Changing Resources for Changing Times
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has brought about a lot of unexpected changes in the last month. With classes being moved online for the rest of the semester, there is a lot of uncertainty facing students and staff. Dealing with uncertain times can be difficult, and one office on campus is tackling those feelings of loneliness, grief, and ambiguity.
The Counseling Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato serves all currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students. The office offers a large variety of services to students to meet their unique needs at no cost, such as individual counseling, group counseling, seminars, wellness workshops and referrals.
In response to recent events, the office has moved all services online for the remaining semester to meet the ever-changing needs of students. They are now offering appointments and individual counseling sessions, via Zoom, for students who are in Minnesota (out-of-state students will be provided with consultations and referral services).
In addition, they have adapted several of their seminars, workshops, and groups to be provided online. According to Kari Much, Department Chair of the Counseling Center, the office worked closely with IT Solutions to provide students with online access to resources to succeed during this difficult time.
“We have also added many new services to help students cope during this challenging time. We are offering several drop-in ‘Coping with COVID’ programs that specifically assist students with current challenges such as managing social distancing, coping with anxiety, being an online student and more that are offered multiple times per week for the rest of the semester. We have recorded some ‘on-demand’ presentations that students can access from our website at any time, and we have also developed a web page of self-help resources devoted to dealing with the distress of living through a pandemic,” says Much.
These resources are essential during this unprecedented time. Now, more than ever, students need help from the University to complete a semester that they never imagined in their wildest dreams. With this in mind, the Counseling Center has worked hard to adapt to telemental health services while keeping all services free and readily available for students.
Much reiterates, “All of our services are still free! Our Coping with COVID programs do not require registration; students can simply pick a time and topic that fits for them and drop in”
Students can learn more by visiting the Counseling Center's website here.
We are doing our best to serve our students and want to recognize that we are in this together. Together, we stay Maverick strong.
