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"Regulations for the Establishment of a Student Counseling Center in Universities"
Introduction
Human beings require peace, health, and efficiency in biological, psychological, and social dimensions for a successful life. Rapid socio-cultural changes, transformations in family structure, the complexity and expansion of human communication networks, and the breadth and diversity of information sources have caused human societies, especially the youth and adolescent population, to face numerous issues and problems. They react to the pressures, challenges, and extensive expectations of modern life by resorting to methods that sometimes lack logical support and do not offer a clear or hopeful outlook.
Universities and academic environments, which encompass a significant portion of the elite and intellectual youth of society, have also become entangled in challenges and transformations in line with the current transitional atmosphere. Therefore, nurturing and providing mental, psychological, and social support for students and university community members requires education in the culture of dialogue, critical thinking, and the development of skills and capabilities for informed decision-making, coping with daily stresses and emotions, increasing self-efficacy, establishing effective communication, and other psychosocial abilities. Thus, alongside preventing potential harms, effective steps must be taken to promote the individual and social mental health of students and other university community members who interact with them.
University students, due to the sensitivity of their developmental stage and the critical conditions of this period of life, especially in the first years of entering university, experience greater pressures and discomforts. These include separation from their previous family life, entering student life and the need to adapt to the university environment and dormitories, and managing financial, academic, and emotional issues. Other university staff who are in direct contact with students also contribute, in turn, to either increasing and intensifying or decreasing and remedying the specific problems of students. Therefore, students and university community members require special attention. Considering the issues, problems, and concerns of the academic community, the necessity of establishing a center to ensure, develop, and extend mental health within the university environment and to provide preventive, counseling, and therapeutic interventions becomes evident.
In this regard, the Student Counseling Center is established as the trustee of mental health in universities within the framework of these regulations.
Section One – Objectives
Article
1 – The general objectives of the Student Counseling Center are to prevent psychosocial harms and to promote the level of mental health and psychological well-being of the university community. In this regard, the specific objectives are:
1-1 – Enhancing the level of psychological knowledge and insight of university community members regarding the issues, problems, and needs of the student community.
2-1 – Guiding students toward a correct understanding of their own abilities and problems.
3-1 – Guiding students in making informed, wise decisions and sound choices.
4-1 – Guiding students in solving behavioral, emotional, cognitive, academic, family, and marriage-related problems.
5-1 – Increasing effective adaptation to the academic and living environment, developing social relationships, and improving academic progress.
6-1 – Preventing the occurrence and spread of emotional-behavioral issues and extending mental health to the general university environment and the academic community.
7-1 – Creating the necessary foundations for promoting healthy interpersonal relationships in the university by paying attention to the determining factors in professor-student or staff relationships.
Section Two – Duties
Article
2 – The duties of university student counseling centers are as follows:
1-2 – Assessing and identifying students' talents and interests, and planning and striving to develop their talents and provide academic and career guidance.
2-2 – Holding meetings with students and answering their questions regarding psychosocial issues with the help of experts, specialists, and scholars in the fields of psychology, counseling, psychiatry, and social work.
3-2 – Conducting research on the issues and problems of university students in order to identify risk factors.
4-2 – Providing services to solve problems related to education, family, marriage, career, and students' behavioral and psychological disorders.
5-2 – Establishing effective communication with other university units to help solve students' problems.
6-2 – Providing counseling to students to help improve their academic progress and social relationships, and submitting a report along with the activities carried out to university officials and the Central Counseling Office each academic year.
7-2 – Summarizing the psychosocial issues and problems of university students and submitting a report along with the activities carried out to university officials and the Central Counseling Office each academic year.
8-2 – Organizing workshops and training courses for students and university community members with the aim of promoting their mental health.
9-2 – Providing expert opinions on students' issues and problems to university officials and the relevant ministry.
10-2 – Identifying existing support resources in the community and referring students to them as necessary.
11-2 – Encouraging student participation in mental health activities.
Section Three – Organization and Structure
Article
3 – The Student Counseling Center of each university is established as an independent unit under the supervision of the Vice President for Student Affairs of the university.
Note: If necessary and required, branches of the university's Student Counseling Center may be established in the faculties or dormitories, and the policy-making, planning, supervision, and performance evaluation of these branches shall be the responsibility of the university's Student Counseling Center.
Article
4 – The responsibility of the Student Counseling Center of each university lies with the Head of that Center, who is appointed upon the proposal of the Vice President for Student Affairs of the university and by the decree of the University President.
Note: The Head of the Counseling Center must hold at least a Master's degree in one of the fields of psychology or counseling.
Article
5 – At the Student Counseling Center of each university, a council named the "Planning Council of the Student Counseling Center" shall be formed with the following composition to approve programs, supervise proper implementation, and evaluate the activities of the University Counseling Center:
1-5 – Vice President for Student Affairs of the university (Chairperson of the Council)
2-5 – Head of the University Student Counseling Center (Secretary of the Council)
3-5 – Director General of Educational Services
4-5 – Director General of Cultural Affairs
5-5 – Director General of Student Affairs
6-5 – Two specialists in counseling and psychology – preferably faculty members – proposed by the Head of the Counseling Center, confirmed by the Vice President for Student Affairs, and appointed by the decree of the University President.
Note:
1.The Secretary of the Council may, when necessary, invite the input of active students to participate in some meetings without voting rights.
Note:
2.Decisions of the Planning Council of the University Student Counseling Centers shall be adopted by a relative majority vote of the members and shall be implemented through the Vice President for Student Affairs of the university.
Article 6 – Counselors and therapists at university counseling centers must necessarily be selected from among experienced specialists in the fields of counseling, psychology, psychiatry, and social work.
Note:The Counseling Center must employ a sufficient number of both male and female specialists to provide counseling and psychotherapy services.
Section Four – Budget
Article 7 – The budget for the Student Counseling Centers shall be provided from the university's annual budget, which is independently allocated.
Article 8 – These regulations, consisting of 4 sections, 8 articles, and 5 notes, were approved by the Specialized Planning Council of the Central Counseling Office on 19/3/83 [19 Khordad 1383] and, from the date of their approval by the Board of Trustees of the respective university, Regulation No. 15 (Regulations for the Establishment of a Student Counseling Office in Universities), approved on 28/6/73 [28 Shahrivar 1373], is hereby repealed.
These regulations are the revised version of Regulation No. 15 regarding the establishment of student counseling offices. They were reviewed and approved over several consecutive sessions of the Specialized Planning Council of the Central Counseling Office, chaired by the esteemed Vice President for Student Affairs of the Minister of Science, Dr. Zarifian. They have been submitted to the Boards of Trustees of all universities through the Secretariat of the University Boards of Trustees for approval if agreed upon. Fortunately, a significant number of universities had fully approved these regulations by September 2005 (Shahrivar 1384).