It appears most private Universities in Ghana do not offer effective counseling service to their students. It seems to me that for this service to be effective, some basic provisions should be available at the University. What has contributed to the effectiveness of students’ counseling in your institution?
The incorporation into the university world is an important challenge for a good number of the students. For both the novelty of the context, the special characteristics of the environment, the multitude of information receiving, and the demands that the new situation calls for them. From a need that the student describes and experiences as fundamental, it is possible to start different systems, strategies, resources, accompanying the students in this new process of adaptation. At our university we start from the analysis of the educational and psychosocial reality that new University students face, but also from the reality that students perceive. From this analysis, revealed by themselves, the description of their needs appears. Moreover, the assessment of the suitability of the different resources that our University makes available to all students. These resources are intended to cover both their educational-training development, and the optimization of communication and social skills. Services such as the Program of Tutorial Action, the Student Support Centre, specific for the students with some kind of special need, and the Mediation Service, that facilitates the understanding between two large collective student body and faculty, are intended to make easier the adaptation of students to the University environment in its multiple facets. Our conclusions are in the direction that, indeed, a suitable orientation program aimed at students in general and at who requires it more specifically, as well as the mediation in the educational process are important. Both allow a pleasant stay in the University context, to be productive, and ultimately, to get both the optimization of the performance, and the skills achievement of our students.
f you are talking about advising, one professor should adise a student untill the student graduate and they should be (if possible) aware of the studn's career plans and follow up. It should never be automated nor mechanized.
Doubling as a counselor both at the workplace and the training school let me share my experience of well over 9 years of practice. I hear your question Denis and with the increase in tertiary education uptake in most African countries this is/or aught to be a concern for most institutions. As the numbers of students increase, there are notable variations in their ages, diversity in cultures, socio-economic status, health and academic/career needs to name but a few all which potent counseling issues in the learning institution. To be meet the diversity in needs and enhance functionality of individual students/educator there is need to individualize the counseling services offered. To make the counseling service effective, professionalism is key - ethical practice of confidentiality, UPR, client autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence etc aught to be observed. Embracing group and individual sessions, advocacy, awareness raising on various topics and well as community outreach activities and research. How to ensure this happens includes continuous professional development for the counselors and institutional good will in the development of counseling services, more so in countries where this is a 'new profession'. It is also important for institutional counselors to share best practices with others in their region.
Hi Dennis
Like Mohammed, I would want to know whether you are referring to student advisement or actual therapy for the student. Depending, the response would be different. In brief though, for advisement- the professor/instructor are assigned students within the department to advise. For therapy there has to be a counselling centre, the counsellors need to sensitize the campus about the services through different initiates and the students who use the service have feel there is a high level of confidentiality and effectiveness and they will tell their colleagues about the service.
I mean that form of advice whereby you put before the students all the options available to enable them make their own decisions.
I wish to state the obvious. I understand that the best feature of educational philosophy is that it is a collaborative process where all of us; teacher, advisers, Councillors and students collaborate in getting the student to graduate without sacrificing the rigor of the standards. It is not an adversarial process where the aim of educator is to fail the student and the role of the student is pass without learning. It is more like a medical practice than a normal every day business. What is important in counseling, teaching, and advising is passionate commitment on the part of us all.
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