Research Study

Hello, my name is Stacy Solsaa and I am a doctoral candidate at the University of South Dakota in the Counselor Education and Supervision program. I am working under the direction of my dissertation chair, Dr. Kathleen Brown-Rice. This research study is entitled, “State-Level Resources and Supports for School Counselor Implementation of Comprehensive School Counseling Programs.” The purpose of the study is to discover how support at the state level is related to the full implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs. Comprehensive school counseling programs have been correlated with positive measures of student success, but the implementation of them is scattered (Gysbers, 2006). By conducting this study, I hope to obtain information that will provide state leaders with insight into how they might contribute to develop more widespread implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs.

I respectfully request you to consider participating in this study if you are a school counselor, school counseling supervisor, or a director of counseling currently employed in a school district in a public school district in the United States. Participation in this survey requires answering a web-based survey, and will take approximately 20-30 minutes of your time. Participation in this survey is voluntary, and you may withdraw at any time without penalty. The questions in this survey are not of a sensitive nature, so participating in this study is considered to be a low-risk endeavor. All data collected will be anonymous and confidential. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of South Dakota (#2017.020).

If you agree to participate, you can complete the survey online. If you do not wish to complete the survey, clink on the link that reads “I don’t wish to participate.” If you wish to take part in the survey, click on the link that reads “Continue to survey.”

We will keep the information you provide anonymous; however, federal regulatory agencies and the University of South Dakota Institutional Review Board (a committee that reviews and approves research studies) may inspect and copy records pertaining to this research. Your responses will be anonymous to ensure that they cannot be linked to you. 

There are no known risks from being in this study, and you will not benefit personally. However, I hope that the school counseling profession may benefit in the future from what we learn as result of this study.

All survey responses that we receive will be treated confidentially. However, given that the surveys can be completed from any computer (i.e., personal, work, school), we are unable to guarantee the security of the computer on which you choose to enter your responses. As a participant in our study, we want you to be aware that certain "key logging" software programs exist that can be used to track or capture data that you enter and/or websites that you visit.

Your participation in this research study is completely voluntary. If you decide not to be in this study, or if you stop participating at any time, you will not be penalized or lose any benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints now or later, you may contact us at the numbers below. If you have any questions about your rights as a human subject, complaints, concerns, or wish to talk to someone who is independent of the research, contact the Office for Human Subjects Protections at 605/677-6184. Thank you for your time.

Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ssolsaa

Sincerely,

Stacy Solsaa, MS, NCC, NCSC, LPC-MH
Doctoral Candidate - University of South Dakota
School of Education - University of South Dakota
210E Delzell - Vermillion, SD 57069
605-237-0985  Stacy.Solsaa@coyotes.usd.edu

Kathleen Brown-Rice, PhD, LPC, LMHP, LCAS, CAC, QMHP, NCC, ACS
Division of Counseling and Psychology in Education
School of Education - University of South Dakota
210E Delzell - Vermillion, SD  57069
605-677-5842 - Kathleen.Rice@usd.ed