Note of Acknowledgement, Appreciation, and Support from OC Counselling
November 04/22
The Counselling Services department would like to formally acknowledge the ongoing challenges that OCSU continues to face as well as the hard work and advocacy you tirelessly do on behalf of your members. On the Kelowna campus, members of our department had the privilege of attending the November 2nd Student Solidarity Walk Out, to support and stand with OCSU in challenging OC leadership to address the important concerns that you raised. Though our department has a specific campus role in supporting students, our sense is that you have identified both pragmatic and systemic concerns which negatively impact students’ personal and academic success and wellbeing.
Over the years, we have valued the collaboration with and connection to OCSU. Though OCSU and Counselling Services have different venues in which to advocate for our respective priorities, we hope it’s fair to say that we share some of the same values and goals. OCSU generously shares information that assists us with improving our services and though more could certainly be done on our end, there have been several occasions in which OCSU has collaborated with us to launch projects that support student mental health and wellness.
Our department takes some pride in the fact that OCSU asks our department challenging questions and highlights both the importance of counselling as well as some of our limitations when advocating for your members’ needs. We like to think of ourselves as a department that invites and appreciates potentially confronting perspectives and constructive criticism. We are often frustrated with the ways that students are excluded from important institutional conversations and, as (non-instructional) faculty members, we share many of the perspectives and experiences recently outlined in OCFA’s letter of support. Though our department has also been guilty, at times, of not inviting other stakeholder perspectives, it is always very exciting and resonant when OCSU membership feedback informs our departmental discussions, pilot projects, and budget proposal documents.
In the spirit of continued collaboration and transparency, we wanted to provide a note of clarification on the Counselling Services’ information presented to OC leadership council (on October 28/22). The 10 session limit, for example, was initiated at the department level, largely motivated by the value of ensuring that any OC student could access services in a timely and equitable manner and, secondly, as a way to maintain our ability to offer clinical supports in an individual appointment format (as many other PSIs have adopted service models that don’t necessarily align with our values and students’ preferences). This departmental policy was then reviewed and approved by Student Services’ administration.We also wanted to acknowledge the timeliness and appropriateness of highlighting the need for cultural competency in our ability to support OC students and align with directions and goals of OC’s guiding documents. This issue is one that our department has certainly discussed and begun to consider more earnestly in recent years. We look forward to continued conversations with and input from OCSU as to how culturally sensitive counselling supports should be delivered and the steps and training required to ensure that this is done well. As the intent of this this letter was to express our support in these challenging times, we trust that there will be future opportunities and formats in which to discuss these and other (e.g., wait times, community referrals) operational dynamics as well as some collaborative next steps and opportunities.
With much respect and support,
-OC Counselling Services