• Home
• Current News & Events
• AOC News
• News & Events Archive
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007

April 2013

CHS Faculty Awarded Engaged Scholarship Grant

Dr. Leann Morgan was recently awarded the Engaged Scholarship Grant through Colorado Campus Compact (CCC) for her service-learning proposal, “Counseling Student Outreach: Engaging Recent Veterans in Career Development.” Reviewers were impressed with the project’s focus on identified community needs and its implications for creating visibility around services learning on the UCCS campus. The national peer-review selection process for Fall 2013 is extremely competitive. This grant supports and strengthens community engagement in teaching and research through the development of reciprocal campus and community partnerships, the promotion of student learning, and the increase of visibility and legitimacy of community engaged work in higher education. Engaged Scholarship Grants are awarded in three categories: service-learning course construction or development, community-engaged research, and community engagement impact research.

CHS Graduate Students and Professor Present at Colorado Association for Play Therapy Conference

Dr. Wehrman and a group of six graduate students presented,Translating Group Process into Children's Language at the Colorado Association for Play Therapy Conference Saturday, April 6, 2013. The group presented on the importance of integrating play into group work training and practice. They discussed pedagogical techniques to translate group process into children's and adolescents’ language including adaptations of classical children’s games, stories, metaphors, and art.

(Back row, left to right) Debbie Alex, Kristi Gallego, Beth Brooks, Dina Mark, Dr. Joe Wehrman
(Front row, left to right) Ashley Meek, BriAnn Medina

CHS Student Awarded Colorado Career Development Association Scholarship

Congratulations to Kristin Garcia Huber!  Kristin won a Student Scholarship through the Colorado Career Development Association. CCDA awards two scholarships to professionals in career development who do not have access to funds for professional development and to two students entering the career development field who are enrolled in at least 6 credits in a program of study related to career development. Scholarships apply to one year of CCDA membership, registration for the CCDA Fall Conference, and registration for the CCDA Spring Training - a value of more than $200.

March 2013

National Board for Certified Counselors Recognizes UCCS Counseling Program for Excellence

>>Article courtesy of Communique

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. —The master’s degree program in counseling and human services at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs recently received a 2012 Professional Identity Award from the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. NBCC, based in Greensboro, N.C., is the premier counseling certification organization in the United States and certifies more than 52,000 National Certified Counselors. Each year, NBCC presents Professional Identity Award to three counselor education programs in the United States in recognition of exemplary efforts to prepare the next generation of counselors. In addition to an award plaque, the honored programs receive $5,000. In her award letter, Devika Dibya Choudhuri, chair, NBCC Board of Directors, cited the quality of the faculty at UCCS and their commitment to the counseling profession as reasons for the award. Other recipients for 2012 are the University of New Orleans and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. “The Department of Counseling and Human Services offers tremendously strong programs,” Mary Snyder, dean, UCCS College of Education,said. “The College of Education is thrilled and honored by this recognition. We take seriously the challenge of educating the next generation of counselors in the areas of clinical mental health and school counseling.” Snyder said faculty in the Department of Counseling and Human Services will make recommendations about how best to use the award funds to benefit the counseling program. She also expressed her appreciation to Leann Morgan, assistant professor, College of Education. Morgan submitted the nomination on behalf of the counseling program. The College of Education’s clinical mental health counseling and school counseling programs are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs. The College of Education is known for its focus on diversity and has pioneered partnerships with educational institutions in Asia, including the acclaimed Daegu Gyeongbuk English Village at Yeungjin College in South Korea and Milo International Kindergarten in Guangzhou, China. In addition to preparing clinical mental health and school counselors, the department offers a specialized counseling and leadership program for the United States Air Force Academy. Each year, 20 mid-career Air Force officers are selected by the USAFA for training in counseling and leadership. The University of Colorado Colorado Springs, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 36 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s and five doctoral degrees. UCCS enrolls about 9,800 students on campus annually and another 2,000 in online programs. For more information, visit www.uccs.edu.

Two COE Programs Selected for Participation in WRGP

The UCCS Chapter (Chi Upsilon Sigma) of Chi Sigma Iota (National Honor Society for Counseling) was awarded a $250 Chapter Development Grant at the American Counseling Association Conference in March. Chi Sigma Iota Chapter Grants are intended to support activities in chapters that promote and recognize excellence in the areas of leadership, professional identity, advocacy, and scholarship. The Chapter used the funds to purchase study materials for comprehensive exam preparation.

(Left to right) BriAnn Medina, Arden Szepe, Dr.LeAnn Morgan

Two COE Programs Selected for Participation in WRGP

The College of Education received notification that two programs have been selected for participation in the Western Region Graduate Program (WRGP) for enrollment for the next academic year. The College's programs chosen, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), MA ONLINE and Counseling and Human Services, MA. This is a tuition program that allows students from the 14 participating Western states to pay in-state graduate tuition. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) was established over 55 years ago to promote the sharing of higher education resources among Western states. One of the programs WICHE created to meet this goal is the Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). WRGP is an exceptional educational resource for the West, allowing master’s, graduate certificate, and Ph.D. students Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE). The Western Undergraduate Exchange provides an opportunity for residents of participating Western states to enroll in designated public undergraduate programs in other participating WICHE states at resident tuition plus 50 percent, an amount considerably less than regular nonresident tuition. For more information, visit www.wiche.edu/WUE. Western Regional Graduate Program: 2012-2013 who are residents of WICHE’s 15 member states to enroll in nearly 280 high-quality programs at some 50 participating institutions and pay resident tuition. In fall 2011 more than 850 students enrolled through WRGP and saved an estimated $11.5 million in tuition; the average savings is estimated at $10,800 per student.

CHS Faculty Present at ACA

Dr. Julaine Field and Dr. David Fenell both presented at the American Counseling Association Conference, March 21-24, 2013.  Dr. Field presented with colleagues, Jered B. Kolbert, and Laura Crothers during a 90 minute presentation on, Whole-School Methods to Address Bullying.  The purpose of the session was to discuss and teach school counselors the elements of effective whole-school approaches to address bullying.  Dr. David Fenell's presentation, Counselors Helping Combat Veterans and Their Families by Doing What We Do Best included description of psychological problems encountered by returning veterans along with several current approaches to help them.  He included how counselors can help veterans and their families using contextual normalization theory, and approach that capitalizes on the core skills of professional counselors. 

CHS Faculty and Students Attend Pre-Collegiate Conference

Dr. LeAnn Morgan and Dr. Williams along with a few CHS students attended the Colorado Statewide Pre-Collegiate Conference March 15, 2013. The Colorado Statewide Pre-Collegiate Conference is an annual event designed to bring together career and college planning stakeholders and practitioners from schools, colleges and the workforce and non-profit sectors for meaningful dialogue that highlights best practices, formulates plans for collaboration, explores essential reform and identifies areas of potential synergy to support post-secondary aspirations of all Colorado students.

February 2013

CHS Students Article to be Published

COE Counseling students Beth Brooks, Karen Fiedler, Jayme Waddington, and Katharine Zink recently received notification that their article, Minors’ Rights to Confidentiality, When Parents Want to Know: An Ethical Quandary, has been accepted for inclusion in ACA’s VISTAS 2013, Issue 2. The article will be included as a significant contribution to the ACA VISTAS database and the counseling profession’s body of professional knowledge and resources. As authors for VISTAS, these students received an invitation to attend ACA’s annual VISTAS Contributors’ Reception to be held from 6:00–8:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 21, 2013, in the Hall of Mirrors Ballroom at the Hilton Cincinnati Hotel.

CHS Assistant Professor Involved in CU Women Succeeding Professional Development Symposium

Dr. Leann Morgan, Assistant Professor for the Counseling and Human Services department is a member of the CU Faculty Council Women's Committee which is hosting the CU Women Succeeding Professional Development Symposium today in Boulder. The event offers two days of learning, networking and celebrating on the Boulder campus. Faculty, staff, and students will learn tips for success at CU through participating in a series of workshops addressing many aspects of academic life. Dr. Morgan is pictured below (l-r) with
Dr. Brenda Allen (UC-D), and committee members Judith Coe, and Melinda Picket-May (Chair of Faculty Council). To follow on twitter @CUWomenSucceed.

New CSI Members and Poster Competition Winners

The Chi Sigma Iota held their new member induction and research poster competition 1 February 2013. Students presented their research to a packed house. Dr. Joe Wehrman, Dr. Rhonda Williams, and Dr. Jim Saunders judged the competition. The winners of the 1st Place ($250) prize were Brooke Kallstrom and Allison McCoy, 2nd Place ($100) went to Kristin Huber and Jenna McCarty, and 3rd Place ($50) went to Kari Meyers. The next CSI Open Meeting will take place in the College Of Education Large Conference Room (3rd floor Columbine Hall) February 5th at 7:30p.m.(the first Tuesday of the month). Please plan to attend the meeting if you are interested in running for an elected position within CSI President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Chair) for the 2013-2014 school year. All active members are encouraged to attend.