by: Dr. George T. Williams, Coordinator
The School of Education Division of Counselor Education is pleased to have as adjunct faculty two former presidents of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) teaching for us during the 2006/2007 academic year. Dr. Barbara Griffin, distinguished Professor Emeritus from Clemson University, joined us in the fall and Dr. Joseph Rotter, distinguished Professor Emeritus from the University of South Carolina, joined us in the spring.
During this academic year, the Division of Counselor Education has implemented LiveText in selected courses to facilitate the collection and aggregation of data to monitor student progress and foster program improvement. Assessment instruments for measuring both program and unit progress have been developed and administered to counselor education students. The data has been analyzed and summarized in reports for program faculty, shared with the dean of the School of Education, and presented to the Professional Education Board.
The Counselor Education Community Advisory Board met on April 25, 2007. Discussion focused on exploring the desirability and feasibility of revamping the current 48 credit program to ensure that our CACREP approved program becomes the model Counselor Education program in the country. This discussion will continue at our next board meeting scheduled for October 2007. At that meeting, discussion will focus on potential course additions, deletions, and program modifications. The Board will consider proposing the development of an Ed.S. degree in Counselor Education to enhance the marketability of our graduates.
Program improvement is an ongoing commitment of the division as courses are modified to meet student needs. Changes to ensure that the mandates of the Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA) are integrated into our curriculum are but one example of such modifications. The Darkness to Light initiative, including the Stewards of Children material, are being incorporated into our Counseling Diverse Populations course (EDUC 561). This is further evidence of the division's willingness to continually upgrade our course offerings. Another example of continuous improvement in our program is changing the administration of the oral comprehensive exam for all candidates to earlier in the semester to enable candidates more time to concentrate on their internship. In addition to these curricular initiatives, Dr. Wehrman hosted the 7th Annual Mini-Conference for School Counselors on April 17th focused on the theme "Healthy Schools, Happy Students, Hopeful Futures."
Counselor education graduates continue to be very successful in acquiring professional positions as school or career counselors. Meriting special recognition here is Erica Ciucci, a 2002 graduate who received the National ABC Award for Career Guidance from the National Guidance Consortium this year. As part of this award, she appeared in the March 30th segment of "In Our Schools" on PBS. Also deserving of notice is Shirley Godfrey, the first Citadel female cadet to graduate with a master's degree in Counselor Education.
Personal Group Interviews for fall 2007 applicants are scheduled for June 13th. The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) Exam continues to be offered at The Citadel in April and October each year. Future plans include procuring paid placements for our clinical internships, creating an alumni listserv posting the positions held by our graduates, integrating electronic portfolio requirements for all coursework, and recruiting international students.
For additional information, please consult the Counselor Education website at: http://www.citadel.edu/education/academic_programs/counseling.html.
