Greensboro College Counselor Will Make Presentation at National Conference

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Emily Holmes, Greensboro College’s director of counseling services, will make a presentation in February to the American College Counseling Association’s national conference.

Her presentation, titled “Small Office, Big Impact: Reimagining Outreach on Small College Campuses,” examines five ways in which counseling centers on small campus can still create quality outreach programs despite lack of funds and other resources.

“Basically, the idea is to help other small college counseling centers figure out how they can best provide outreach to the students on their campuses,” Holmes said. “I will be pulling from my experience at GC as well as research about other small college counseling centers and effective outreach programming.”

Holmes has experimented with various forms of outreach at Greensboro College, and some, such as Dating Violence Awareness Week, have become annual fixtures.

In a typical academic year, Holmes’s office provides outreach in the form of information, education, and other programs to between 40% and 50% of the student body — the national average is about 30% — while still maintaining its daily responsibilities and individual counseling caseloads.

During this semester, Holmes has addressed coping skills in 14 of the 17 sections of the Greensboro College Seminar, a mandatory course for incoming first-year students, to provide practical help, introduce the students to Counseling Services, and reach more students than her office would be able to reach in traditional one-on-one sessions.

Holmes, a nationally-certified counselor and state-licensed counselor associate, holds a B.S. from Western Carolina University and M.S. and Ed.S. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She joined the Greensboro College staff in 2013.

The American College Counseling Association is a division of the American Counseling Association, the world’s largest association representing professional counselors and counseling students.

Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and, spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.

Founded in 1838 and located in downtown Greensboro, the college enrolls about 1,000 students from 29 states and territories, the District of Columbia, and seven foreign countries in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and four master’s degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features an 18-sport NCAA Division III athletic program and dozens of service and recreational opportunities.

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Media Contact:
Lex Alexander, Director of Communications
lex.alexander@greensboro.edu

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“I loved the GC Honors program and Greensboro College. I felt safe and a sense of genuine belonging at the college. I worked closely with my thesis advisor and professors who helped inspire me to define my path and passion of interest. That path has led me to my doctoral studies in Engineering Mechanics.”

- Joshua Fitzgerald, Class of ’19, Mathematics Major

Joshua currently studies astrodynamics at Virginia Tech University and is an Engineering Mechanics Ph.D. Candidate.