Brookhaven College Counselors
Contribute to Students’ Skill and
Identity Development
Presenters:
Beverly Neu Menassa, LPC-S
Assistant Dean, Student Support Services
Dr. Rhonda Dalrymple, Psychologist
Professional Counselor
Objectives
•
•
•
•
•
Creation (in the beginning)
Creative Failures
Creative Successes
It’s All About the Data
Star Award
In the Beginning
• In 2009, Brookhaven hired its first Full-Time
Professional Counselor in 10 years.
• It was a Faculty-driven position.
• So, during the second month of my employment,
(during the Spring 2009 Semester), I created a
survey for Faculty to determine topic preference
for a workshop series.
• 55 Faculty responded.
Faculty Presentation Topic Preferences
Critical Thinking
73%
Note-taking Strategies
64%
Study Skills
62%
Motivational Strategies
56%
Test-Taking Strategies
55%
Active Listening
49%
Learning Styles
47%
Goal Setting
44%
General Information
44%
Stress Management
42%
Communication Styles
40%
Emotional Intelligence
35%
Healthy Relationships
Money Management
Therapeutic Play / Wellness
22%
20%
11%
Summer ‘09
(AKA The Lonely Days)
Summer 2009
• Called the workshops,
Student Support Group
• Focused on Skill
Development:
– Note-taking Skills
– Study Skills
– Test-taking Strategies
• Amateur Flier
• No students attended.
What’s in a Name?
• We wanted to emphasize Skill
Development.
• We did not want to increase the work in
students’ lives:
–
–
–
–
Classwork
Homework
Housework
Work Work (Jobs)
• So, we avoided the commonly used term
“Work”shop.
Catchy SkillsShop Titles
Time Flies. Be the Pilot.
Time Management Strategies
What’s Your Style?
Learn How You Learn
From Anxiety to Excellence:
Test-Taking Strategies
Final Exams! Work! Family! Holidays!
Stress Management Strategies
Avoid Brain Drain.
Concentration and Study Strategies
Hanging Out, Hooking Up, Falling in Love
Develop and Maintain Healthy Relationships
Mean People Stink!
Dealing with Difficult People
Can You Hear Me Now?
Active Listening and
Communication Skills
Afraid of the Math Monster?
Techniques to Overcome
Math Anxiety
Creative Scheduling
• SkillsShops are 1 hour sessions.
• Wanted to weave the SkillsShops seamlessly
into students’ lives.
• Many students only come to campus to
attend class.
• Strategically schedule SkillsShops to meet
before or after classes.
The SkillsShops are Born
Fall 2009
• Abandoned the Student
Support Group title for
SkillsShops.
• Offered 13 SkillsShops.
• Made an impassioned plea to
Faculty to promote the
SkillsShops.
• Amateur Flyer
• 96 students attended.
• Most Popular SkillsShop:
Less Stress, More Success
Creating the Logo
The SkillsShops Redesigned
Fall 2010
• Offered 12 SkillsShops.
• Worked with Marketing to
create the SkillsShop Logo.
• 228 students attended.
• Most popular SkillsShops:
– Less Stress, More
Success
– Show Me the Money!
Money Management
and other Life Skills.
Identity Development
• As Mental Health Counselors, we really wanted to
incorporate SkillsShops that would help students
manage emotions, move through autonomy, and
develop mature relationships.
• New (and not very successful) SkillsShops for Fall 2011
Included:
– Necessary Endings: How to Cope When a Relationship
Ends.
– Helping a Friend in Need: How to Recognize and Refer a
Troubled Friend.
– Why am I Feeling so Sad?
– Single with Kids? How to Balance Your Busy Life
– Party Safe! Drink Safe!
Creative Failures
Fall 2011
• Offered 18 SkillsShops
• Worked with the Veteran Center
in Mesquite and attempted to
reach Veterans.
• Attempted to focus more on
Mental Health concerns.
• 194 student attendees
• 0 Veterans Attendees
• Most attended SkillsShops:
– Time IS on Your Side
– Less Stress, More Success
• Least attended SkillsShops:
– SkillsShops for Veterans
– Necessary Endings
– Why am I Feeling so Sad?
– Party Safe! Drink Safe!
Identity Development
• We did not give up! We just got more inventive with our
presentations and more creative with our titles.
• More successful SkillsShops include:
– Afraid of the Math Monster? Techniques to Overcome Math
Anxiety
• We incorporate discussions about coping with anxiety
and/or panic attacks.
– Mean People Stink! How to Deal with Difficult People
• We help students identify that they may be a difficult
person (in a gentle way, of course).
Identity Development
– The Glass IS Half Full: Strategies for Positive Thinking.
• We present the core premise of cognitive therapy. (How I
think has a direct impact on how I feel.) We also present
symptoms of depression.
– Fight Stage-Fright: Relaxation Techniques for Public Speaking
• This is another way for us to discuss anxiety and/or panic
attacks.
– Hanging Out, Hooking Up, Falling in Love: Develop and
Maintain Healthy Relationships
• This is a way for us to help students understand that their
relationship may not be very mature or healthy.
Creative Successes
Fall 2012
• Offered 15 SkillsShops
• Partnered with Mutual of
Omaha Bank to provide a
Financial Literacy Series.
• 305 students attended.
• Most popular SkillsShops:
– Hanging Out, Hooking Up,
Falling in Love
– Don’t Drown in Debt: Tips
for Understanding Credit
– Avoid Brain Drain:
Concentration and Study
Strategies
More Creative Successes
Fall 2013
• Offered 19 SkillsShops.
• Kept the Financial Literacy Series
but asked an interested
Brookhaven accounting professor
to present the information.
• QEP Slogan is Reading: The App
for Life, so worked with QEP
committee and Reading Instructors
and created a series to support the
QEP.
• Also offered a Stay Safe Series.
• 455 students attended.
• Most popular SkillsShop:
– Is My Relationship Healthy
– Happiness is Always an Inside Job:
Strategies for Positive Thinking
– Money, Money, Money, Monnnneeeyyy:
Tips on Money Management
Change is Good
Fall 2014
• Offered 19 SkillsShops.
• Worked on creating more collaborations
with faculty to increase involvement and
commitment to the SkillsShops.
• Created a Wellness theme to keep
SkillsShops new and fresh.
• 394 students attended.
• Faculty and Staff presented 8 of the
SkillsShops:
• Coach
• Nurse
• Sustainability Program Director
• Reading Faculty
• Accounting Faculty
• Most popular SkillsShops:
•
•
Urge to Splurge? Strategies for Saving,
Income Taxes, and Reducing Spending.
Developing Active Listening and
Communication Skills
More Change
Online SkillsShops
Spring 2014
• On March 28, 2014 the
Counselors rolled out Online
SkillsShops.
• Online SkillsShop Topics
include:
• Study Skills
• Test-Taking Strategies
• Techniques to Overcome
Math Anxiety
• Time Management
Strategies
• Students completed 239
Online SkillsShops during
the Spring 2014 Semester.
• Students completed 245
Online SkillsShops during
the Fall 2014 Semester.
It’s All About the Data
• How many students attend? (sign in sheets)
• Are they satisfied? (5 point Likert scale
satisfaction survey)
• Did they learn something? (pre- and post-test)
• Do students who attend the SkillsShops make
better grades than students who do not attend?
SkillsShop Attendance
# of Students
779
660
517
396
334
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Satisfaction Surveys
Please rate each statement below using the following scale:
1 = Strongly Disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Unsure/Not Applicable 4 = Agree 5 = Strongly Agree
Overall Presentation:
_____The material covered in this presentation was helpful for me as a student.
_____ I will apply information learned from this presentation to my coursework.
_____The length of the presentation was sufficient and maintained my interest.
_____The handouts and materials I received today will be useful to me in the future.
_____I am glad my instructor recommended or scheduled this presentation.
The Presenter:
_____Is knowledgeable of the subject matter and answered questions thoroughly.
_____Was organized and well-prepared.
_____Explained information in an understandable way.
_____Engaged participants and encouraged questions.
_____Helped me realize how this material was related to my success as a student.
Something I learned as a result of this presentation that I will definitely use is:
Something that could be changed to improve this presentation is:
Do you have any suggestions or requests for future presentation topics?
Are Students Satisfied?
SkillsShops
Satisfaction Survey
4.8
4.7
4.6
4.6
4.5
4.5
4.6
4.5
4.5
4.5
Spring
2014
Fall
2014
4.3
Fall
2009
Spring Fall
2010 2010
Spring
2011
Fall
2011
Spring
2012
Fall
2012
Spring
2013
Fall
2013
Learning Objective
– Pre- and Post-Test for the Less Stress, More Success SkillsShop:
• List two physical and two emotional symptoms of stress.
– Pre- and Post-Test for the The Glass IS Half Full: Strategies for
Positive Thinking SkillsShop:
• List at least 3 steps you can take to identify and counter
negative thinking.
– Pre- and Post-Test questions for Is My Relationship Healthy
SkillsShop:
• Name three warning signs/red flags of controlling behavior.
• List two things you can do to get out of a controlling
situation.
Pre-Test / Post-Test Results
SkillsShops
% increase in scores
62%
52%
34%
28%
Spring / Fall 2010
Spring / Fall 2011
Spring / Fall 2012
Spring / Fall 2013
Extra Credit is a BIG DEAL!
Does Attending SkillsShops Improve Students’ Grades?
SkillsShop Comparison Data
% of students who successfully completed classes
83%
79%
68%
68%
66%
2010
82%
2011
BHC Students
SkillsShop Attendees
2012
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
2013 Star Award for Closing the Gap
• Recognizes exceptional contributions toward
meeting one or more of the goals of Closing the
Gaps by 2015.
• General Eligibility:
– Program must be in operation for at least 3 years;
– Demonstrate successful outcomes in student
participation, student success, academic excellence, or
research that are attributable to the program.
– Demonstrate an efficient cost/benefit ratio per student.
– Clearly demonstrate improvement and excellence over
time.
Demonstrating Efficient Cost/Benefit Ratio
• The cost of operating the Brookhaven College SkillsShop
Program is approximately $2,000 per year. Counselors are paid
an average of $33 per hour; adding preparation time, the total
wage is $1,716. The remaining $284 covers student resource
materials. The Brookhaven College Marketing and Creative
Services Department creates attractive flyers; however, the
counselors distribute very few paper copies. Most of the
promotion is by word of mouth, online, and via large electronic
monitors around campus that are used for promoting all
Brookhaven College programs at a rate of $3.87 to $5.98 per
SkillsShop attendee. As the results show, this is an extremely
cost-effective model to help close the gap.
• There were 50 nominations for the award
from among the state's two- and four-year
colleges and universities.
• There were eight finalists.
• There were three award winners.
In Memory of Virginia Clemente