[BEAVER, W.Va.] New River Community and Technical College is now offering free tele-counseling services for current students.
The college had launched a pilot counseling project at the Greenbrier Valley Campus in Lewisburg in January. Financial Aid Counselor Suzanne Fry began providing mental health counseling to students while in the clinical training part of her master’s degree program in mental health counseling.
“Originally, I had wanted to be able to offer virtual services for New River CTC students since the college serves a nine county region,” Fry explained. “When we began moving classes online and closing the college’s physical buildings along with the threat of a global pandemic, I felt that we needed to offer this service now more than ever.”
Students are now able to schedule appointments by email and participate in the tele-counseling through doxy.me. The HIPPA compliant site allows for encrypted peer-to-peer audio and video allowing students to talk directly to Fry.
New River CTC moved spring 2020 classes online and closed campuses in March as a precautionary measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The college has also moved all summer 2020 courses online.
New River Community and Technical College serves nine counties in southeastern West Virginia from the Greenbrier Valley Campus (Lewisburg), Mercer County Campus (Princeton), Nicholas County Campus (Summersville) and Raleigh County Campus (Beaver).