Serving as a public school counselor can be a very rewarding job. It can also be quite overwhelming at times.
Most counselors are tasked with a wide range of duties: providing academic advising, assisting with college planning, and serving as a front-line mental health worker for students to name a few. Add in the fact that most schools nationwide are understaffed in relation the number of students per counselor and it becomes clear that despite the best efforts of those professionals, some students are likely missing aid they need — academically and mentally.
In a study released by the Arkansas House and Senate Education Committee in October 2020, the average student-to-counselor ratio in Arkansas is 385:1. In the same report, the American School Counselor Association and National Association of School Psychologist’s recommended ratio is 250:1.
That is why over the past seven years ASMSA has transformed its framework for student success. In an effort to ensure students’ dynamic needs are met, the school has added staff members to allow a more intense focus on students as a whole — with both their academic and mental health in mind.
The traditional school counselor position became Student Success Coordinators. The SSCs are tasked with serving as advocates for the students beyond the classroom — helping them address their individual needs and meet their goals. They may help students select their coursework and class schedules, serve as a liaison between students and faculty members or help students begin planning for their future educational path. Penny Lock, who joined the counseling staff in 2014, and Erica Arivette, who started October 2020, currently serve as SSCs.
In 2018, Staci Stich, a licensed mental health counselor, joined ASMSA’s staff full-time. She has more than 30 years of experience in community health, focusing primarily on working with children and adolescents. During her tenure, she has provided opportunities for students to not only have private sessions with her but has also encouraged various affinity group meetings that provide students a chance to engage with peers who may be facing similar challenges.
In the summer 2021, ASMSA added a second professional counselor to the mental health staff. Maddisyn Karn, who previously served as a part of the Residential Life staff on campus, completed her master’s degree in social work and joined the staff as a licensed social worker.
Also in the summer of 2021, Bret Vallun, who was serving as an SSC, became the associate dean of college counseling. The switch allowed him to become the main contact for students during the college admissions process and focus more directly on college opportunities for ASMSA students while also letting the remaining SSCs redirect their focus more on students’ current academic standing.
'The meetings provide context and perspective that allow our academic, counseling and residential life staff to understand problems in nuanced ways, and because we meet weekly, new information does not get lost in the busy cycles that define life at ASMSA. All of these elements come together so that support staff can be creative, precise and effective with their interventions.' — Stuart Flynn, dean of academic affairs on the weekly meetings of the Strategies Team
Members of the counseling staff serve alongside the dean of academic affairs and dean of students on the Strategies Team. The group holds regular meetings where they discuss general concerns for students as well as those who may need additional individual attention. The committee works toward possible solutions that will allow students to be successful in both their ASMSA academic and residential experience while also considering their social and emotional needs. By sharing information among the academic, residential life and counseling staff members, the team gains a more complete picture of a student’s academic, social and emotional needs.
“When students struggle, the reasons are usually multifaceted,” said Stuart Flynn, the dean of academic affairs. “Academic issues are often connected with residential issues and sometimes personal circumstances unrelated to ASMSA. Our Strategies sessions are all about collaboration.
“The meetings provide context and perspective that allow our academic, counseling and residential life staff to understand problems in nuanced ways, and because we meet weekly, new information does not get lost in the busy cycles that define life at ASMSA. All of these elements come together so that support staff can be creative, precise and effective with their interventions.”
This is where employees with the most contact with students — residential life staff and SSCs — play a vital role in an ASMSA student’s time at the school. SSCs provide the front-line contact students may rely on. Arivette, one of the SSCs, said having that reliable connection is important.
“For most students, coming to ASMSA is the first time living away from home, being independent and responsible,” Arivette said. “This can be a very stressful time, filled with unknowns for the student and their families. Students and their families find reassurance that this crucial support will be a part of the ASMSA experience while students and their families navigate this transition, setting the foundation for success and positive experience.”
She encourages students to visit their SSC with questions and to express their concerns. Even if the SSC doesn’t have the answer, they can provide a safe space and direct the student to people who do, she said. She also encouraged students to share when there is something to brag about. SSCs want to make sure students receive recognition for their accomplishments.
But there are likely going to be times when a student is struggling or may feel they are failing to meet certain standards. That is normal and part of the growth and maturing process, Arivette said.
“Setbacks and failures are important opportunities for growth with students since this is something they will face not only in their academic career but in their professional career and personal life,” she said. “Students need to realize that setbacks and failures — while in the moment may seem negative — the lesson learned will actually have a positive impact on their life if they choose to learn from it.”
'Setbacks and failures are important opportunities for growth with students since this is something they will face not only in their academic career but in their professional career and personal life. Students need to realize that setbacks and failures — while in the moment may seem negative — the lesson learned will actually have a positive impact on their life if they choose to learn from it.' — Erica Arivette, a Student Success Coordinator
Dr. Rheo Morris, dean of students, said it was the right time to expand the mental health staff. Federal pandemic relief funding made available to ASMSA is helping to underwrite the additional position.
“Now was a great time to scale up mental health support because we anticipated the mental strains that the pandemic would continue to place on our students,” Morris said. “We wanted to ensure we could support them fully by increasing the availability of professions to talk with.
“(Stich and Karn’s) impact has been far-reaching. They have had an overall positive impact on the students’ level of academic achievement because the students who meet with them have a greater sense of happiness, security and safety, and fewer problems with interpersonal relationships and socializing.”
As part of the renovation of the former chapel and convent that is currently underway, a section of the new residence hall will serve as a mental health hub for the campus. Stich and Karn’s offices will be on the first floor of the building that will include student housing on the second and third floor and a Student Union in the basement level.
Placing the mental health hub in the new residential space was intentional given the prominence this type of support now plays within the overall student experience.
“It is important that the mental health professionals and the students have access to comfortable and easily accessible spaces,” Morris said. “Placing the hub within the residential zone also helps to destigmatize mental health but still gives students the privacy they desire.”
Stich said the addition of a second mental health professional and the forthcoming mental health hub are important additions to the services available for students.
“Being a teenager is difficult under the best circumstances,” Stich said. “Being a teenager while living away from home in a rigorous academic environment during a pandemic is so much more than just difficult. I was so pleased that the school moved forward this year by adding a second mental health professional to our staff. The team approach has been so much more sufficient in meeting the unique needs of our students.”
It takes a team approach to meet the needs of students, and the current team of counselors do a remarkable job to meet those needs, Flynn said.
“Our counselors have an extraordinary responsibility,” Flynn said. “They must support all of our students with encouragement, enthusiasm and individualized insight even as they define expectations and responsibilities and hold their students to those standards. Our counselors often guide students through very complicated challenges and crises that test everyone involved, and I have the greatest respect and appreciation, even admiration, for the work they do every day.”