Counseling Center eyes new focus

Amongst cut backs and increased enrollment the center aims to reach new goals and more students.

Ultimately, a community college is designed to enhance and better a community through education and career training.  The LB counseling center is out to make this college a better atmosphere to do just that. Although cuts are being felt in the center the “retuned and re-focused” Counseling Center believes that by advancing relationships with students across campus we will be adding more value than what were are losing to budget cuts.

Mark Weiss is finishing up his 22^nd year as a counselor here at LB and has been the front man in the “re-creation” of the counseling office. He believes we need we need to be “pro-active in campus community building. “ 

Weiss stated that “the sooner a student knows someone cares about them and that someone is here to help them the better odds that student is going to stay and stay longer.”

Research as in fact pointed out that students that have positive relationships with faculty and staff, tend to be more successful in class, stay in school longer and in the end graduate.

Like any college many of LB students are faced with difficult decisions and challenges that can affect their academic success. For many reasons students feel they have no one to reach out to.  Weiss feels “we need to be making sure all students have someone to turn to.”

Bruce Clemetsen our Vice President of student services has been working hand in hand with Weiss to reach these new goals. He believes this new focus will help students get the whole experience of college and increase our graduation numbers.

One of Clemetsen’s goals is to focus in on the undecided students that can benefit the most from counseling.

“By designing our facilities to help these students get through the undecided process and help them create a path for themselves will keep these students motivated, ease their financial aid stress, and decrease our drop- out rate here”  Clemetsen added.

Currently LB has more clubs on campus than they have ever had and Weiss also hopes this can be a way for students to get to involved and bring students together.  This ties into one of the Counseling Center’s goals by working directly with these clubs and Student Life the center can reach student’s that they normally would not have a chance to reach.

“Clubs and Student Life are a way to find students and staff with the positive energy needed to bring students together” Weiss says.

For instance, Weiss noted a group at OSU that is focused on happiness and solutions rather than problems.

Neil Simms a student at LB for the past year is up for the change and believes in the idea of community building here on campus. “It’s a wonderful idea, we all need to come together and help each other to better our abilities as students and citizens of the community.”

Community Colleges directly affect our economic development, jobs, and average income rates in our community. There is a significant economic value in by having more students receive degrees and certificates from LB.

Weiss says “time is now to answer call of the community and we are going to be a better resource to our community and our students.”

At a Glance:

OSU has already made some significant changes to their Counseling department and Weiss plans on meeting with their director June 1st to collaborate on ideas on how to better our campus.

Dael Dixon earns admiration in wrapping up career at LBCC

After 27 years of counseling and being a part of the LB community Dixon will retire as of June 30^th of this year. Her retirement came earlier than expected for her as the budget cuts swept through campus, a co-worker was faced with being laid off and a future left in doubt.

Dixon being Dixon showed the compassion that she has for her co-workers and life in general. She voluntarily offered to retire early to save her co-worker’s job.Students walk into the counseling center for many different reasons here at LB. For the last 20 years here at the Albany Campus Dael Dixon’s office has opened the door for students to come in and enter her office of Zen. The inspirational posters and Zen garden on the desk gives the students a feeling of her “compassion” for them.

Mark Weiss has worked side by side with Dixon for the last 22 years. “She is the personification of all they tried to teach us in graduate school.”

Dixon is a world traveler with a true understanding of her counseling profession. Her sign in her office gives you a since of her prided philosophy, “let all that you do be done in love.”

Unlike Weiss who has worked for a long time with Dixon, Whitney Barstad started working in the counseling center just six months ago.

 “She was the first person to make me feel like I was at home.” “Her caring persona really shows in her work.”

Q&A

What made you want to become a counselor?

-At 19 I was working in Washington D.C. during the Vietnam War, I knew something was missing in my life. I wanted to do something more meaning full for people. I went to apply for a position in a rehabilitation center, the man interviewing me advised me to finish school and pursue my goals.

What is your favorite part about your job here as a counselor at LB?

-Working one on one with the students and finding the best of them. Also, helping people realize what their gifts are. My heart is moved by every person that comes in with their unique issues. I love being there for people. Too many people are not doing what they were born to do and I just want to help them.

Do you have a certain philosophy behind what you do?

-Let all that you do be done in love (as noted on the sign in her office). Let each unique soul into your life and support them in whatever they need.

What are your plans after retirement?

-Just be, do some meditating in pretty settings like in Encinitas, do some swimming and kayaking. Travel to Guatemala next February and Arizona from there to spend time with family. After takings some time off, I would like to volunteer somewhere, maybe for Habitat for Humanity.

What will you miss most about your time here at LB?

-My co-workers, they are like family to me. I felt blessed working with the different health programs here on campus there dedication was moving. I will also miss all the young people here and their stimulating challenges that I was able to help them with.

At A Glance:

Earned her BS in Public Administration and Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Arizona in 1972. Earned Master's in Counseling from University of Oregon in 1982.

Started at Benton Center part time in 1984 after interning there at U of O. Moved to full time at Albany Campus in 1991 where she has worked ever since.

Dixon is an avid traveller and has been to Poland (where her mother is from), Greece, Egypt, Hungry, Check Republic, and most of the European Nations.

Born in New York she moved to Arizona when she was 11 and settled in Oregon after college.

To schedule an appointment with Dixon go to the Career Services and Counseling Center in Takena Hall to do so.

PCDC Parents Voice One Last Hope

Students with children in the Periwinkle Child Development Center attended The Board of Education meeting April 20 with a hope of making one last plea to save the center.

PCDC is a program that benefits not just parents at LB, but also allows students in the educational programs here to complete there practicum under trained profesionals. However, by the end of the meeting it was apparent to the parents that showed up to the Calapooia Center on the Albany Campus they were speaking in vain.

Unfortunately, this is the last term that the PCDC will be in operation, after over 20 years of service to our students and community. In the fall, Head Start is set to take over the child care area, though the contract has not yet been signed.

There is a group of students that are not willing to let this go lightly. 

Melissa Hite, Caila Williams, and Melissa Bledsoe have made repeated attempts to save the PCDC. They have presented alternative plans and possible funding options to LBCC administration. These three parents have been able to pursue their college career and dreams as a result of the resources PCDC provides.

They have been working around the colck with ideas on how to save the center and showed up Wednesday to pitch one last-ditch effort to the board.

Williams is a third year student here at LB and is now dual-enrolled and has two daughters in the program at PCDC. She spoke first and posed some interesting questions to the board. She raised the point that other community colleges (Lane and Chemeketa) have faced similar fates to their child care centers but ended up saving them through student fees. “If students would help support our cause can we save at least one room in the center?” Williams asked.

Hite spoke next, she said LBCC “need to allow the students to make a choice”. She asked “why the center was not a part of the general fund that all students pay into.”

 Head Start (the proposed replacement program for PCDC) still has not signed a contract with LBCC. With fall term right around corner her fears are that they will not be ready in time.

Bledsoe was last to speak on behalf of the center and was hoping to leave a lasting impression with some photos of the children that are being affected as a result of the center closing. She passed out photos, which were displayed on poster board, to the Board to look at while she made her speech. Fewer than half the Board members looked at the photos.

Bledsoe asked the Board directly “is there a deadline?” The board was silent. and she carried on with the same thought in mind that the previous two speakers, wondering what if.

The citizen comments part of the agenda ended with no comments from the Board on any of these students emotional attempts to save their center.

The meeting continued, but during the board comments' section Hal Brayton (Board Member) reminded the students that “in tough times tough decisions have to be made.”

LB is in the midst of many cuts and sacrifices are being made campus wide. Many of them may or may not have affected you. For many student/parents of the PCDC, these cuts are not just hurting their options to stay in school they are in fact “devastating” says Williams.

At a glance;
Online Poll: Go to the Commuter website and take a vote on the issue.

Kids at PCDC Having Some Playground Fun

The children are ready to play after lunch and a little bit of sunshine at the Periwinkle Child Development Center here at Linn Benton Community College. Thursday, April 7.

Riley Rieke gets a push and a smile from his friend Jayden Sears to add to his day.Thursday, April 7 was an especially sunny day at the Periwinkle Child Development Center allowing the kids to have fun and play outside.



Ava Hite loves hanging in the sunshine. Thursday, April 7 at the Periwinkle Child Development Center here at Linn Benton Community College.










LBCC Teams Up with OSU to Offer Study Abroad

Study Abroad suspended!

Or is it?

Yes the Study Abroad Club has been another victim of the recent budget cuts at LBCC and will be temporarily suspended starting fall term of 2011. There is another option, however, for students looking for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a term studying in Fiji, Brazil, Australia, maybe England, or any one of the 70 Countries that Oregon State University's Study Abroad programs have to offer.

Kim Sullivan has been running the study abroad club here at LBCC  since 2008 and was upset to hear about the suspension of the program. Sullivan has helped many students in the past few years through the study abroad process and wanted a way to continue to do so. One of the many benefits of being a student at LB is the ability to be dual-enrolled at OSU in the degree partnership program.

Using these resources, Sullivan will still be able to help students do a study abroad trip in one of the 200 programs that OSU has to offer. Once a student has successfully completed the degree partnership application, they can then take advantage of this amazing experience and begin a life-changing journey.

Ann Helms, a former student at LB who is now studying at OSU, liked her experience enough during her study abroad in London last spring that she is already signed up to go on another study abroad  in the fall through OSU. When asked to about her experience in London, Helms said she “couldn’t have asked for more out of it."

The financial aspect of a study abroad is one that can throw a lot of students off. There is hope, however. If you follow Sullivan's advice of planning ahead and staying on top of the deadlines, you can get assistance. There are scholarships out there for students that are Pell eligible and your financial aid advisers can work with you to get the most out of your financial aid. The Gilman scholarship alone can award up to $5,000 to a student.

Image from blogs.oregonstate.edu

Katie Landgren, a history major here at LB who also spent a term abroad in London last spring was awarded $3,500 from the Gilman and $2,000 from other scholarships to help pay for her experience. Landren also had nothing but good things to say about her time in England. While studying the History of the British Empire, Drama Writing, Travel Writing, and World History, she was also able to see the famous Stonehenge and travel to Scotland on a four day excursion.

For several students, the college process and lengthy time it takes to complete can be a drag and seem repetitive at times. The study abroad gives students a jolt of energy and breath of fresh air into their college experience. There is no better way to get a well-rounded and culturally balanced education than a term away from home in a foreign country.  There are many options available some lasting only three weeks to others that are a full term.

 It’s hard to say whether LB will ever officially bring back the Study Abroad Club to allow all of our student's to enjoy this experience, but you shouldn't be afraid to get involved and ask questions on how you can do a term away from home.

At a glance:

If you would like to follow a current student on her study abroad in London check out Emily Rose's blog as she updates her adventures and experiences over the next 10 weeks. 


For more information on the Study Abroad Club go see Kim Sullivan in the Admissions office in Takena Hall or email her at sullivk@linnbenton.edu .