic Intake and Assessment with Counseling Services Continue to seek technology implementation of secure means to conduct electronic intake and assessment for Counseling Services. Established in Cycle: Implementation Status: In-Progress Priority: High Implementation Description: Have a secure means by which Counseling Services can offer electronic completion and submission of intakes and assessments by students, staff, and faculty of UWA. Projected Completion Date: 10/01/2011 Page 4 of 6

5 Responsible Person/Group: Director of Counseling Services Implementation Notes: 9/9/2013 This is accomplished through assessments available via Blackboard platform. B. Transition Class for UWA Online Students Provide a transition class for online students at UWA to facilitate their academic success. Established in Cycle: Implementation Status: Finished Priority: High Implementation Description: Develop and implement a transition class to be conducted weekly for online students during the first semester of their status as an online student with UWA. Projected Completion Date: 12/23/2012 Responsible Person/Group: Director of Counseling Services Additional Resources Requested: NA Implementation Notes: 9/9/2013 UWA 101 was added to online programs to help students with transition issues. III. Analysis Questions and Analysis Answers A. What specific strengths did your assessments show? (Strengths) Counseling Services showed an increase in the number of students utilizing services from the previous year. There was more than a 10% increase of students using counseling services for mental health reasons. Many of these students had weekly standing appointments and worked on issues ranging from depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Counseling services developed a protocol for dealing with students who were exhibiting signs of suicidal thoughts. The plan consisted of providing the UWA police department with contact information of the Director to be called to campus during evening hours or weekends when school was not in session. Additionally, counseling services increased the number of tutoring hours from 40 to 80 hours a week in an effort to accommodate the increased number of students using tutoring services. Counseling Services also provided training to resident assistants in housing so that they could recognize behaviors that would warrant a referral to counseling services. In addition, Counseling Services provided 11 information workshops regarding mental health issues that college students are likely to face. Counseling Services also developed and implemented a 6-week Drug and Alcohol Education Program for students who were caught in violation of this on campus. B. What specific weaknesses or challenges did your assessments show? (Weaknesses) The lack of training of peer tutors to address more than content areas was a problem. Students sometimes need assistance in developing effective learning strategies and/or time management problems. This was addressed at tutoring training prior to the beginning of this semester. This training can be beneficial in helping students understand their problem areas, find support for them, and remain in school longer. C. What plans were implemented? The following implementations were done to address problem areas: develop a structured, first year experience for conditionally admitted freshmen; develop a formal approach to referring students on academic probation or warning to find the support they need; implement monthly meetings with success coordinators for feedback and ideas on helping at-risk students; train peer tutors to work with students in academic areas where they are weak such as reading skills and time management; and create therapeutic groups to help with the volume of students coming to counseling D. What plans were not implemented? Page 5 of 6

6 A formal, written survey was not provided to academic colleges to determine needs or how effective counseling services were for their students. It is determined that a written survey is not needed and verbal reports will yield the same results. E. How will assessment results be used for continuous improvement? Counseling Services will report the number of conditionally admitted freshmen from academic year who are eligible to return to school after the spring semester. This number will be compared to the number of conditionally admitted freshmen in academic year This will help determine if the structured experience provided for conditionally admitted freshmen in had an effect on the numbers retained. Counseling Services will report on the number of students who has improved grades after receiving tutoring. Counseling Services will report the number of students receiving counseling for mental health issues that returned to school for the academic year. Counseling Services will report the number of students who participate in mental health promotion events such as workshops in the residence hall. Counseling Services will report the number of students who participate in training events for mental health promotion i.e. resident assistants IV. Annual Report Section Responses A. Key Achievements Student participation in counseling services increased more than 10% from the previous year. Student participation in tutoring services increased more than 50% from the previous year. The Director of Counseling Services developed a structured experience for freshmen who were conditionally admitted for the school year. The Director of Counseling Services provided 11 workshops regarding mental health promotions and spoke to 16 classes about services available from counseling services. B. Faculty Achievements The Director of Counseling Services will submit a grant, with the assistance of Sponsored programs, a Campus Suicide Prevention Grant. The Director of Counseling Services will present at the American Association of Christian Counselors a workshop on Distance Counseling. The Director of Counseling Services will provide 3 workshops each semester to Freshmen in Gilbert Hall regarding mental health promotions. The Director of Counseling Services will develop a Suicide Crisis Plan for the University. The Director of Counseling Services will investigate the possibility of developing a federally Funded Campus Sexual Assault program. The Director of Counseling Services will create a Sexual Assault Response team (SART) for the University utilizing campus and area law enforcement and direct service providers for sexual assault and domestic violence. C. Public/Community Service Volunteer instructor: Wesley House Community Center, Inc. Meridian, Ms. Parenting Classes. Page 6 of 6

7 _-.;. Department or Division: Counseling and Student Success Chair or Director: Dr. Debbie Baker-Dean Dean or Vice President: Dr. Vicki Snmi<el Planning and Assessment Approval Goals are broad statements describing what the unit wants to accomplish. Goals relate to both the unit's mission and the University's mission. The goal(s) is stated as the University goal(s) a unit is attempting to meet. YES Outcomes/Objectives Outcomes and objectives are statements that describe in some detail what the unit plans to accomplish. Outcomes/objectives are associated with all applicable goals, strategic plans, standards, and institutional priorities. Objectives are active-verb descriptions of specific points or tasks the unit will accomplish or reach. Outcomes are active-verb descriptions of a desired end result related to student learning and the unit's mission. YES.:-:... / YES Measures Measures are statements to judge success in achieving the stated outcome or objective. Measures contain information on the type of evidence and assessment tool that a unit will use to verify if stated outcome/objective has been met. YES LC Achievement Targets Achievement targets are the thresholds that the measures must meet for the unit to detennine that it has been successful in meeting its specified outcomes/objectives. Achievement targets are measurable statements. YES

8 Findings are indications whether an outcome/objective was met or not. Findings are put into the system under each achievement target. Findings include an interpretation of results, possible uses of results, reflection on problems encountered, indicated improvements/changes and strengths or weakness. Action Plans Action plans are detailed plans created by the unit to meet an outcome/objective that was only partially met or not met or to make improvement to those outcomes/objectives that were met but still need some strengthening. The plan includes a projected completion date, implementation description, responsible person(s)/group, resources required, and budget amount (if applicable). Action plans created in previous cycles have been updated with implementation notes. YES -'---- YES_- / YES Annual Report The Annual Report section contains information on key achievements, faculty and/or staff achievements, and community/public. YES ----'<--- Report The unit has reflected on and created narratives for each of the following areas: specific strengths and progress made on outcomes/objectives, specific weaknesses or challenges, plans that were and were not implemented, and how assessment results will be used for continuous imgrovement. YES --t!.>"-"-- Approved by:(/~~~'-.,. Signature o};, Vice a Received by OlE: dy. ~f(jajyl Si ~Ordinator of{la.d11ing and Assessment Date: 14/tJ 7//3 I Date: / 0 / II )J3 r 1