Going away to college isn’t always easy.

But the employees of the Counseling and Student Development Center at NIU are ready to make the move much easier.

Kathy Hotelling, director of the Counseling and Student Development Center, said the center offers numerous programs ranging from individual and group counseling to career services to help students adjust to the college atmosphere.

“There’s always a very high demand for our services,” Hotelling said.

Some of the programs offered through the center include crisis intervention, psycho-education workshops, LASSO (Learning and Study Skills Labs), services in the Career Resource Center, services for minority students and athletic counseling programs.

The center also sponsors various events throughout the year. During the fall semester the center is sponsoring a Minority Welcome Night at 7 p.m. on Sept. 1 in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Hotelling said the event will include speakers like NIU President John La Tourette, Provost J. Carroll Moody and various student leaders.

Other services the center offers to minority students include a mentoring program in which each undergraduate student in the program is paired with an upperclassmen in good academic standing. The mentor then looks out for the student and helps the student adjust to college.

The Counseling and Student Development Center also offers the following services: a group for adult children of alcoholics, a general therapy group for women, Love Doesn’t Have to Hurt: Creating Healthy Relationships, a support group for those with bulemia nervosa, a group for women with international experience, two family of origin groups and a Women Loving Women support group.

Last year’s statistics show most of the students who use the services are upperclassmen and Hotelling said these statistics remain fairly the same each year. Of those who attended individual and group services last year, 25 percent were juniors, 24 percent were seniors, 18 percent graduate students, 18 percent sophomores and 13 percent were freshmen.

Hotelling went on to say students must come to an “awareness” of programs.

“Older students are more likely to seek help,” she said. “It takes students awhile to find out what services are offered on campus and what services they need.”

For more information on the Counseling and Student Development Center at NIU call 753-1209.