By UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
A new organization at Fort Hays State University will enable master’s counseling students to network and collaborate across campus and the internet. The new initiatives also will recognize their achievements.
The new Graduate Student Counseling Association will provide improved networking, research and mentoring opportunities for students seeking their master’s degrees in counseling. The intent is to foster an inclusive and supportive community between student counselors, faculty and the counseling profession.
“Counseling is a great field to pursue for any student considering an advanced degree, and it’s a profession that has great prospects,” said Dr. Elliot Isom, assistant professor of counseling in advanced education programs.
Counseling students from FHSU score at or above the national Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam. Consistently high in various rankings, FHSU has 100-percent pass rates on state and licensure examinations and is recognized as one of the best distance counseling programs in terms of accessibility, affordability, and completion rates.
The FHSU counseling program has two tracks: clinical mental health and school. In the fall of 2020, a new college counseling and student affairs counseling track will be added, said Isom.
The program also offers many innovative features exclusive to Fort Hays State.
“We have more unique classroom environments than other counseling programs in the state. We do all of our practice, all of our field experiences, virtually, through Zoom, face-to-face, each week,” Isom said.
To make the program as flexible, affordable and convenient as possible, FHSU does weekend courses twice a semester, and then online in between. Other programs do face-to-face each week for three hours, but FHSU does the face-to-face experience in a day, on a weekend, during the semester.
Isom highlighted FHSU’s willingness to go the extra mile, “We work hard to place people where they want to do their field experiences,” he said.
“If you want your field experience 400 miles from here, you could. We would be able to help coordinate that, whereas other counseling programs may require you to do your field experience within their local community,” said Isom.
Pamela Madsen, a student working towards her Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling, lived in Overland Park when she first started the FHSU counseling program. When she and her family moved to Atlanta, the thousand-mile move could have disrupted her education, but the flexible program enabled her to continue her studies from Georgia.
“I always felt supported and encouraged. Dr. Dowda is my advisor and he has gone beyond what is required to guide me on a few occasions,” said Madsen.
Madsen will graduate this December and currently is completing her field experience at
No Longer Bound, a 12-month, residential treatment center for substance use disorders in Cumming, Ga.
Madsen is also a student leader in the new Graduate Student Counseling Association.
To keep the counseling program relevant and modern and to help students succeed, the association created two recognition awards to foster a sense of community and professionalism among the students. Current students can nominate their peers, and adjunct faculty and tenure track faculty can also nominate.
“Every instructor has something different to say when they nominate somebody,” said Dr. Kenton Olliff, associate professor and practicum/internship coordinator for counseling. “For me, I would look at those students that are contributing to the profession, even while they’re in school. And, trying to better themselves that way as well. It’s not just about the classwork, it’s what happens outside the classroom too.”
The awards are named after two esteemed former faculty members of the FHSU graduate counseling programs who were known for their commitment to mentoring students and helping to further the profession: Dr. Carla Hattan and Dr. James Stansbury. They both were exceptional AEP faculty for a long time and maintained the professional counseling program.
One award is named the Carla Hattan School Counseling Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession. Hattan worked for the university for 26 years and retired in 2015. Hattan is credited with diligently keeping the program going, and also being an influential and exemplary teacher.
The other award is the James Stansbury Clinical Mental Health Counseling Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession. Stansbury was at the university for 30 years and retired in 1996. He was inducted into the Kansas Counseling Hall of Fame in 1996 and was a 1986 Kansas Counselor of the Year. He won a Distinguished Service Award in 1993.
The awards will be presented at a spring ceremony.