Faculty and Staff Guide
From the Director
This guidebook is designed to familiarize you, as a faculty or staff member of Houghton College, with the resources of the Houghton College Counseling Center. Regardless of your "official position" on campus, your contact with a student can play a significant role in that student's persistence and success. A student may view you as a major resource for guidance with an academic or personal problem, or may look to you as a role model or mentor. The latter may even happen without your awareness. Your willingness to listen, to encourage, and to share your knowledge and experience can have a substantive impact on that student's life.
Your presence in the daily life of a student also places you in a rather unique position. You may be the first one to recognize signs that a student is struggling in some way. On occasion, you may encounter a student undergoing overwhelming stress or facing a serious life crisis. The student may seek your assistance and you may be wondering "How can I help?" Perhaps you have been helping a student but are at the "Where do we go from here?" stage, or you might be at the "I'm in over my head" stage. The following is an effort to give you the information you might need at that time.
This guide consists of four sections. The first contains
general information about the Counseling Center at Houghton College.
Think of this as an orientation and "fast facts" to the services of
the Center. The second section lists common student problems,
or reasons that students seek counseling services, along with our
approach to treatment. The third section outlines the various
educational resources and programs of the Counseling Center.
The final section offers guidelines for assisting a distressed
student, suggests procedures for referral to the Center, and gives
information concerning confidentiality in these matters.
I trust that the information contained in this guide will be useful
to you. Our role in the lives of our students can't be
underestimated. Your part in shaping those lives goes well
beyond the office or classroom and lies at the heart of the
College's overall mission: the equipping of young women and
men for a life of competent service.
Sincerely,
Michael D. Lastoria, Ed.D. NCC
Director of Counseling Services
