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UAS welcomes new counselor
By Sean Smith
Whalesong Staff
New counselor
at the UAS Student Resource Center Michele Harman is no stranger
to
counseling. Harman grew up in New York, where she attended the New
York State College system until 1990. She attended graduate school
until 1993 in New York, while during the summers staying in Port
Alexander, Alaska. From 1993 to 2001 she worked at the Sitka Mental
Health Clinic. She then moved to University of Fairbanks where she
was the coordinator of the Distance Bachelor Social Work Degree
for six months. Harman then moved to Juneau where she worked at
the Miller House counseling teenagers, until just recently when
she came on as the counselor in the Student Resource Center.
Harman wants to be very accessible and wishes that if
there is an immediate problem, then walks-ins are most welcome,
but appointments are available, and encouraged. “My priorities
are to save lives,” Harman says. She has dealt with suicide
cases before and it is something that she doesn’t wish to go
through again. She wants students to be able to trust her, and because
the SRC(Student Resource Center) is very convenient, she thinks
of it more as a “One Stop Shop,” a place where students
can come in and talk about many issues, such as adjusting to college
life, relationships, home sickness, as well as serious problems
ranging from suicide, to eating disorders, to social anxiety, and
even math anxiety.
“Students will find Michele extremely easy to trust,”
said Dean of Students Paul Kraft. “Do not wait til things get
out of hand. Usually things tend to get worse over time,” said
Kraft
There are a few things that Kraft wanted to see from
Harman as the UAS counselor. He wants her to respond to students
needs, educate those with potential problems and try to prevent
some of those problems from occurring, as well as counsel those
with drug and alcohol problems. Those students caught with an alcohol
infraction at housing might very well being seeing Michele and talking
about the problem.
Harman is a new hire on campus to “Make sure students
get the help they need,” she said. So do not be shy to stop
by or make an appointment. She is located in the Student Resource
Center in room 202C.
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