Two years after COVID-19 changed students’ lives forever, Diablo Valley College continues to reach out and provide different venues of support to students as they head back to campus and participate in more in-person events.

Emily Stone, dean of counseling and student success programs, said there are a wide variety of services, including academic and wellness counseling and on-demand telehealth services, available at DVC to support students both on- and off-campus.

“The pandemic created a lot of stressors for many students,” said Stone in an email to The Inquirer. “As a result, our utilization of counseling services and demand for expanded services has been high.”

Drop-Ins 

As of the Fall 2021 semester, counseling visits have been available both online and face to face. Appointments can be booked within a few days, said Stone, and in response to rising demand for student services, DVC now offers more drop-in counseling opportunities.

According to Stone, students can get on drop-in lists throughout the day to speak with counselors in their different major concentrations.

“Starting this semester, we are offering drop-in counseling in the student centers that have opened,” she said, indicating that the appointments are on a limited basis.

In addition, Stone said students can join drop-in lists, for counseling both in-person and online, in the career and transfer center for assistance with the transferring process.

TimelyCare

Since January 2021, DVC has also offered students access to TimelyCare, a telehealth provider powered by TimelyMD, which enables on-demand visits with licensed mental health clinicians and medical doctors. Stone said that since its launch, “over 1,000 students have registered for TimelyCare services.”

She added that the service had been renewed for another year through college funding and was recently expanded to offer TimelyCare scheduled counseling, giving students access to regular counseling visits with qualified clinicians up to 12 times per academic year.

Student Centers and Math Support

Matt Munday, counselor and co-chair of the Counseling Department, said DVC is working hard to reach out to its student population by integrating various student services both in-person and online.

One of the services is the on-campus career and transfer center, where students can walk in and be connected with staff and counselors who will answer questions, review resumes and help them find volunteer, internship and job opportunities.

Among the newer career services are the student centers, which are available both online and on-campus. Munday said the centers serve as extra support for students who might be unaware of or less inclined to use available services, and now have designated counselors for every major.

He explained that the counselors at DVC are excited to work helping more students thrive in the college experience.

“We are trying to help students find the right balance and look at all aspects of personal, academic and career wellness,” said Munday, and “working towards maximizing their potential in those areas as well.”

Math support classes represent another important service. According to Stone, counselors and instructors have partnered both in-person and online to  “provide resources to students in a class and refer them to additional resources outside of class.”

She stressed the importance of maintaining all of the services available to students at DVC.

“I believe student services, and in particular counseling services, are integral to student success,” said Stone. “We have incredible counselors and staff who are here to support students.”