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Lindsey Wilson is Going the Distance With Mental-Health Program

Posted on: Saturday, 18 February 2006, 03:03 CST

By Kremer, Deborah Kohl

Positions in the mental health field were going unfilled in rural parts of Kentucky, which led the educators at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia to see the opportunities for both bachelor's and master's candidates in this field.

About three years ago LWC teamed up with Somerset Community College and began offering, what they called a "2+2" and a "2 +3" program, meaning students could add two years to the associate program offered at the community college and earn a bachelor's degree, or add three years and earn a master's. These classes would be offered on the Somerset campus by Lindsey Wilson professors.

The college hoped the program would attract 40 to 50 students. It has , grown to include seven branches of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and about 500 students. In 2003 the program was designated Outstanding Model Small College Program in the U.S. by the Council of Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs.

About 500 students in Lindsey Wilson's mental-health program at campuses across eastern Kentucky.

The phenomenal growth oi this program allowed the college to grow, too. The 500 students enrolled in the mental-health program make up about 25 percent of the school's 1,900 total enrollment. In February, Lindsey Wilson will create a separate academic entity, the School oi Professional Counseling.

"In creating this program, we could see that the people in southeastern Kentucky were hungry for higher education, so we had to take that higher education to them," said Duane Bonifer, public relations director at Lindsey Wilson. "This is not distance learning through the Internet. This is our faculty actually traveling the distance."

Classes are offered to meet the needs of non-traditional students, meeting weekly on Friday nights from about 5-9 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The LWC professors travel to the campuses and stay in nearby hotels each weekend.

The quality of the program does not go unnoticed. Bonifer said employers are practically waiting in line to hire these graduates. But it is not just the curriculum that makes the program a success. "The Lindsey Wilson faculty are so committed to the mission of the college," Bonifer said. "They are always ready to respond to any need on any campus."

According to John Rigney, dean of the School of Professional Counseling, offering degrees in mental-health fields addresses several problems.

He explained that in some rural areas of eastern Kentucky there is a high incidence of poverty, substance abuse and domestic issues and a corollary need for personnel trained in these fields. "We find that a large number of our students have struggled with poverty or interpersonal problems in their own life," he said. "They have a sincere desire to help those in similar situations."

On another level, this program produces college-educated individuals who are invested in the community.

"These people already know the culture and are able to relate better than an outsider to their clients," Rigney said. "At the same time, they are improving their own life situation. These new professionals are helping to build this area of Kentucky."

-DEBORAH KOHL KREMER

Copyright Vested Interest Publications, Inc. Feb 2006

Source: Kentucky Monthly

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