Essential Activities
1. Guidance and counselling committee:
A Guidance and Counselling Committee should be formed to serve in an advisory capacity or a policy making body for the programme.
The committee can thrash out problems requiring group solution. It should plan monthly, quarterly and yearly programme, coordinate guidance activities and assess the work done.
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The committee should consist of the Dean/Principal, Counselling/Liaison Officer, teachers representing different points of view, academic disciplines, interests and basic philosophies, student representatives, parents, Deputy Chief of UEIGB, Vocational Guidance Officer, etc.
It is essential to determine the limits of responsibility of the guidance committee and identify the specific role to be assumed by each faculty and staff member.
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Clerical Assistance needs to be provided to the Counselling Liaison officer as a methodically organised guidance programme would require maintenance of a lot of record/information. It may range from a part time to whole time assistant depending upon the load of work:
2. Counselling centre:
Every university and a large college should have a counselling centre headed by a trained professional counseling officer who should be a Ph.D or possess Master’s degree in Psychology and Counselling, with considerable counselling, experience.
The Centre should discharge the following functions:
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(i) give assistance to individuals and small groups of students and staff members with special educational, vocational and personal problems; (ii) give assistance to the university and constituent colleges in developing, advising and counselling programmes and consultation on special psychological problems; (iii) provide psychological testing facilities for the university both for individuals and groups; (iv) carry on research on the development of testing procedures and experimental programmes in counselling; and (u) help in the training of post-graduate students in counselling and testing.
Counsellors can develop confidence in the Counselling Services by meeting new students at the time of orientation, visiting the hostel and giving talks to assemblies.
The Counselling Officer/Liaison Officer’s Office:
The Counselling Officer/Liaison Officer should be given a separate room which should afford him sufficient privacy. His office should be adequately furnished. It should have a small desk or table with a chair for the Counselling/Liaison officer and one or two extra chairs for the visitors.
A few other small items of furnishing such as a small book-shelf, a filing cabinet, an almirah, curtains for the windows and doors, a flower vase or table lamp or even an attractive unattractive room.
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The Counselling/Liaison Officer should make the room as cheerful and pleasant, inviting, warm and attractive as possible so that the students like to visit it and feel welcome and at home.
3. Occupational information room and its maintenance:
Occupational information room needs to be set up in every college and university. It should have adequate arrangements for the seating of the students who may visit it for consulting the i occupational information material.
It should also have sufficient space for conducting group discussions and other guidance activities. There should also be some provision for individual guidance.
Occupational information room should be distinct and prominently noticeable. However, if a separate room cannot be spared, a portion of a room or a verandah may be utilised for the purpose.
Display of occupational information in an attractive manner is very important. Some suggestions are given below:
(i) Presentation of the information should be attractive and motivating. Contents should have relevance to the current needs of the students.
(ii) Charts, posters and other visual aids should be at the eye level of the students.
(iii) Detailed information, if placed for reading, should be purposively arranged bearing close relationship with the materials displayed on the walls. Wherever possible, classification system should be shown for the benefit of the students.
(iv) Materials should not be crowded in a particular place; it should be evenly distributed over places where students normally gather for receiving various services and need to stay for a reasonable time.
(v) Material displayed should be reviewed frequently with a view to updating the contents as also highlighting specific aspects of the information.
If the University Employment Information and Guidance Bureau exist on the campus of the university, the university alumni can use the same. But in a college, occupational information room forms an important part of the guidance programme.