Passive Counseling: A Plan to Supplement the OSU Student Counseling Center Using Social Media

1. Passive Counseling: A Plan to Supplement theOSU Student Counseling Center Using Social Media 2011 Virtual Case Study Team:Léna Kavaliauskas Scott Busiel Jennifer Conyac Bryan Hinnen Oklahoma State University

2. Student Counseling Center Mission: “The mission of the Student Counseling Center is to enhance human development and maximize students’ problem solving and decision making capabilities so that they can make more effective and satisfying life choices. In accordance with this mission, the SCC acts to support and enhance the personal, social, and intellectual functioning of OSU students.”

3. Focus of Our Goals: “…enhance human development…” “…maximize problem solving/decision making…” “…support and enhance the personal, social and intellectual functioning…”

4. “Enhance Human Development” The importance and impact of counseling in is heavily supported in human development theory- including college student development theory- in the areas of psychosocial, cognitive, and moral development. Principles and best practices have parallels in general counseling and student development literature, and indeed, are asserted in our mission to “support and enhance the personal, social, and intellectual functioning” of our students. Some noteworthy examples in theory can be found on the next slide. Numerous examples also exist in sub-areas of development, such as racial and sexual identity development within the area of social growth.

5. “Support and Enhance Personal, Social and Intellectual Functioning” Psychosocial: Healthy transition is guided by “situation, self, support, and strategies” (Schlossberg, 1995) Cognitive/Intellectual: Development is facilitated by validating students, encouraging their voices, through confirmation, contradiction, and continuity (Baxter Magolda, 1992) Moral/Personal: Exposure to conflict of opinion and reasoning leads to moral development (Kohlberg, 1976)

6. “Maximize Problem Solving and Decision Making” Again, we can turn to student development theory to support the role of counseling in aiding students’ decision making. Among the eleven suggestions on how to best teach students to make reflective judgments: “…introduce students to ill-structured problems…” “…provide encouragement for students to explain what they believe…” “…recognize that challenges and supports can be grounded emotionally…” “…nurture a climate that encourages thoughtful analysis…” (King and Kitchener, 1994)

7. Why Use Social Media, (Referenced in field as “Passive Counseling”)? • No social media is currently being utilized within the Student Counseling Center at OSU, yet is heralded as the new frontier for communication and revenue in mental health care (Martinez Aleman and Wartman, 2009) • Social media can provide additional support, or better reach students for counseling topics such as substance use (Abar and Maggs, 2010) • Departmental assessment has identified this as an area of growth, but it has not yet been researched nor implemented • Social media meets students at their generation’s preferred means of communication (Martinez Aleman and Wartman, 2009) • It reaches students who would not otherwise seek resources (Farrell, 2005) • Social media is effective as marketing tool and as a supplement to other more direct means of contact (Kraus et al., 2004)

8. Social Media Application Trends in University Counseling: Live chat: Students interact live with in-house or off-site counselors through a secure chat link. Interaction occurs in real time. Leader in the Field: University of Texas Online self-assessment:Students complete an electronic survey to determine their needs. This can be used as an intake tool or to encourage foot traffic to SCC. Leader in the Field: University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Electronic appointment scheduling:Students access counselor availability through an online schedule and request system. Leader in the Field: Coastline Community College

9. Strategic Plan:Implementation at Oklahoma State 1. Utilize online self-assessment 2. Generate live chat forum 3. Establish electronic scheduler 4. Create Facebook page as marketing tool

10. Plan for Implementation:Prototype for OSU Counseling Home Page To conserve resources and encourage student traffic on the familiar site, we have simply modified the existing Oklahoma State Student Counseling Center site. Original Artwork by S.B.  The new home page will feature links for new online counselor chat, online assessment, appointment scheduler, link to Facebook page

11. 1. Utilize Online Self-Assessment Online self-assessment is a tool used to assess students’ needs of counseling resources, whether general (staff appointment) or specific (substance use cessation) .Such assessments are a means of allowing students to determine their own level of need and validating their concerns, as well as a way to encourage students to traffic the SCC. Depending on the assessment specificity, it can be used for client intake.The assessment queues an automatic follow-up to further encourage students to pursue resources in the SCC.

12. Prototype of Self-Assessment Page The orange button begins the assessment, which is a series of questions designed to determine student need of SCC resources. Artwork by S.B., inspired by UW- Eau Claire Counseling Services  Progress is tracked on the right. When the assessment is complete, students are be provided with information to schedule an appointment, if one is needed.

13. 2. Generate Live Chat Forum The purpose of the Live Chat is to provide fast, convenient outreach to students, particularly those whom might not otherwise seek out counseling resources. The Live Chat Forum will be monitored and used by SCC counseling staff, as well as graduate student intake staff. Live Chat will field student concerns and encourage students to follow-up with more active resources, including face-to-face contact with a counselor.

14. Prototype of Live Chat Page  Students can contact counselors via instant messenger. Clicking on the home page link directs them here: Original Artwork by S.B. The central box serves as the client/counselor dialogue area. Links to additional SCC resources are provided on both margins.

15. 3. Establish Electronic Scheduler The Electronic Scheduler will be utilized by students in order to schedule face-to-face appointments with Student Counseling Center staff. Student client s will be able to see the availability of multiple counselors in order to accommodate their schedules. This will combat one commonly cited reason for not utilizing the SCC: scheduling concerns or perceived availability.

16. Prototype of Online Scheduler  Employing the same system used by Oklahoma State academic colleges and advising, this online scheduler gives students access to counselor availability, and will be easily implemented into the SCC site by the OSU IT team. Artwork by S.B., inspired by online scheduler  Student can click on allocated appointments. Once a time is taken, it is shaded so to indicate that it is occupied. Students can reference their selected time(s), indicated by the orange blocks on the schedule.

17. 4. Create Facebook Page as Marketing Tool Because of the risks of using a non-secure social media tool in the sensitive area of student counseling (see later slides), the purpose of a Facebook group page is for marketing uses only. The goal is to provide information about programming, existing services, and resources available to students. The link to Facebook on the SCC website will provide a marketing tool to students with resources by harnessing a student trend. ®

18. Strategic Plan:Cost Projection • Live Chat Forum: While dozens of software companies contract to create these, OSU IT can create and implement this using the secure campus server at the cost of staff labor. • Online Self-Assessments: This will be the most time-consuming step of implementation, and may have up to a semester-long projection of part-time labor before readiness. • Electronic Scheduler: Several campus departments currently use this technology, and IT has acknowledged that it is quickly and readily adaptable for the SCC. • Facebook Page: No cost; created and monitored by SCC graduate student intake staff *** Implementation of social media/passive counseling will have a very low cost of implementation, and the investment of IT labor is a wise investment for the promotion of SCC resources and the health of our students.

19. Strategic Plan:Timeline March 2011: Strategic plan approved by Vice President for Student Affairs April 2011: Meeting of Director of Counseling Services, Webmaster, and OSU IT staff to discuss implementation Summer 2011: Beta run of Online Scheduler; Development of Live Chat and Online Assessment August 2011/Fall 2011: Beta run of Live Chat and Online Assessment May 2012: Meeting of Director of Counseling Services and Institutional Research to determine effectiveness of social media/passive counseling in Oklahoma State Student Counseling Center

20. Challenges and Questions of Implementation(With informed rebuttals) *Are we meeting students where they are, or enabling a culture of socially deficient students? (Martinez Aleman and Wartman, 2009) *Assessment: new technology = difficult to assessThis is new territory, but the lack of social media use in the SCC affords us the opportunity to find other ways to meet student needs *Availability of funding and personnelSee Cost Projection- little to no cost is anticipated!

21. Challenges and Questions of Implementation (Continued) *Legal implications of passive counseling: confidentiality, information securityThe newness of this technology and lack of legal precedent has resulted in our use ofall secure sources and reserving Facebook use for marketing, not counseling *Passive counseling is not as effective as face-to-face contact, as it is important for counselors to understand to implications of their words due to the lack of ability to read non-verbal cues (Kraus et al., 2004)We use it as a supplement and means of encouraging and funneling student traffic to the SCC

22. Challenges and Questions of Implementation (Continued) • *Possibility of technologicalfailure • Staff willdiscuss reliability with patient prior to the chat or discussion, as well as provide a plan of action including phone numbers or other ways of contact (Kraus et al., 2004) • *User comfortwithtechnology • Training sessions will occur prior to the use of online counseling, and sources made easy to use for clients and counselors (Kraus et al., 2004)

23. Conclusions The use of social media is unforged territory for the Oklahoma State University Student Counseling Center. As evidenced by collegiate counseling centers across the country, supported by student development theory and literature, and identified by our own departmental assessment as a logical next step, use of this resource will allow us to reach a wider range of student-clients, as well as to bolster our offerings with an alternative ways of providing consistent care. Each of the challenges of implementation and use can easily be combated, further asserting the potential for social media use in our organization. Current in time and technique, and with a low to zero cost of implementation and overhead, social media meets the SCC’s budget constraints.  Evidence overwhelmingly supports the implementation of social media/passive counseling in the Oklahoma State University Student Counseling Center.

24. Abar, C. and Maggs, J. (2010). Social influence and selection processes of normative perceptions and alcohol use across the transition to college. Journal of College Student Development, 51, 5, 496-508. Baxter Magolda, M. (1992). Knowing and reasoning in college: Gender-related patterns in students’ intellectual development.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Farrell, E. (2005). Need therapy? Check your inbox. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 52: 17, A35. King, P. and Kitchener, K. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass. Kohlberg, L. (1976). Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive-developmental approach. In T. Lockona (Ed.), Moral development and behavior: Theory, research, and social issues (pp. 31-53). New York: Holt. Kraus, R., Zack, J., and Stricker, S. (2004). Online counseling: A handbook for mental health professionals. London: Elsevier. Martinez Aleman, A., and Wartman, K. (2009). Online social networking on campus: Understanding what matters in student culture. New York: Routledge. Schlossberg, N. (1995). Counseling adults in transition (2nd ed.). New York: Springer. References

25. Special thanks to the staff of the Oklahoma State University Information Technology Help Desk for answering our budgeting questionsAll embedded artwork by S. Busiel