Supporting the Mental Health Needs of California Community College Online Students

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Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

The typical California community college online student is often managing quite a lot. Today’s environment is proving how difficult it is for students who are now expected to function almost exclusively online, to maintain a healthy work -school- family life balance. The recent May 20th, 2020 survey conducted by  The Student Senate for the California Community Colleges Senate (SSCCC)  revealed that since the Covid-19 pandemic began, and with the moving of their academic endeavors online, 67% of students surveyed reported higher levels of stress, depression and mental health related issues. Additionally, students also shared that many of them “are struggling with the move to an all-online environment, particularly those who depend on the services available to them through campus-based resources such as library, counseling, EOPS, college jobs, financial aid, grants, and health services.” SSCCC

Understanding our students’ ability and preparedness for practicing self- care is a key factor when it comes to encouraging them to seek out services appropriate to their needs. The demand for such services is even more apparent if the focus is on the online student population. By default, online students run the risk of being isolated from the support structures they once depended on as on-campus students. If we were to assume that online college students require access to the same support services that are provided on campus, plus a few additional ones unique to their learning context, then the need for colleges to provide increased access to those services online is a given. When a college invests in offering online mental health support, it is creating opportunities for practitioners to provide interactive solutions to engage students in a self-directed and anonymous way. One such investment would be to increase professional development and training opportunities for college mental health practitioners.

Self-paced Mental Health Online Courses from CVC-OEI/@ONE

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the issue; mental health practitioners were becoming more aware of their online students’ needs for their kind of support.  As a result, the California Virtual Campus-Online Education Initiative’s (CVC-OEI) Student Experience team was inspired to partner with experienced mental health practitioners from within the California Community College system to create the content for a dynamic self-paced course that introduces participants to multiple forms of distance mental health counseling. The course is designed for experienced mental health clinicians, and created to address the demand for more of this kind of professional development opportunities within our system. 

The self-paced Distance Mental Health for Clinicians Course offered by the CVC-OEI in partnership with @ONE; is a version of CVC-OEI’s popular 3-week Distance Mental Health for Clinicians Course. Through the course, participants learn how to identify challenges and potential solutions specific to distance mental health counseling. The course also educates participants on the legal and ethical guidelines for providing online mental health services. Any participant who completes the course will gain a greater understanding of the growing trends in online mental health services, and learn valuable strategies required when working with community college students online.

There are many benefits that come from having college mental health practitioners trained in providing online support. Expanding mental health services online contributes to greater equity by having the potential to reach a wider group of students, some of whom may never have sought out such services while on campus. By incorporating web-based technology in their professional repertoire, college mental health service providers have the opportunity to deliver non-intrusive treatment to a wider audience of students who may be dealing with health and wellness issues ranging from mild problems to those with more severe challenges. Equally important, having a trained professional who can relate to the “newness” of functioning in the online learning environment, which many students experience,  can create a bond and help generate successful results in treating students. Additionally, for some students, the anonymity that comes from receiving such services online can provide comfort and confidence for those concerned with the stigma and perception associated with being seen entering the Mental Health Office on campus. 

It is essential that we increase the number of opportunities for online mental health and wellness support and equally important, that students are made aware of their options when it comes to receiving such support. The Distance Mental Health for Clinicians Course is open and free to all.

Opening Doors to Support all Online Students

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The Current State of Support for Our Fully Online Students

If you haven’t done so already, take the time to pretend you are a fully online student and try to navigate the many tasks that students need to do on a regular basis. What do you find? Are the services available to our online population equitable to those that are available on-ground at their college campus? What is the web presence like of your college's critical student services?  Which students are utilizing the services and which students are not and why? These are the many questions that we must ask when evaluating our distance education programs. On my campus, online course offerings are the first to fill but in turn, they have inferior success rates than our on-ground courses. Many times these students find themselves staring at a closed door looking for support that is limited.

What Online Support Should Look Like

Online support should be equitable to services offered in person.  As an example, on my campus, we have a financial aid lab for students to get help with their FAFSA or navigating their online financial aid portal.  Is this same support available to our online student population? If not, how can we provide this resource to our online student population? Maybe the solution involves leveraging the staff that currently work in the financial aid lab but have them utilize Cranium Café to offer the same services remotely. Additionally, we offer many workshops on all topics on campus but nothing online except for the orientation.  What if we recorded all of our workshops and made them available online? Or better yet provide a distance option for students to participate remotely with our students that are on-ground.

Online Support Supports All Students

Online Mental Health (MH) services provide anonymity, creating a safe environment to receive services. Once a student has participated in MH services online they may be more likely to reach out for additional support in person. In addition to MH services, other support services like tutoring, other health center services, special resource center or other services may have a stigma attached to them and preclude students from seeking help in person where they may feel comfort in reaching out online.

Inclusivity

This means providing the tools and support services for all of our students regardless of their background or how they are taking their courses. Online students must also be included in all of our equity conversations.

With all the buzz around Guided Pathways, how are we implementing the concepts of the 4 pillars for our online students?  Online students also need to be able to enter the path easily, have clarity in their path, have the support to stay on their path and to also ensure their learning on the path.

Choosing an Online Counseling Platform

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As California Community College students begin their Fall semester, student services departments are gearing up to provide students access to support services. According to the 2017 California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Distance Education Report:

“Increasing numbers of distance education course sessions, coupled with increasing numbers of students taking these courses, have led to subsequent increases in full-time equivalent students (FTES). Currently, nearly one in three students take a distance education course in an academic year.”

As the number of online students continues to grow, many colleges struggle to provide online students the same type of support and success preparation as they provide their in-person students. The California Virtual Campus-Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI) understands the struggle that comes with finding the right tools to provide online support services. In an effort to close the equity gap in online education, the CVC-OEI provides colleges a list of vetted online resources that can help distance education programs support their students and at the same time meet accreditation standards. Online counseling is a perfect example of how online tools can help promote an inclusive and supportive online learning environment. Helping students feel connected means finding a way to meet them where they are and providing the support they need during hours that align with their schedules.

7 Questions to Consider When Choosing an Online Counseling Platform

  1. Accessibility - has the tool gone through an accessibility audit to confirm that it complies with the WCAG2.1 standards. Students with disabilities must be able to trust and rely on a counseling tool that will provide the best quality services.
  2. FERPA, HIPAA & Security- is the tool FERPA and HIPAA compliant? Are there security features integrated into the platform to protect student information? For example: single sign-on authentication and a student consent form.
  3. LMS & LTI Opportunities- does the tool have Learning Management System and Learning Tool Interoperability opportunities? Meaning, it allows services like online counseling to integrate with the learning management system, as single sign-on tool. Ultimately can your students access the counseling tool through Canvas- the learning management system used by the California Community College system.  
  4. Student Information System Integration- does the online counseling tool connect to the college SIS system in order to keep track of data; reason codes for Management Information System (MIS) reporting needed for state and federal funding.  
  5. Group customization- does the tool allow for department/group customization. When colleges provide counseling services there are departments that are also providing counseling services but they are not considered part of the general counseling department. Can the platform separate general counseling from EOPS counseling, DSPS counseling, Veteran Services Counseling and Mental Health counseling?
  6. User Friendly-  does tool have features that go beyond a live video stream? A user friendly tool should provide all modes of communication in one single platform, are there opportunities to communicate through; live video stream, chat and email?  Does it allow users to download information and documents in real-time? Is the tool easy to navigate? Does it allow for features that create more interactive sessions like: screen share, document upload and real-time document editing? Does the tool provide options for  “small meetings” and “large meetings” It is important to remember that students seek support from counseling departments depending on the services that are available: will your department offer online counseling appointments? online walk-in sessions? online webinars or online orientations?
  7. Surveys- does the tool provide the opportunity to embed an evaluation or survey? It is important to collect data that provides insight on the student experience, in order to evaluate the counseling services along with the counseling platform. Surveys will provide counseling departments the feedback they need to make sure they are aware of their student needs when they create a plan of action.

The CVC-OEI is here to support existing CCC distance education programs. If you are interested in learning more about the online student support resources that have been vetted through the CVC-OEI, please visit our website CVC-OEI.  You may also contact Jessica Hurtado, Program Supervisor-Student Experience for the CVC-OEI at jhurtado@ccconlineed.org or leave a comment below.

 

Innovative Tools to Equitize Online Counseling Services and Instruction

The California Community Colleges (CVC) - Online Education Initiative (OEI) provides support services to address equity and achievement gaps in the online learning environment experienced by students from marginalized communities.  Aligned with Chancellor Oakley’s Vision for Success to fully close equity gaps within the CCC system, these ongoing efforts include applying an equity lens to surface institutional and systemic barriers, implementing an Equity Framework to address disparate impact and increase our students’ sense of belonging, and providing colleges with innovative tools, technology, and professional development in the areas of instruction and student services.     

The CVC-OEI and the Online Counseling Network (OCN) have designed innovative tools to support high quality Online Counseling Services. Instruction and student services play a pivotal role in student success and providing students with the ability to access online services in real time, truly defines meeting our students where they are. In 2016, Cranium Café powered by ConexED was selected as the meeting and collaboration platform for the Online Counselor’s Network Project. The ConexED platform was designed with student services in mind and ConexED is 100% committed to accessibility, FERPA, HIPAA and Security. The platform allows for various forms of communication (email, chat, video conferencing) all in one tool. The CVC-OEI and the OCN not only introduced this innovative tool to the counseling field but they also made sure, training and resources were provided to those using the online counseling platform. Experienced counselors are invited to participate in professional development courses, where they will learn strategies and techniques for fostering successful online counseling sessions.

Student Equity in Online Counseling

Our students are tomorrow’s leaders and workforce.  As educators, equity must be at the center of our daily practice as we assist students with meeting their educational, personal, and professional goals. Many of our students enroll in online courses and/or use online support services in the matriculation process. Counselors are key to this process.  In classrooms and counseling sessions, they identify students’ strengths, skills, and knowledge, and provide guidance towards selecting appropriate educational and career paths. However, to address disparities, close achievement gaps, and meet the needs of each student, it is important for counselors to provide welcoming and supportive environments that are based upon equity principles and culturally responsive teaching and learning practices.  Participating in flex-day breakout sessions, conferences, and campus-wide cultural events are great starts, but equity requires ongoing professional development, and a supportive community that provides networking opportunities and resources. There must also be a personal willingness and commitment to know our students and the communities they come from, to be more deeply engaged in the work to transform our classrooms, the delivery of student services, and our online colleges.

How Do You Do Equity?  

In The Next Equity Challenge, Dr. Estala Bensimon refers to higher education faculty members as ‘first-generation equity practitioners’ who must recognize and concede that their practices are failing to create success for too many students.  They need to see that their implicit biases about race and ethnicity often prevent them from viewing students who are not like themselves as college material (Bensimon, 2016). Having an awareness around institutional and systemic barriers to online learning is key to eliminating achievement gaps. This includes challenges such as implicit bias, microaggressions, and stereotype threat. USC Center for Urban Education (CUE) offers equity-minded indicators and other valuable resources. Equity-minded counselors help students to build on their strengths.  They create welcoming environments that develop a sense of identity with and belonging to our institutions, and educational experiences to match their goals. Because equity is not about fairness, rather it it is about creating inclusive supportive learning environments that help our students find their voice and fulfill their potential.

Get Involved

The OEI will be offering professional development opportunities through on-campus workshops, online courses, webinars, and training modules, including a four-week course, Equity & CRTL for Online Counselors, this course will be offered through @ONE, late fall 2018. Along with opportunities for general counselors and mental health clinicians. A six-week Online College Counseling course, a two-week Online Mental Health for non-clinician course and a three-week Online Mental Health for licensed clinicians course.

May is Mental Health Matters Month

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May is Mental Health Matters Month! In May, people across the country come together to spread awareness about the importance of mental health and show their support for the issue. Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness and our students are no exception. In fact, community college students are more likely than their peers at four year institutions to be struggling with mental illnesses, but are less likely to access mental health services. It does not matter if a student is an 18 year old fresh out of high school, or a 41 year old parent attending community college to earn an associate degree - college is stressful for most students.

""Struggling with depression and anxiety while trying to balance academics, work and life can make a challenging academic experience even more difficult and providing support to these students in an online environment poses its own challenges. The OEI Online Education Initiative in collaboration with the California Community College Online College Counseling Network created courses specifically focused on mental health to address such challenges. Two courses are available - a course for general counselors and another for mental health counselors. These courses take a close look at the growing trend of distance mental health services otherwise known as e-therapy and the importance of such services being available to community college students. Course discussion and activities guide dialogue and live sessions facilitated by licensed clinicians in the field.

The newest course, Distance Mental Health for Clinicians, is happening June 4-24! By the end of this course participants will be able to summarize the importance of CCC distance mental health services, identify multiple forms of these services, identify legal and ethical challenges to such services and potential solutions, define and describe scope of practice at home institution. Mental Health for Non-Clinicians returns this summer from July 9-22! By the end of this course participants will be able to summarize the importance of mental health services, identify multiple forms of distance mental health services, identify students in need of such services, demonstrate effective referrals and identify appropriate resources. Show your support for mental health and enroll in a course today! Professional development credit is available.

Learn more about our upcoming courses for counselors!

Nuances of Online Counseling

Via the Online Counseling Network (OCN), counseling faculty statewide are participating in synchronous online counseling which allows them to replicate a face-to-face (f2f) meeting. Working this way has revealed nuances that counselors need to be aware of. I will share two today.

Eye Contact

The position of your computer camera can impact your eye contact as it can present a nonverbal appearance that you are distracted or uninterested even though you may be staring directly at the student on your computer screen. Camera placement can make a significant difference in how you build rapport online. If you have a camera embedded in your computer monitor, I recommend you adjust your monitor to a position where your camera and eyes are horizontally aligned and level. Positioning your camera in such a manner will present a level of eye contact similar to your f2f counseling appointments. If you have a camera separate from your computer monitor, I recommend you either purchase a stand so that you can place the camera at eye level or buy a camera that you can place on the top of your computer monitor and adjust to your eye level.

Student Engagement

During an online counseling appointment, student participation is an essential component to address student learning outcomes (SLO). For example, many counseling departments include an SLO focusing on applying educational planning so that students can identify course requirements that enable a student to pursue their educational goal/s (e.g., associate degree and transfer requirements). A vital nuance is to allow students the ability to moderate some of the session so they can navigate resources such as your online catalog, key websites (e.g., assist.org), and other vital components that enable students to build a meaningful educational plan that is collaborative and critical to the learning process. As a result, students are increasing their educational cultural capital which contributes to their success and college readiness. Educational cultural capital is student’s mastery or preparedness of the college student role (Aschaffenburg & Maas, p.573, 1997). 2008), so the more educational cultural capital a student has then, the students will gain a more in-depth knowledge of their academic expectations.

One of the aspects as a community college counseling faculty I enjoy is growing my knowledge base and implementing new strategies in my counseling sessions, as this helps me become effective in my approach with students. The more you take time to engage in online synchronous counseling  the more you will implement effective practices that address the nuances of online counseling. Stay tuned for future posts that discuss other nuances when providing synchronous online counseling.

To learn more about Online Counseling check out our webpage