Master's Theses

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Date of Award

Spring 1986

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Social Work

Advisor

Bill Daley

Abstract

The purpose of the researcher was to explore Kansas college counseling centers as they existed in the spring semester of 1985. A questionnaire was developed and mailed to 47 counseling centers throughout Kansas. Returned questionnaires were placed into one of four categories: 1.) public four-year institutions, 2.) private four-year institutions, 3.) public two-year institutions, and 4.) private two-year institutions. The questionnaire consisted of four sections plus a cover letter. The cover letter specified that the questionnaire was to be completed only by a counseling center director and allowed colleges that did not offer some type of organized counseling services to indicate so and return the questionnaire unmarked. The first and second sections addressed characteristics of the counseling center director and of the counseling center itself. The third section contained a counseling center inventory which listed 38 services or functions of a counseling center. The respondents rated each service or function according to the amount of time devoted to it in the counseling center and according to the respondent's perceived value or importance of each item. The fourth section provided information about the respondent's college or university. The researcher tested 12 hypotheses, and 44 comparisons were made consisting of one t-test, six chi-squares, and 37 analyses of variance. Seven comparisons were found to be significant at the .05 level of significance. Of the 12 hypotheses tested, hypotheses 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 were rejected. The results of the study indicated that types of colleges differed statistically in the following: 1. amount of education of the counseling center directors, 2. salary level of the counseling center directors, 3. frequency of selected types of counseling, 4. number of services offered as “major” or “minor” functions of the counseling centers. Four independent variables were found to not significantly affect the directors’ ratings of importance of items from the counseling center inventory. These variables were: 1. types of colleges, 2. amount of education of the counseling center directors, 3. salary level of the directors, 4. amount of counseling experience by the directors. The results of the study indicated that the typical Kansas college counseling center director in the spring of 1985 had the following characteristics: male, 39 years old, married, white, salary level from $15,001 to $20,000 (mode salary range), master’s degree, employed as director of counseling center for 5.73 years, employed in higher education for 10.55 years, held faculty appointment, held responsibilities in other branches of student affairs, and held teaching responsibilities.

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Rights

© 1986 John A. Murphy

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