THE DEPARTMENT'S HUMAN RESOURCE

EDITOR'S NOTE: The distinctions between
roles in the Counselling Department at
Douglas College are unique; thus they are
perhaps best explained by those perform-
ing them. With this in mind, each member
was asked to describe his or her role and
function. Following are the interesting
results.

 

A PERSONAL NOTE FROM ...

-- Sheilah Thompson, Director,
Counselling Department

"T seem to have been shifting, changing,
and clarifying my job and role since
Douglas opened in 1970. Right now, I
regard myself as, first of all, a facili-
tator whose main responsibility is to

help other department members to achieve
and express their potentials. I sometimes
need to be a bit of a 'goad' -- the person
who is prepared to see that commitments
are made and lived up to.

"T spend a lot of time working at dispel-
ling the notion of a 'hierarchy' in the
department and in building the team

concept. This means a deliberate 'blurring'
of lines of authority and a consequent
flexibility in terms of task responsibility.
I have interviews with department members
each semester to evaluate their work and,
equally important to me, to have them
evaluate my work. We do this by using

lists of criteria relevant to each job,

but what more often results is increased
awareness of our strengths and weaknesses
and of our growing inter-dependence in
making the team concept work. Our profes-
sional development programs often emerge
from these discussions.

"IT spend a lot of time explaining and
discussing College matters at our meetings,
so that the department may perform a more

one.

 

...and how the Counselling team
members see their roles and
functions

adequate feedback function by recommending
policy changes based on our knowledge and
experience of student needs.

"Although all this sounds very serious,
actually the department is for me a 'fun'
The situations that develop are
sometimes hilarious, often stimulating,
usually rewarding, and always challenging."

EDUCATIONAL PLANNING ...

-- Pat Major, Linda Coyle,
Hank Oudman

"The position of educational planner, a
para-professional role, is a recent and
exciting innovation in the Counselling
Department. As a member of the Student
Development Centre team, the educational
planner's main function is to assist
students to plan their courses and to
obtain career and vocational information
pertinent to their particular educational
goals.

"To meet this need, a library and files of
career information have been compiled and
are augmented and displayed for student
use. The educational planner also assists
counsellors to serve the students by
administering and scoring various aptitude,
interest, and personality tests.

"Interwoven with these specific tasks are
the numerous routine activities of the
department, in which the educational
planner participates fully."

KKK

"I relate to students, I listen, I learn;
I collect information and pass it on to
those who want it; I help people in the
community to decide on careers. I read
reports and comment on them, assist in
teaching situations, and chair department
meetings. But, of course, none of these
is my important function. My truly unique,
totally contributory function is that of
plant care and interior decorating in the
Student Development Centres."