Providing Crisis Support for Online Students

As OLC accurately states, the momentum of online education continues to build.  Creating truly great online programs is no easy task. Universities need to stay abreast of the latest technological developments while also making the best possible use of existing tools. Universities need top notch digital marketing and recruitment, to reach students that are right for the school and right for the program, state of the art instructional design to effectively translate classroom learning into the online environment, student support and technology integration to cultivate a seamless user experience.

However, not to be forgotten in the development of great programs is the need to support the health and wellbeing of enrolled students. Leveraging the recent work of Lauren Elan Helsper, we will explore how universities can better support online students in crisis.  Below is a brief excerpt of the study that will serve as the foundation for our session:

Given the large number of graduate students enrolled in degree programs, many researchers have conducted studies in order to determine the unique needs of this student population. Turner and Berry (2000) for example, discovered that many graduate students tend to experience mental health challenges and stressors that can result in increased drop-out rates. Hyun, Quinn, Madon, & Lustig (2006) conducted a study of 3,121 graduate students and found that nearly 50% of the students considered seeking mental health support and nearly 31% of the graduate students had used mental health resources either on or off campus. Hyun et al. (2006) discovered that the primary reason graduate students sought support was to cope with stressors such as academic problems, career-related challenges, financial concerns, emotional problems, and relationship issues. Peters (1997) suggested that current graduate students are more likely to have competing familial and financial responsibilities and tend to have less program guidance than was traditionally common in the past.  As a result, graduate students need to be more self- motivated to ensure their success in the academic progress (Peters, 1997).

While it appears that the majority of mental health challenges graduate students face center around normally-expected stressors such as academics, financial pressure, and relationship difficulties, there is a percentage of graduate students who suffer from more severe mental health diagnoses. Numerous studies and surveys conducted in recent years have determined that there is an increase of students with mental health diagnoses at institutions of higher education. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), an annual survey administered to American college students used to assess the extent to which students engage in various aspects of collegiate life (“NSSE Survey Instrument,” n.d.), illustrates the rise of mental health issues on university campuses. According to NSSE surveys, between 2009 and 2011, students who self- identified as having a mental health disorder increased by about 57 percent (“NSSE Past Summary Tables,” n.d.).  Mowbray et al. (2006) conducted an analysis of studies and determined that approximately 12-18% of college students have some form of mental health condition.  In Eisenberg, Gollust, Golberstein, and Hefner’s (2007) study of the mental health needs of young adults, it was discovered that nearly 13% of graduate students tested positive for a depressive or anxiety related mental health condition and 1.6% of the students involved in the survey admitted to having suicidal thoughts within the past month.

Occasionally, students suffer such severe mental health conditions that they are driven to engage in violence against others. On February 14, 2008, for example, Steven Kazmierczak, a former sociology graduate student at Northern Illinois University, entered a lecture hall and fired bullets into a crowd (Kalish & Kimmel, 2010).  Kazmierczak injured 24 individuals and killed five people before turning the gun on himself (Kalish & Kimmel, 2010).  It is significant to note that Kazmierczak had recorded mental health disorders and was familiar with therapy yet he was still driven to violence and murder (Farrell, 2008).

Given the overwhelming evidence that graduate students struggle with mental health issues and that some have the possibility of engaging in violence, the question that arises is how are institutions of higher education identifying graduate students who are in distress and providing them with the appropriate interventions and resources to prevent such tragedies and ensure safety on campuses?  In an era of increasing mental health diagnoses and increased instances of mental health related violence on campuses, many American universities have implemented means of identifying a person in distress and providing an appropriate response in hopes of preventing similar tragedies.  Many of these newer means of identifying students of concern stem from university audits and increased governmental regulations (Rasmussen & Johnson, 2008). In this landscape of identifying and supporting students in distress, the university counseling center is proving to play a crucial role.

Student Counseling Centers in Institutions of Higher Education

University counseling centers strive to provide individualized and group therapy for students, assess and mitigate crisis situations, provide outreach to the campus community regarding mental health, and provide consultation to staff and faculty regarding student needs (Ghetie, 2007).  The demographics and organizational structure of student counseling centers vary among universities and are often dependent upon the university size, mission, historical background, and geographical locations (Bishop, 2006). Bishop (2006) illustrated that the unique characteristics of each university often contribute to the composition of the counseling center in terms of staffing models.  Additionally, university counseling centers are utilizing differing means of addressing the increasing demand for student support as a result of the increasing presence of students with mental health needs on campus.  Some university counseling centers mandate session limits on “in-house” counseling and refer students to community providers for additional support (Bishop, 2006). Other counseling centers are implementing innovative ways to schedule appointments and manage waiting lists (Bishop, 2006).       Regardless of the structure that each university counseling center has decided to implement, it is evident that they all share the same goal of supporting students.

Irrespective of the necessary support that collegiate counseling centers provide to students, the centers themselves are currently in the midst of a struggle as the mental and emotional needs of students have increased yet the allocation of resources for counseling centers has remained constant. According to Farrell (2008), university counseling center directors have advocated for their centers highlighting their need for increased staffing and funding and  warning of the dangers of not increasing counseling center resources to fit the growing needs of today’s students.  University administrators and counseling centers often find themselves in the middle of a debate as the counseling staff requests additional funding while institutions of higher education administrations often choose to allocate additional monies to enhance academics as per the mission statement of the university (Ghetie, 2007).  The issue remains, however, that counseling centers are still being asked to meet the demands of the student population. Mental health professionals, including counseling center staff, are considered medical professionals and are thus required to provide the best care possible to all of their clients. This requirement often presents an ethical dilemma, as the counseling center clinicians are unable to provide adequate therapy services to the large numbers of students requiring support (Ghetie, 2007).

The most effective university counseling centers are also cognizant of the unique needs and challenges of the increasing online graduate population and learn how to support them as well.  For example, the “typical” online graduate student resides in a remote area and tends to be older than most of the clients (undergraduate students) who utilize brick and mortar counseling centers (Kretovics, 2003).  Online graduate students tend to have non-traditional schedules as they often have the added responsibilities of professional and familial commitments (Ludwig- Hardman & Dunlap, 2003).  As a result, it appears that university counseling centers need to learn how to support these students as they often have challenges that differ from the traditional students with whom counseling center staff are accustomed to working with.