The Effects of a Combined Academic and Personal Counselling Initiative for Post-Secondary Student Retention

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of a combined academic and personal counselling initiative on student performance and emotional well-being outcomes of 289 at-risk students at a Canadian University. Criterion for risk included academic struggles, mental health distress, or both. The program was developed to be tailored to individual needs, and students participated in weekly counselling sessions over the course of 1 academic year. Results showed significant overall increases in student grade point average (GPA), academic functioning, and mental health well-being, demonstrating the program's effectiveness in addressing the differential needs of students. Implications of the results are discussed.

Evaluating a combined intervention targeting at‐risk post‐secondary students: When it comes to graduating, mental health matters

“…The increasingly well-established connection between mental health and retention offers a window of opportunity for post-secondary institutions to improve their retention rates by prioritising the implementation of policies and practices that not only aim to provide academic support to students in need, but also mental health and emotional support (Robbins et al, 2009). The FITA programme is an example of an accessible initiative that does not just react to the student mental health crisis, but also attempts to curb it by functioning as a preventative measure that identifies and supports at-risk students, in addition to acting as a retention programme (Abelman & Molina, 2002;Bilodeau & Meissner, 2016;Heisserer & Parette, 2002;Meissner et al, 2017). Going forward, colleges and universities interested in increasing their retention rates should prioritise the implementation of policies and practices that develop and implement evidence-based programming designed to support both the mental health and academic needs of at-risk students.…”

“…Since its inception, the programme has been piloted at several post-secondary institutions across Ontario and results have consistently shown improvement in both student mental health and retention (Antunes-Alves et al, 2017;Bilodeau & Meissner, 2016;Meissner & Konecki, 2015). Designed to address both personal and academic issues, FITA uses a holistic and humanistic approach that is tailored to the individual needs of at-risk students who selfrefer to the programme and qualify based on grades and mental distress evaluations.…”

“…Intrusive interventions are preventative models that require individualised attention and personalised accommodation, regular one-on-one sessions, a contract for mutual accountability, strong student commitment and a success plan that takes into account the student's strengths and weaknesses (Abelman & Molina, 2002;Desjardins & Jie, 2002;Heisserer & Parette, 2002). The FITA programme operationalises all of these components with a focus on the following key aspects: a strong therapeutic alliance between student and counsellor, student commitment to the therapeutic process, a comprehensive testing session at intake designed to understand the student's strengths, weaknesses and goals (facilitating greater self-awareness and direction), and careful and specific academic advising that ensures students have a roadmap to graduation (Bilodeau & Meissner, 2016;Meissner et al, 2017).…”

“…Evaluations of the AFQ-R suggest a high level of internal consistency, with alpha coefficients ranging from 0.79 to 0.84 for overall measure and a good to acceptable level of internal consistency for the individual scales ranging from 0.60 to 0.85 (Bilodeau & Meissner, 2016).…”

Exploring alliance–outcome associations in a combined mental health and academic counselling setting for at‐risk students: The differential role of alliance components, personality, gender and pre‐treatment severity

“…This programme is unique in its focus on the therapeutic relationship in delivering academic support and promoting psychological wellbeing. Results of these studies confirmed that the intervention was linked to an increase in psychological wellness and overall academic performance and academic functioning in students with differential needs and was thus identified as a promising two-pronged approach to promoting student academic success and retention (Antunes-Alves & Langmuir, 2021; Bilodeau & Meissner, 2016).…”