By Benjamin Fu
Garoyle staff reporter
Posted Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006, The OG, news

The Student Services Office, so familiar to students for everything from college counseling to free candy, has undergone several major transformations this year to maximize its productivity and assistance to the Uni community. Though it may look similar, the SSO has a whole new personality.

A new counselor: Sarah Dewhurst

At the end of the 2005-06 school year, part-time support services instructor Melissa Luffman left Uni to pursue a full-time job. With her departure, Uni was in need of someone to work with students requiring special education assistance, anything from ADD to anxiety or physical disorders.

At a conference during the summer, Lisa Micele heard about a counselor, Sarah Dewhurst, who had recently moved to the Champaign-Urbana area from Denver and was looking for a job.

“We contacted Sarah and found that she had a master's degree in counseling and many years of experience as a special needs teacher,” says Director/Principal Kassie Patton. “She was perfectly qualified.”

Because Dewhurst wanted to work full time, Uni also allowed her to become coordinator of both standardized testing and the subbie buddy program, both of which used to be overseen by guidance counselor Sam Smith. Dewhurst hopes that “working with the subbies more closely at the beginning will shape them to be better Uni students and help them fit better into the community.”

With the addition of Dewhurst, Smith is now doing more work on multicultural outreach and diversity issues, including helping seniors Liz Reese and Sharajonnie Adams with their new minority student peer advocate program.

“I am excited about doing more multicultural activities for Uni this year,” says Smith. “The responses [to the minority program] so far have been interesting. However, it's a new thing so we're still trying different strategies.”

A new location: Counseling Resource Center

Another big change is the move of the Counseling Resource Center from a small room in the SSO, which Dewhurst now occupies, to the old Latin classroom in Room 110.

The CRC is home to the peer college counselors — a group of seniors who help juniors with the start of their college selection process. Reese and Adams also use the CRC as an office.

Besides housing the usual college guides and test-prep material, the CRC boasts a permanent resident, Casper, the “college albino gecko.” The CRC also provides a base for the occasional college representatives who visit during lunch.

Most students are excited about the new location, which has become a popular hangout for upperclassmen.

“The CRC's a great place to go,” says senior Josh Mitchell. “The Latin room was really boring.”

Latin teacher Krisanna Lucken is also happy with the change.

“I think they [the PCCs] have done a great job,” she says. “We moved into a smart room, which is more appropriate for the lesson plans.”

A new boss: Lisa Micele

Although few students may realize it, college counselor Lisa Micele's position in school has also greatly changed, as she became the executive teacher of the SSO this year. Until this semester, Uni's assistant director had been responsible for the SSO.

Patton asked Micele to head the department for several reasons.

First of all, the SSO was the only department at Uni without an executive teacher. Micele was a clear choice, as she had been working at Uni since 1993 and had learned a great deal about the department.

Second, Sue Kovacs' job as assistant director already provided her with plenty of work and left her with little time for the SSO. This lack of time would have been even more pronounced because of the SSO's expansion.

As an executive teacher, Micele is working more closely with other members of the SSO. She says that her responsibilities are to “facilitate the work of the SSO team, make sure we have a shared vision, and improve our department communication.”

Micele understands the challenges involved with being the SSO's new department head, and she looks forward for the challenge.

“The SSO team now is bigger, offering more services, and working on improved communication with the administration,” she says.

Micele isn't the only one who is confident the new SSO will benefit Uni.

“The point of all these changes is to improve our services,” says Patton. “We have really strengthened the SSO now, with more resources for our students.”