Our office is located in a house at the bottom of the hill near where Institute and West Street intersect. The house is cream and tan and is well marked as West Street House, The Student Development and Counseling Center. This year, the Center is serving as more than a place to simply meet with a counselor. We will be running the new Leadership Education and Practice Institute (LEAP) from the Center, the new program called PASSAGE, storytelling sessions, and the Academic Success study groups and support groups. We also have a room located upstairs which students may schedule to meet with their study groups. The Center has a new look this year, a new parrot, new procedures, and a new staff. We hope you will take the time to visit.
The director of the Center is Tom Balistrieri and the office coordinator is Bev Loomis. Counselor Charlie Morse returns this year on a part-time basis. Our new full-time counselor is Kelly Boyle. Kelly is a talented, funny, and caring professional woman who comes to us from Trenton State University's masters program. We also have two master level interns from Lesley College in Boston, Chandelle Hesselgrave and Amy Yelin. Both of our interns, although new to the profession, are caring intern counselors who will work with us throughout the year.
In the past, a few students have had some concerns about visiting the Center. The concerns centered around the intake procedure and the files or records kept by counselors. In the past, the intake procedure was a bit long and included an inventory. This year, the intake procedure form and procedure have been drastically changed. The intake form is much shorter and students are not asked to complete an inventory. Students will meet with a counselor as soon as possible based on the schedule of the student and the availability of counselors. All services are free and confidentiality is guaranteed. Records kept by counselors are simple notes to remind the counselor of what occurred in the last session. Counselors meet with many students and notes are critical. Counselors do not label or diagnose students, nor to they write unqualified judgments or assumptions about a student in the notes. The Center will not release notes to anyone without the written permission of the student. Even if the student permits his or her notes to be released, the notes themselves are not released, only a summary statement of the notes that, in most cases, have been reviewed by the student for content.
Well, we felt the need to let you know about our new services, new look, new staff, and new procedures. Next week we'll provide you with something a bit more interesting. The staff here loves working with students and we hope you'll stop down to visit with us. You don't need to have a problem to visit with a staff member. Talk to us about how things are going and maybe together we can help you come up with a problem-free year.
Good Luck.