Pre-Conference Sessions

The pre-conference sessions will be held on Wednesday, June 10th, from 8:30AM-12PM, with 3 hours of presentation with (2) 15 minute breaks.  The pre-conference workshops are an additional fee of $75, it is not included in the conference registration fee.  Each session will offer 3 CE hours.

Embedded in a New Horizon

Presenter(s):
Megan Klang - The Ohio State University
Peter Oduwole - The Ohio State University
Jennie Mussar - The Ohio State University
Carrington Mahr - The Ohio State University
Shiana Bookless - The Ohio State University

Abstract: As colleges and universities continue navigating rapidly shifting student needs, embedded mental health roles have become essential contributors to campus wellbeing and cultural transformation. At The Ohio State University, embedded therapists serve as frontline change agents, integrated directly within academic colleges and Student Life units. In these roles, they cultivate strong, collaborative relationships with faculty, administrators, and student facing partners. Because these presenters are the clinicians actively performing this work, they offer firsthand insight into how embedded roles reshape culture, increase access, and strengthen trust between students and mental health providers. Their partnership driven efforts are highly valued by primary campus collaborators, who regard embedded clinicians as critical to meeting the mental health demands of their departments.   This pre-conference session will examine how OSU's embedded therapists tailor outreach and intervention to the unique cultures, pressures, and engagement patterns of their respective student populations. Using findings from the 2025 Counseling and Consultation Service Embedded Clinician Report and multi-site examples, presenters will describe role structures, needs assessment strategies, population specific outreach design, and collaborative models that enhance student support. Attendees will gain a flexible, evidence informed framework for conceptualizing, implementing, and evaluating embedded mental health outreach on their own campuses.

Learning Objectives:

• Differentiate the primary structures and functions of embedded mental health roles across academic and Student Life units and identify how these roles respond to population specific challenges.
• Describe methods used to assess department specific needs (e.g., surveys, tabling, workshops, partnership requests) and how these assessments inform outreach strategy.
• Explain how embedded clinicians tailor interventions (e.g., workshops, groups, psychoeducation, consultation) to align with the unique cultures and engagement patterns of their student communities.
• Apply tools used across OSU embedded sites, including needs assessments, engagement surveys, and partnership-based initiatives to evaluate outreach effectiveness and guide future programming.
• Identify cultural shifts associated with embedding clinicians (e.g., increased access, greater student willingness to seek support, improved culture of care) and articulate their implications for campus wellbeing.

Higher Stakes, Higher Impact: Elevating Social Media Outreach

Presenter(s):
Nichole Evans - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Megan Fernandes - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Tianyi Xie - University of Iowa
Colette Norris - University of Iowa

Abstract: Surveys show that around 98% of current college students use social media daily. A majority of students spend 4.5 hours or more per day on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat (Faverio & Sodoti, 2024).   Based on several years of running social media programs for counseling centers at two Big Ten universities, we know that, done correctly, social media messaging can have a positive effect and that it can be harnessed to uplift, educate, and motivate students. Because social media will likely continue to be a low-cost, high-impact method to reach our students, it is wise for counseling centers to think critically about how they can start or continue to build their social media footprint.  This preconference is designed for both centers that manage their own accounts or work with university marketing departments to post content. It will emphasize how to create fun and digestible psychoeducational content within counseling centers or in collaboration with marketing departments. We will cover social media best practices, the various tasks that go into coordinating social media, the time commitment needed, and how to manage competing priorities. Additionally, we will highlight tools (including AI) available that can make your social media program effective, efficient, and ethical. We will discuss evaluation strategies to show that social media is an impactful outreach tool. The second half of the workshop will be interactive, and participants will apply what they have learned to create a short-form video. Participants will be able to share the final product on their center or department's social media accounts. To maximize benefit, participants should bring a laptop and smartphone.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate social media best practices and understand the rationale behind them.
• Formulate strategies for evaluating social media workflow to ensure staff have sufficient capacity to produce effective results and that content reflects organizational goals and resonates with the target audience.
• Identify various tools that can be used to simplify social media management and how to access them.
• Generate effective social media content ideas and create engaging content by self or in collaboration with marketing department.
• Evaluate at least three data points to measure social media audience engagement and impact. Employ basic content creation, filming, and editing techniques to create social media videos.