University students are adolescents and young adults who face tremendous pressure to adjust to the new environment. Students who join the University face different challenges. Adapting to the social and the physical environment constitutes one of the main challenges. Adjustment to new peer groups, academic atmosphere, loose family contact, and financial problems are some of the specific challenges. These challenges possibly lead students to personal crisis, mainly emotional disturbance, stress, and other social crisis. These mainly lead to academic failure, drug addiction, social isolation, suicidal attempts and the like. In relation to these problems, the need for student orientation, guidance and counseling services is crucial. In addition to these services, the University has decided to issue comprehensive guidelines necessary to establish a university-wide Center for Orientation, Guidance and counseling services and other centers in each college, school, and institute.

Scope and Objectives

The overall objective of this guideline is to lay the ground in order to establish a center for orientation, guidance and counseling services with full responsibilities of dealing with students’ psychosocial, emotional, academic and psychiatric needs at the University level. In line with this general objective, the center shall achieve the following specific objectives:

• Ensure a systematic orientation, guidance and counseling services are in place and accessible to all students in each College, School and Institute.
• Ensure provision of quality services with the allocation of appropriate resources including qualified personnel.
• Provide appropriate information to all students about the orientation, guidance and counseling service of the University and how to access such services.
• Ensure the sustainability of the services.

Strategies to addressing guidance and counseling

To address the orientation, guidance and counseling needs of students and achieve the objectives, the following strategies are devised:

• Provision of general orientation on academic, social, emotional and related issues to all students during their stay in the University.
• Establish systematic guidance and counseling infrastructure in all colleges, schools and institutes as appropriate.
• Create a collaborative effort among pertinent Divisions/ Colleges/Schools/Services Centers (Institute of Psychology, School of Social Work, School of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and others) and Orientation, Guidance and Counseling Office of the university to address the multifaceted needs.
• Develop peer counseling system.
• Develop mentorship system in each College, School, and Institute.
• Devise mechanisms to address economic needs of those students who are legible.
• Put in place appropriate information delivery mechanisms on orientation, guidance and counseling services.
• Establish intra University and between the University and other institutions referral and link services.
• Establish different recreational and entertainment services.
• Establishing a system to provide online orientation, guidance and counseling services.