NC State counselor joins Faculty Global Symposium in Prague

In keeping with the Office of International Affairs’ mission to promote faculty and staff global scholarship and research across colleges and departments, NC State is slated to host the first Faculty Global Symposium this spring. The week long program, which is scheduled for March 6-10, 2017, will take place in Prague, Czech Republic.

The summit will provide ample opportunity for collaboration between faculty and staff members from NC State and university partners located in the Czech Republic. During discipline-specific meetings with area universities, participants will have the chance to explore co-teaching or collaborative research opportunities. Objectives for the symposium include:

• Exploration of current issues in comparative education, particularly focused on the European and American systems of international education.
• Learn about the background, mission & vision, resources and opportunities for collaboration available at the NC State Prague Institute.
• Explore program development options with the NC State Prague Institute and surrounding universities.
• Discover Prague as a relevant and strategic destination for academic collaboration, utilizing the Prague Institute as a gateway to Europe.

Only 13 faculty members are selected to participate in the symposium, held at the NC State Prague Institute. This spring, Dr. Beth Glueck, a clinician with the Counseling Center, will join the Faculty Global Symposium cohort in Prague for the inaugural event.

As a triage counselor, Glueck, a licensed professional counselor, provides walk-in assessment and crisis intervention, and assists in connecting NC State students to counseling and wellness services.

As a result of her professional experience, she is very aware of  the challenges that college students regularly face, such as the pressure to succeed, being away from home for the first time, and balancing academic and personal responsibilities. These challenges are further compounded for those students who elect to study abroad. As someone who interacts closely with students and has a firsthand sense of the challenges they may face in relation to mental health and overall well-being, Glueck recognized the relevance of research which examines the mental health and wellness needs of NC State students who are studying abroad at the Prague Institute.

“International exposure is a powerful educational experience that can be very exciting but also stressful.”

Dr. Beth Glueck

Triage Counselor, Counseling Center

Not only does Glueck have a professional understanding of the student experience; she also studied abroad during her time as a doctoral student. It was during her own study experience in Prague that she first began to give consideration to the mental health and wellness resources available to students studying at the Prague Institute. “International exposure is a powerful educational experience that can be very exciting but also stressful”, says Glueck. In her current role with the Counseling Center, she is passionate about making mental health services available to all NC State students, regardless of their physical location.

Glueck’s primary goal for participating in the global symposium is to give in-depth exploration to the availability of counseling options for NC State students at the Prague Institute. She also aims to increase her own multicultural awareness and learn more about how international counseling centers function at the surrounding universities in the Czech Republic. “In essence”, she says, “I will identify the mental health and wellness needs for students studying abroad at the NC State Prague Institute and connect with local resources for English speaking mental health services and assist in making students and university partners aware of the resources in Prague, Czech Republic.”

Attending the Faculty Global Symposium will allow Glueck to utilize lessons learned from this exploration to strengthen connections with the Prague Institute, Study Abroad, International Affairs, and the Counseling Center — university partners who share an overarching goal of ensuring the well-being of our students.