The Counseling and Testing Bureau was established at Oregon State College in 1946 to provide guidance services to World War II veterans; services were expanded to all Oregon State students in 1948. The Counseling and Testing Center was overseen by the School of Education and the Psychology Department until 1962 when it became a unit of the Office of the Dean of Students. During the 1990s, it became University Counseling and Psychological Services; in 2006, the name was changed to Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).
The University Exploratory Studies Program was established in 1973 as a special counseling and advising service for freshmen and sophomores, which was coordinated by the Director of the Counseling Center. The Center also administered aid and assistance for handicapped students beginning in 1975. Study skills and tutoring programs were conducted by the Center until 1975.
As of the late 1980s, the primary role of the Counseling and Testing Center was to provide services to Oregon State University students who needed assistance in formulating and implementing their educational and career plans, in increasing their self-understanding and self-acceptance, and in developing skills for establishing and maintaining effective personal and social relationships. The Center provided individual and group counseling; administered interest, personality, achievement, and aptitude tests; and served as a resource for OSU faculty and staff.
In 2009, Counseling and Psychological Services provides a variety of services to help students understand themselves better, create and maintain satisfying relationships, improve their academic performance, and make healthy and satisfying career and life choices.
The Center for Research on Student Life and Development was established by the Office of the Dean of Students in 1969 under the direction of Morris LeMay, who had joined the Counseling Center staff in 1964. LeMay became the director of the Counseling and Testing Center in 1971. He retired from Oregon State University in 1994.
The Counseling and Psychological Services Records consist of reports, announcements, and research publications that document the programs and activities of the office as well as information about Oregon State University students. The bulk of the collection consists of the
Annual reports for 1987/1988 and 1989/1990 provide information on the number of students served and the various programs and activities of the Counseling and Testing Center. Academic Resources Lists for 1999 and 2000 were compiled by staff of University Counseling and Psychological Services to provide a coordinated description of all resources available to help OSU students with academic challenges. The collection includes several announcements from Counseling and Psychological Services in 2007 regarding how to respond to distressed students in light of the shootings at Virginia Tech University in April 2007, including a survey assessing awareness of campus resources.
Research reports of the Counseling and Student Personnel Research Team of the Counseling Center issued in 1965-1966 address various topics of academic assessment and achievement, a survey of the non-counseling function of college counseling centers, patterns of college characteristics obtained from OSU students, and a descriptive and comparative study of foreign undergraduate students at Oregon State.
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Collection is open for research.
Counseling and Psychological Services Records (RG 157), Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
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This collection is not fully processed; this guide is preliminary.
Materials were transferred to the Archives by Counseling and Psychological Services and its predecessor organizations from 1999 to 2007.
Additions to the collection are expected.
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