Counselor Education in the 21st Century E-Book
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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
This distinctive text provides master’s- and doctoral-level students, as well as new professionals, with a thorough exploration of the range of responsibilities, working conditions, roles, evaluation criteria, benefits, and challenges experienced by counselor educators. Each chapter focuses on a key aspect of the field, including teaching; supervision; mentoring; gatekeeping; research and grant writing; tenure; adjunct, part-time, and nontenured positions; program administration; leadership; and collegiality and wellness. Case vignettes and personal narratives from counselor educators are engaging and informative, and literature reviews are useful for introducing students to the material covered.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Organization of the Text
About the Editors
About the Contributors
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction to Counselor Education in the 21st Century
Relationship to Higher Education
Counselor Educators’ Employment Settings
Understanding Counselor Educators’ Work Experience in Context
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Chapter 2: Teaching
The Current State of Teaching in Counselor Education
Master’s-Level Program Context
Doctoral-Level Program Context
The Influence of Diversity and Social Justice on the Context of Teaching
Case Vignette: From Theory to Practice and Advocacy
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Chapter 3: Supervision in the Counselor Education Context
Supervision
Institutional Context
Differences and Similarities
Challenging and Facilitating Conditions
Systemic Factors
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Chapter 4: Advising and Mentoring in Counselor Education
Perspectives on Advising and Mentoring
Bioecological Systems Theory
Literature Base and Practice Implications
Best Practices for Program-Level Training and Assessment
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Chapter 5: Admissions and Gatekeeping Processes
Gatekeeping and Differences Among Academic Programs
Counselor Impairment Versus Counselor Professional Competence: Terminology
Admissions Protocols
Accreditation Standards
Gatekeeping at Various Assessment Points
Student Perspectives on Gatekeeping
Recent Court Cases
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Chapter 6: The Practice of Scholarship, Research, and Grant Writing in Counselor Education
Factors That Influence Research and Grant Writing in Academia and Counselor Education
Developing as a Researcher, Grant Writer, and Manager
Developing an Identity as a Researcher and Grant Writer
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: Faculty Review, Promotion, and Tenure Processes
Are You Ready for Academia?
Taking the First Steps
The Role of Tenure
Know the Terminology
Why Is Tenure So Difficult?
Know the Steps
Why Is the Tenure Process So Confusing?
The Case for Tenure
Tenure Challenges
An Unfavorable Tenure Decision
Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: Adjunct, Part-Time Faculty, and Nontenured Positions in Counselor Education
The Current Trend in Higher Education
Trends in CE
Professional Identity Development for Contingent Faculty
Qualifications and Work Satisfaction of Contingent Faculty
Recommendations for the Professional Identity Development of Contingent Faculty
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Chapter 9: Administration (Program Coordinator, Department Chair, Associate Dean, or Dean) in Counselor Education
The Administration Pipeline
Types of Academic Administrative Positions
Challenges of Administration
Essential Ingredients for Being an Effective Administrator
Working Effectively With Administrators
Training Best Practices for Counselor Education Programs
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Chapter 10: Professional Leadership at the State, Regional, National, and International Levels
Leadership Practice and Competence
Models of Leadership in Counselor Education
Leadership Development in Counselor Education
The Counselor Educator-Leader: Engagement in Professional Association Service
Leadership Principles in Counselor Education
Benefits and Challenges of Professional Association Leadership
Professional Leadership in the Context of Institution Type and Program Focus
Program Accreditation and Professional Leadership
Professional Leadership Across the Profession of Counseling
Diversity and Social Justice Issues in Leadership Practice
What’s Next? The Trajectory of Leadership Practice in Counselor Education
Recommendations for Fostering the Counselor Educator-Leader: Counselor Preparation and Practice
Leadership Profile of a Current Doctoral Student, Erin N. Friedman
Leadership Profile of a Tenured Professor of Counselor Education, Dr. Nicole R. Hill
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Chapter 11: Service in the Counselor Education Context
Institutional Culture and Service
Factors That Contribute to Similarities and Differences in the Practice of Service
How Can Program Type Influence Service Responsibilities?
The Evolution of Service in the 21st Century
Best Practices for Training and Practice in Counselor Education
Conclusion
References
Chapter 12: Collegiality and Wellness
Collegiality in Higher Education and Counselor Education
Wellness in Higher Education and Counselor Education
Additional Challenges to Faculty Collegiality and Wellness
Experiences of Collegiality and Wellness Across the Academic Spectrum
The Potential Impact of Systemic Factors on Collegiality and Wellness
Best Practices for Cultivating Collegiality and Wellness in Counselor Education
A Word About Adjunct Faculty and Doctoral Students
Conclusion
Additional Online Resources
References
Index
Technical Support
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Chapter 01
Figure 1.1
An Overview of the Focus of the Book and Each Chapter
Chapter 06
Figure 6.1
Growth and Goals Worksheet
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1
Factors Influencing Leadership Development
Figure 10.2
West et al.’s (2006) Phases of Leadership Practice
Figure 10.3
Levels of Professional Association Leadership
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Chapter 1
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Counselor Education in the 21st Century
ISSUES AND EXPERIENCES
edited by Jane E. Atieno Okechand Deborah J. Rubel
6101 Stevenson Avenue, Suite 600 | Alexandria, VA 22304www.counseling.org
Copyright © 2019 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.
American Counseling Association6101 Stevenson Avenue, Suite 600Alexandria, VA 22304
Associate Publisher Carolyn C. Baker
Senior Production Manager Bonny E. Gaston
Digital and Print Development Editor Nancy Driver
Copy Editor Beth Ciha
Cover and text design by Bonny E. Gaston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataNames: Okech, Jane E. Atieno, editor. | Rubel, Deborah J., editor.Counselor education in the 21st century : issues and experiences / Jane E. Atieno Okech, Deborah J. Rubel, editors.Description: Alexandria, VA : American Counseling Association, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2018006507 | ISBN 9781556203763 (pbk. : alk. paper)Subjects: LCSH: Counselors—Training of. | Counseling—Study and teaching.Classification: LCC BF636.65 .C68 2018 | DDC 158.3071—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018006507
We dedicate this book to our sons,Kai Magnus Rubel-Schrier and Maxwell Ochieng Tolo.You make our work even more purposeful, andyour inspiration knows no bounds.
Preface
Counselor Education in the 21st Century: Issues and Experiences aims to provide an in-depth exploration of the multidimensional experience of being a counselor educator and the role that institutional characteristics, accreditation status, program models (traditional, online, or hybrid), professional identity, professional development, and diversity and social justice issues play in that experience. The primary purpose of this text is to serve as a resource for doctoral-level students and new professionals in counselor education. Doctoral students and new professionals will understand the diversity of responsibilities, working conditions, role expectations, evaluation criteria, challenges, and benefits experienced by counselor educators. As a resource for master’s-level students contemplating a career in counselor education, this book provides a realistic perspective of the career options available in counselor education as well as contextual considerations to keep in mind when exploring postgraduate prospects. Counselor educators exploring career options in academia and career counselors or advisers working with graduate counselor education students will find concrete information about the profession grounded in the experiences of seasoned counselor educators working within a diversity of programs and higher education institutions across the United States. We hope that all readers will benefit from the information provided about the contexts of counselor education programs and the impact of these contexts on the practices and experiences of counselor educators.
Organization of the Text
This book contains 12 chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the current status of the field of counselor education, describes 11 key attributes or elements characteristic of the counselor education profession, and discusses the professional practice domains that influence these attributes. The remaining 11 chapters in this book focus on expanding the conceptualization and understanding of the attributes, domains, and contexts of counselor education in the 21st century.
The 11 key attributes of counselor education addressed in Chapters 2 to 12 are as follows: teaching; supervision; advising and mentoring; admissions and gatekeeping processes; scholarship, research, and grant writing; faculty review, promotion, and tenure processes; adjunct, part-time faculty, and nontenured positions; administration (program coordinator, department chair, associate dean, or dean); professional leadership (state, regional, national, and international levels); service (department, community, college, and university service); and collegiality and wellness.
Within each chapter, the authors provide an overview of contemporary literature on each of these attributes in higher education and then pay specific attention to the role each attribute plays in counselor education. The authors also discuss the experience of being evaluated for each of these attributes and how different institutional contexts affect their experiences. An important highlight of each chapter is an exploration of how counselor educators develop their practice of the aforementioned counselor education attributes. The authors also explore the intersections of the counselor education attributes with the professional practice domains included in every chapter, namely, program accreditation status, professional identity development, professional development, and diversity and social justice issues. In addition, the authors address the distinctions, where relevant, between counselor education practices across the higher education milieu, such as program type (e.g., master’s-only or master’s and doctoral programs), institution type (e.g., research or teaching intensive), and training modality (e.g., traditional, online, or hybrid models). In every chapter, the authors provide practice and training recommendations relevant to the attributes and contexts discussed in the chapter.
Throughout the book, the authors provide a combination of theory, research, practice, case vignettes, and personal narratives to provide perspectives on the evolution of each attribute of counselor education. Our objective in choosing this format is to ensure that the text remains focused on contextualizing and expanding understanding of the experiences of counselor educators rather than focused exclusively on how the various attributes of counselor education should be enacted. In Chapters 2, 3, and 4 (on teaching, supervision, and advising and mentoring, respectively), for example, the authors explore the experiences of teaching, providing supervision, and advising and mentoring in diverse contexts but do not prescribe how to teach, supervise, or advise and mentor. The same approach can be seen in Chapters 5 and 6, which address admissions and gatekeeping processes and research and grant writing and management, respectively. The author of Chapter 7, on faculty review, promotion, and tenure processes, addresses the paths to success, challenges, and issues related to such processes and the counselor educator’s professional life. In Chapter 8, the authors discuss the unique practices, benefits, and challenges of being an adjunct, part-time, or non-tenure-track faculty member in various types of counselor education programs. In Chapter 9, the author provides information useful to doctoral students and new professionals in understanding the roles, responsibilities, and tasks of various types of university administrators and useful to understanding current trends in academia. In Chapter 10, the authors provide valuable information on leadership in counseling and counselor education organizations at the state, regional, national, and international levels. In addition to providing useful information about the roles, responsibilities, challenges, and benefits of specific leadership positions, the authors share compelling narratives on personal/professional growth and the nature of leadership. In Chapter 11, the author provides a detailed discussion of the role of faculty service in academia, with a focus on the benefits and potential pitfalls of service to counselor educators in university settings. The final chapter, on collegiality and wellness, addresses the interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of being a counselor educator. The author provides valuable information on how faculty and work relationships, student interactions, and personal ways of being can affect job satisfaction and personal wellness. The discussion includes workplace bullying, discrimination, burnout, and compassion fatigue as well as wellness and self-care.
— Jane E. Atieno Okech and Deborah J. Rubel
About the Editors
Jane E. Atieno Okech, PhD, NCC, is a professor of counselor education and chair of the Department of Leadership and Developmental Sciences in the College of Education and Social Sciences at the University of Vermont. Before taking on her current administrative role, she served as clinical mental health program coordinator, counseling program coordinator, and interim associate dean for academic affairs and research of the University of Vermont’s College of Education and Social Sciences. She is currently an editorial board member of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work and was formerly an editorial board member of the Counselor Education and Supervision. Dr. Okech’s scholarship is anchored in the belief that her teaching, supervision, advising, clinical, and research activities are intertwined and inform one another. At the core of this scholarship is her focus on the practice of group work, guided by an abiding commitment to diversity, multicultural and social justice principles, and the development of the counseling profession. Her scholarly publications have received multiple professional accolades, including the 2017 Article of the Year Award and 2015 Outstanding Article Award from the Association for Specialists in Group Work. She is a 2018 Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work.
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Deborah J. Rubel, PhD, is an associate professor and past discipline liaison (roughly equivalent to department chair) at Oregon State University, where she teaches in the doctoral counselor education program and designs undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral hybrid counseling courses. She is a Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work and also served in the past as the organization’s treasurer. Currently in pursuit of full professorship at a doctorate-granting, research-intensive institution, she is gearing up to submit her dossier in fall 2020.
About the Contributors
Ryan G. Carlson, PhD, is an assistant professor of counselor education at the University of South Carolina. He previously worked on four federally funded grants at the University of Central Florida’s Marriage & Family Research Institute and currently serves as the lead evaluator for a large randomized controlled trial, Project Harmony. Dr. Carlson is a licensed mental health counselor with clinical experience in community mental health agencies, private practice, and university-based counseling.
Gloria Crisp, EdD, is an associate professor in the College of Education at Oregon State University. Her scholarship focuses on mentoring and related practices and programs designed to support college students’ success.
Erin N. Friedman, MS, LPC, NCC, is a counseling and counselor education doctoral student at Syracuse University. She received her master’s in clinical mental health counseling from Northern Illinois University.
Susan Furr, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Counseling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is a former department chair and has served on both departmental and college review committees.
Kristopher M. Goodrich, PhD, LPCC, is an associate professor of counseling in the Department of Individual, Family, and Community Education at the University of New Mexico. He is a past president of the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling and the Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. He is the current editor of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work.
Danica G. Hays, PhD, is a professor of counselor education and executive associate dean of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, College of Education. She is past president of the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling and the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. Before taking on her current administrative role, she served as a program coordinator and department chair.
Nicole R. Hill, PhD, LPC, is the dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where she holds the rank of professor in the Department of Counseling and College Student Personnel. She is a former president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, the Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, and the Idaho Counseling Association and a former board member for Counselors for Social Justice. She is currently serving as president-elect of Chi Sigma Iota.
Leslie D. Jones, PhD, LPC-S, RPT, is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education at the University of North Texas. She also serves as the director of the Child and Family Resource Clinic at the University of North Texas.
David M. Kleist, PhD, LCPC, is a professor in, and current chair of, the Department of Counseling at Idaho State University. He is a past president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (2008–2009), current editorial board team leader of The Qualitative Report, and past editorial board member of The Family Journal and Counseling and Values.
Jared Lau, PhD, NCC, LPC, is an assistant professor of counselor education in the Department of Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Human Services at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Lau is also a national certified counselor and licensed professional counselor.
Melissa Luke, PhD, LMHC, NCC, ACS, is a dean’s professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Services at Syracuse University, where she is associate dean of research and also coordinates both the doctoral program in counseling and counselor education and the master’s program in school counseling. Dr. Luke is the president-elect of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.
Kok-Mun Ng, PhD, is a professor of counselor education in the College of Education at Oregon State University. His scholarship focuses on multicultural and diversity issues in the theory and practice of counseling, counselor education, and supervision.
Lisa L. Schulz, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, ACS, is a former clinical associate professor of counseling at the University of North Texas in Denton and a former assistant professor at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. She is currently a practitioner and supervisor.
Heather C. Trepal, PhD, LPC-S, is a professor in and coordinator of the clinical mental health counseling program at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a past president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.
Jolie Ziomek-Daigle, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia and a licensed professional counselor. She coordinates the school counseling master’s program and advises both master’s and doctoral students.
Acknowledgments
Our collaboration began when we were graduate students at Idaho State University. Over the years that collaboration has resulted in multiple conference presentations, publications, and finally this book. Our professional and personal relationship symbolizes the possibilities when two people who admire each other are open to learning from each other’s perspectives and experiences. The outcome of our collaboration continues to inspire us to be creative together. We hope that emerging, new, and seasoned counselor educators who read this book are inspired to value the friendships that begin in graduate school and that they continue to believe in the potential of such friendships to blossom into unexpected lifelong personal and professional relationships.
We are grateful for the education and mentoring that we received as graduate students at Idaho State University (ISU) and the United States International University–Africa (USIU-A). From the advising that Jane received from Dr. Ruthie Rono (USIU), the advanced doctoral seminar courses taught by Dr. Arthur Lloyd, the clinical supervision sessions with Dr. Stephen Feit, and the teaching discussions with Dr. David Kleist (ISU), we developed an in-depth understanding of the history and evolution of the field of counselor education and, most important, the value of a well-grounded professional identity. We have gone on to learn from colleagues in our institutions, our students, our clients, and our professional collaborators at state, national, and international levels. We give credit for the strong foundation and understanding of counselor education that we both have today to these individuals and groups and to the unique experiences they enabled.
No one has been as inspiring, challenging, and encouraging to both of us as Dr. William B. Kline, who chaired both of our dissertation committees. We both published articles with him based on our dissertations, and in each case, the collaboration resulted in professional accolades and recognition by peers. Bill saw the potential in both of us long before we individually recognized it. Long after we became leaders and mentors in our own rights, he continued to encourage, support, and celebrate our accomplishments. Bill, we thank you for your unending support, inspiration, and mentorship.
Chapter 1Introduction to Counselor Education in the 21st Century
Jane E. Atieno Okech and Deborah J. Rubel
Counselor education is a profession with a unique identity supported by a professional organization dedicated to the practice of educating and supervising counselors and an articulated set of standards for counselor preparation, practice, and employment (Association for Counselor Education and Supervision [ACES], 2016; Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP], 2015a; Gibson, Dollarhide, & Moss, 2010; Lloyd, Feit, & Nelson, 2010). The development of the counselor education field is closely associated with the evolution of counseling as a distinct profession.
The counseling profession has distinguished itself among the helping professions, with the master’s-level degree accepted as the entry-level requirement for certification and licensure for professional practice (Sweeney, 2001). Professional counselors, the American Counseling Association (ACA) and counselor educators have advocated for the counseling profession, clarified the role of professional counselors among helping professionals, and laid a firm foundation for the role of counselor educators in counselor preparation programs.
ACES has a long history of advocacy for counselor educators and supervisors. By the 1970s, the organization had developed standards for counselor preparation (ACES, 1979, 2016) and advanced “accreditation-related documents that allowed them to conduct voluntary accreditation of counseling programs” (CACREP, 2015a, para.1). The ACES vision statement states in part that it “advances professional counseling through counselor education and supervision” (ACES, 2016, p. 5), reflecting the core role that this organization has in these related professions. It was ACES’s efforts at standardizing counselor preparation and establishing accreditation standards and its consultation with the American Personnel and Guidance Association (a precursor to ACA) that led to the creation of CACREP (CACREP, 2015a).
Since its inception in 1981, CACREP’s mission has been “to provide leadership and to promote excellence in professional preparation through the accreditation of counseling and related educational programs” (CACREP, 2015a, para. 1). The accrediting body has had a significant impact on the standardization of the counselor education curriculum, the shaping of the professional identity of counselor educators, and the hiring practices in counselor education programs. By 2014, 63% of counselor preparation programs in the United States were accredited by CACREP (Honderich & Lloyd-Hazlett, 2015; Lee, 2013).
The foremost accrediting body for counseling programs has continued to expand and define the field of professional counseling. In 2015, CACREP announced plans to merge with the Council on Rehabilitation Education, an organization that accredits professional rehabilitation programs (CACREP, 2015b). With this merger, the two organizations have formed a powerful body overseeing the accreditation of a broader range of counselor preparation programs.
Over the years, the more the CACREP Standards laid out specific criteria for master’s-level counselor training programs, the more its standards evolved to shape the counselor education curriculum at the doctoral level also. Ultimately these evolving guidelines have influenced the identity, role, and function of counselor educators (CACREP, 2015a). This development has intersected with the influence of certification and licensure bodies and the increasing prominence of counselor education programs and counselor educators in shaping the standards and requirements for training, certification, licensure, and professional counseling practice (Bobby, 2013; CACREP, 2015a; National Board for Certified Counselors, 2016).
One result of the widespread acceptance of CACREP Standards is the consistency in focus and content of the doctoral curriculum across accredited programs. The 2009 and 2016 CACREP Standards clearly identify the doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision as the preferred degree for faculty teaching at the master’s and doctoral levels. The identity of counselor educators therefore has become deeply entrenched in the training parameters established by the accreditation standards, resulting in the unique academic preparation, professional role, and experiences of counselor educators.
Relationship to Higher Education
Although counselor education is a unique professional and academic field, its practice resides within the larger realm of higher education. Within higher education, the practices commonly engaged in by educators (teaching, research, and service) are affected by the history, evolution, and current status of higher education as well as the standards and traditions of the particular institution within which a program, discipline, or department resides (Altbach, 2016). To understand counselor education faculty practices and experience, it is necessary to understand the higher education context within which counselor education occurs.
Higher education is a high-status field in which faculty maintain relatively high levels of autonomy around their teaching and research activity (Altbach, 2016). Some of the stability of higher education can be attributed to its complex, hierarchical, and culturally entrenched nature (Geiger, 2016). In general, this structure buffers institutions of higher education from external influences, promotes very slow change, and may promote historical inequities (Geiger, 2016). However, higher education is also an evolving field that has experienced profound shifts that affect the professoriate (Altbach, 2016). Although globalization trends place increasing emphasis on the international context of higher education, the American system of colleges and universities remains the gold standard (Finkelstein, Conley, & Schuster, 2016). Thus, the evolving trends that may affect future counselor educators may be usefully informed by examining higher education in the United States.
Trends that are relevant to the context of higher education can be conceptualized as those associated with student characteristics, governmental influence, and actions within institutions (Geiger, 2016). Over time, the students in higher education have become increasingly diverse and focused on preparation for work rather than preparation for entry into academe. Governmental influence can be seen as dual shifts, one from high financial investment to lower financial investment and the other from low regulatory involvement to higher regulatory involvement. At the institutional level, these shifts have resulted in tensions between commitments to teaching and research, with demands for higher productivity in both areas with fewer resources. This has been coupled with a growing focus on accounting for productivity related to student and scholarly outcomes. In addition, these shifts have also resulted in increased financial pressures that have resulted in increased entrepreneurial activity in both teaching (such as growth in for-profit education) and research (such as research collaborations with private companies; Geiger, 2016).
Altbach (2016) interpreted these general trends into more specific effects on the professoriate. Current economic struggles broadly affect pay, program resources, and teaching loads for faculty (Altbach, 2016). And although the valuing of research within higher education remains high, funding for research is increasingly difficult to acquire. This, along with the increased vocational focus of students and the pressure to prioritize teaching, creates a difficult division of purpose for many faculty. This division of purpose has affected the structure of higher education. It has caused declines in tenure-track positions and increases in part-time, adjunct, and full-time nontenured positions while also perpetuating inequality among these positions. Finally, increases in governmental oversight and public calls for the accountability of academic institutions have increased the influence of administrators, decreased the power of faculty, and further shaped their work (Altbach, 2016).
Each of these trends affects counselor education programs and the counselor educators working within them. The effects on teaching and research are obvious and related to productivity and accountability pressures with dwindling resources. The declining emphasis on tenure-track positions and growing use of non-tenure-track faculty and part-time faculty are also changing the face of counselor education faculty. Although this shift is usually in response to universities’ teaching mission, it also presents growing issues within faculty, such as pay inequality, marginalization, and shifting expectations about academic careers (Banasik & Dean, 2016). These are but a few ways the current context of higher education may affect the 21st century counselor educator; the effects can be seen in each of the domains discussed in the ensuing chapters. To fully understand what it means to be a part of counselor education, one must understand higher education; consider the specific employment settings within which counselor educators work; and consider institution type, program accreditation status, program model (traditional, online, or hybrid), professional identity, professional development, and social justice and diversity issues.
Counselor Educators’ Employment Settings
A quick cross-referencing of accredited counselor education programs (CACREP, 2015a) and institutional characteristics (Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, n.d.) provides a useful perspective on the diverse academic settings in which counselor educators work. The academic settings range from research-intensive to teaching-intensive institutions. The settings may offer only master’s degree programs or may offer both master’s and doctoral degree programs. Counselor education is offered at both nonprofit and for-profit institutions as well as those classified as public and private. In addition, academic settings that house counselor education programs differ in terms of training modality, from online or hybrid to traditional training, in which the majority of training experiences are completed face to face. These contextual differences in the types of institutions in which counselor educators work and the types of delivery models used contribute to the differences and similarities in counselor educators’ professional functions and experiences in academia. It is for this reason that the authors of these chapters also address the intersection of the attributes of counselor education and the domains of institutional characteristics, accreditation status, traditional or variations of online models of curriculum delivery, professional identity, professional development, and diversity and social justice issues (see Figure 1.1).
Understanding Counselor Educators’ Work Experience in Context
Understanding counselor educators’ work experience requires an understanding of the history of and current trends in counselor education and higher education and also an understanding of several domains of counselor education. These domains include institution type, accreditation status, professional identity, professional development, and diversity and social justice issues. What follows is a general introduction to the background, significance, and scope of influence of each of these domains. The interactions between each of these domains and the individual attributes of counselor education are explored in more depth in Chapters 2 to 12.
Figure 1.1An Overview of the Focus of the Book and Each Chapter
Institution Type
Counselor educators’ work experience is influenced by institutional characteristics. The most familiar way in which universities and colleges are categorized in terms of their institutional characteristics is via the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This system originated in 1973 and was intended to facilitate research on institutions of higher education by providing ways to differentiate between institutions (Altbach, 2015). Changes in institutional characteristics have been connected to shifts in stakeholders’ priorities over time. Characteristics that are currently tracked include data such as enrollment numbers, type and number of degrees awarded, part-time and full-time faculty numbers, funds generated from intellectual property and research, amount of research conducted, and level of internationalization (Altbach, 2015). Although the classification system has changed over time, at its most basic level it has always separated universities as doctorate, master’s, or baccalaureate granting; classified them to denote higher versus lower research and teaching focus; noted whether institutions are publicly or privately owned; and noted whether they are run for profit or are nonprofit (Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, n.d.). These are the dimensions that are most closely examined in these chapters.
It is important to explore and understand how an institution’s level of focus on research or teaching affects the experiences of counselor educators as they engage in their varied roles and responsibilities. An institution’s classification as a doctoral university with very high research activity or as a master’s college or university indicates a sociopolitical context and set of priorities that affect overall decision-making processes, including what faculty activities and outcomes are valued, how resources such as finances and time are allocated, and who is hired and retained (Geiger, 2016). These in turn can affect the experience of counselor educators as they engage in the many different activities that may make up their daily work lives. This influence is most often associated with expectations of higher research productivity at institutions with high or very high research activity and the commensurate effect on tenure and promotion processes (Lambie, Ascher, Sivo, & Hayes, 2014) but can also be seen in potentially higher teaching loads and an emphasis on advising and teaching evaluations during promotion processes at master’s colleges and universities (Altbach, 2016). The influence can be seen less directly in activities such as service expectations, in the status and treatment of non-tenure-track faculty, and in faculty wellness or job satisfaction.
The status of an institution as private or public may also have implications for counselor educators’ experiences in their roles and responsibilities. Historically private colleges and universities have been seen as institutions that provide high-quality education at high prices to the elite of society (Geiger, 2016). Today private colleges and universities run the gamut from a very few large research-oriented institutions that are almost indistinguishable in their operation from large state-funded schools, to smaller high-caliber liberal arts colleges, to denominational colleges, to for-profit institutions that focus on a few sustainable or even lucrative programs (Geiger, 2016). Current trends indicate that whereas older, more prestigious private, nonprofit institutions are stable, experience high demand, and continue to largely represent a privileged dominant culture population, smaller for-profit institutions are financially vulnerable, experience less prestige, and serve a very diverse student body (Hunt, Callender, & Parry, 2016). Most private institutions voluntarily adhere to the same policies as public institutions, and many are required to because they receive public funding of some type. However, the agendas and values of private universities may more freely affect the curriculum, student admission, student evaluation and retention, and faculty hiring and evaluation. An example of this is the inclusion of lifestyle agreements for faculty and students at religiously affiliated colleges (Smith & Okech, 2016a, 2016b).
Within the realm of private universities, the status of an institution as for profit or nonprofit affects the experience of counselor educators. In general, the culture of an institution is affected at all levels by its status as for profit or nonprofit. An institution’s status as for profit results in a culture oriented toward the marketplace, employers, and decision making based on business principles, although increasingly traditional nonprofit institutions of higher education are also adopting elements of this culture also (Lechuga, 2008). Although almost all counselor education programs must cut costs and maximize revenue generated via student credit hours, for-profit institutions may feel this pressure even more so. This pressure can affect admissions decisions, course sizes, advising load, general workload, pay, and the stability of job contracts (Hunt et al., 2016; Lechuga, 2008).
Accreditation Status
Given both the prevalence and importance of CACREP to the counselor education field at large, accreditation status may greatly affect the experience of the counselor educator. Accreditation is a status that indicates that the institution, college, department, or program has met the standards set by the accrediting body, and these standards address whether the structures and processes of the institution, college, department, or program will lead to the desired educational outcomes. At the level of individual programs, the outcomes are typically informed by professional standards. For the counseling profession, the most common accreditation is from CACREP.
CACREP’s merger with the Council on Rehabilitation Education, an organization that accredits professional rehabilitation programs, has made it a powerful accrediting body. In addition, the endorsement of CACREP Standards by ACA highlights its importance and influence in the field of counselor education and counseling. More recently, counseling programs may be accredited by the Master’s in Counseling Accreditation Committee. This newer accrediting body emerged in 2009, partly in response to the 2009 CACREP Standards, which required counselor preparation programs to only hire core faculty who “have earned doctoral degrees in counselor education and supervision, preferably from a CACREP-accredited program, or have been employed as full-time faculty members in a counselor education program for a minimum of one full academic year before July 1, 2013” (CACREP, 2009, Standard I.W.2). This requirement prevents new doctoral-level psychologists from gaining core faculty positions and has led to many counseling and clinical psychologists, long dedicated to counselor preparation, feeling unappreciated and disenfranchised (Kurpius, Keaveny, Kim, & Walsh, 2015). In addition, counselor educators’ experiences may also be affected when their programs overlap with or share resources with programs accredited by other bodies, such as the American Psychological Association. This may be a positive effect, such as broader exposure to differently skilled clinicians, or a negative one, such as challenges for students with an undifferentiated professional identity or competition for resources such as clinical placements. More specifically, accreditation status affects almost all of the roles, responsibilities, and experiences of counselor educators. Accreditation both provides counseling programs and counselor educators with resources and benefits and places additional demands on them (Thomas, 1991). Accreditation requirements shape the curriculum, specify student-to-faculty ratios, specify ratios of full-time to part-time faculty, set requirements for faculty professional identity and training, dictate the maximum size of clinical courses, and shape student and program assessment practices (CACREP, 2015a). Because accreditation may be attractive to prospective students, counselor educators can advocate for positive program changes and funding (Honderich & Lloyd-Hazlett, 2015). Conversely, accreditation has been criticized as potentially burdensome to maintain both in terms of faculty workload and in terms of program finances, potentially exclusionary, and detrimental to program innovation and creativity (Thomas, 1991).
Professional Identity
Issues of professional identity have existed since the inception of the counseling profession. With its multiple origins in guidance and psychology, as well as its overlap with other professions such as marriage and family therapy, rehabilitation, psychology, psychiatry, and social work, the counseling profession has struggled yet succeeded in forging a unique professional identity (Dollarhide, Gibson, & Moss, 2013). Professional identity operates at both a profession-wide or collective level and a personal level. At the collective identity level, challenges have included unifying diverse specializations into one counseling profession (McLaughlin & Boettcher, 2009), conflicts between the humanistic values of the profession and the medical model values of the systems that surround it (Eriksen & Kress, 2006), and the multidisciplinary nature of the body of knowledge from which the profession draws (Pistole & Roberts, 2002). These challenges in part spurred efforts by ACA to develop strategies to strengthen the collective identity of counseling (Kaplan & Gladding, 2011) and to develop a unified definition of counseling (Kaplan, Tarvydas, & Gladding, 2014). Despite this unified definition, the collective identity also operates as a professional culture marked by implicit values, language, and norms for behavior. Within the larger profession, professional identity also operates as an individual’s relationship to the profession and its formal and informal culture. At a suprasystemic level, other institutions, such as licensing bodies and legislatures, interact with professional identity by allowing activities for identified professionals and by consulting with professionals as experts on policy.
For counselor educators, professional identity is active in several ways. Counselor educators may identify as counselors or may potentially identify with another helping profession, and their level of identification with these professions may vary in intensity and meaning. They may also identify primarily as counselor educators, or they may identify more with a practice specialty, such as school counseling or addictions counseling (Brott & Myers, 1999; Eriksen & Kress, 2006). Regardless, the individual setting in which they work, as well as the particular tone of the institution and locality in which their program resides, may place greater or lesser value on specific professional identities. This valuing may take the form of subtle validation or invalidation (Okech & Geroski, 2015); differential access to resources; and, in the extreme, the inability or struggle to gain employment (Kurpius et al., 2015). Those entering the profession of counselor education should be aware of and receive mentoring on how their professional identity may interact with and affect their employment opportunities and the various roles they will fulfill within their institutions.
In addition to having their own professional identity, counselor educators are also charged with facilitating the development of professional identity in their students (Dollarhide et al., 2013; Okech & Geroski, 2015). Given the variety of ways in which counselor educators may identify and the variety of ways in which those identities may or may not be valued within their institutions or programs, it is clear that facilitation of professional identity is a complex endeavor. The governing body of counseling benefits from students and practicing counselors having a strong identification with the profession, and there is evidence that professional practice and clients may benefit from this identification as well (Granello & Young, 2012). It is in part because of this that the practices of counselor education, including curriculum, clinical experiences, and hiring practices, are shaped by accreditation standards, which are in turn shaped by professional governing bodies. Those moving into counselor education positions should be aware of how their own identification and the processes and practices of their programs can affect the professional identity of their students through the variety of roles faculty engage in. For instance, specific courses within the counseling curriculum are geared toward the professional development of students. Thus, it is imperative that the instructors of those courses understand the professional identity outcomes desired. Similarly, supervisors may play a large role in supervisee professional identity development (Dollarhide et al., 2013; Okech & Geroski, 2015) and thus should be aware of that influence and use it wisely. The leadership and service domains in which faculty choose to become involved, such as leading Chi Sigma Iota chapters, assist in students’ professional identity development. Similarly, becoming involved in state, regional, national, or international counseling or counselor education organizations provides professional identity role modeling for counseling students.
Professional Development
Another factor that affects the roles, responsibilities, and experiences of counselor educators is counselor educators’ professional development. In this text, we conceptualize professional development as the gaining of skills and knowledge, formal and informal, to earn or maintain professional credentials. In the context of counselor education, professional development may be seen as gaining the experience, knowledge, and skills needed to maintain necessary credentials such as counselor licensure or supervision certification; to perform typical tasks such as teaching; or to develop personal or interpersonal skills such as self-care, assertive communication, or stress management. Each domain of counselor educator roles, responsibilities, and experiences comes with its own set of knowledge and skills, both formal and informal, that enable its practice.
Several issues are present in terms of counselor educator professional development. One is the initial training and mentoring of doctoral students who will fill counselor education positions, whether the positions are tenure-track, clinical or instructor, part-time, or term-to-term positions. The course work and experiences that are part of doctoral counselor education should provide a sound foundation of knowledge and skills for new professionals to build on. In addition, doctoral students should have the opportunity to connect with experienced mentors who share their specific counselor education interests and can provide guidance at a more personalized level. Although accreditation provides a framework for doctoral programs, how skills, knowledge, and experiences are imparted is still highly dependent on the program or institution.
Another issue is the professional development that must occur after the doctoral degree is completed and a position has been secured. Counselor educators are charged with keeping their clinical skills and licenses current, developing supervision skills to match students who are interning in a variety of settings, and gaining the content knowledge and pedagogical skills to teach a variety of courses. They must also further develop their research and writing skills and potentially develop the knowledge and skills needed to move into administrative positions such as program coordinator, department chair, associate dean, or dean (Magnuson, 2002; Sangganjanavanich & Balkin, 2013). The acquisition of skills and knowledge at this level is essential but very often not formally supported.
The roles, responsibilities, and experiences of counselor educators change as they become more experienced and gain knowledge and skills. In addition, the institutional culture rooted in higher education’s history also affects the experience of faculty as they become more proficient. In some institutions, new faculty are mentored in their new responsibilities and protected through course releases or funding to assist them in establishing a research agenda. In these institutions, more experienced faculty who have gained skills, knowledge, and the protection of tenure share the load, in particular taking on tasks that may prove risky for new faculty, such as administration. In other institutions, new faculty, as they attempt to establish themselves, may become the bearers of unwanted courses, bearers of heavy advising loads, and authors of accreditation reports, and they may be responsible for administrative duties that more senior faculty do not want.
Diversity and Social Justice Issues
Beyond the boundaries of the institution and program, the experience of counselor educators is also affected by issues of diversity and social justice. Higher education, as noted before, is a system affected by its history and hierarchical structure. It is also a system that exists within society, and although it is often seen as a driver of social progress, higher education also operates as a microcosm of society (Geiger, 2016). Racism, sexism, classism, ableism, heterosexism, and other forms of marginalization and oppression exist within higher education, its institutions, and programs within those institutions. Institutions struggle to equitably serve students from diverse groups, and both female faculty and faculty of color, in particular Hispanic or Black/African American faculty, suffer disproportionately from low pay and promotion rates (Ali, 2009; Altbach, 2016).
Counselor education programs are not immune to the effects of the history and hierarchical structure of higher education. Counselor education faculty, staff, students, and clients are affected by various forms of marginalization and oppression in ways that can be blatant and more dangerously, in ways that can be nearly invisible, unintentional, and damaging (Constantine, Smith, Redington, & Owens, 2008; Henfield, Woo, & Washington, 2013). The insidious nature of these dynamics implies that each role, activity, and experience of the counselor educator is affected in some way. This requires prospective and current counselor educators to be vigilant. Although counselor educators may be the target of marginalization and discrimination based on social identity (Constantine et al., 2008), counselor educators with the dominant group or positions of relative safety and power have the responsibility and opportunity to effect change at the microlevel with students and colleagues and at the macrolevel within the institution, community, and beyond. They should be prepared to do so.
The counseling profession has increasingly identified itself with social justice values. It has long sought to update its practice and training to provide better training and treatment across cultural and identity differences and to position counselors of all specialties to be advocates and agents of social change. Thus, the widely varying roles and practices of counselor educators should be not only examined but also envisioned as opportunities for positive change.
Conclusion
Many people enter the counseling profession for very idealistic reasons. They want to help others and also enjoy and value working with people. Some become inspired and intrigued during their own training or when they take on clinical supervision duties with the training and development of counselors. They may be fascinated by the diverse and evolving knowledge base associated with counseling and its specialties. They may also feel compelled to add to that knowledge base. Such people become counselor educators. However, just as counselors’ professional experiences are not limited to direct work with clients, counselor educators’ professional experiences are not limited to teaching, supervision, and research. The life of a counselor educator is made of many roles and responsibilities, and they are subject to a variety of relationships and stressors (Magnuson, 2002). Although doctoral programs strive to educate and mentor students to thrive in these environments, there are many things to accomplish during doctoral education, and students may feel surprised or unprepared in their first position (Magnuson, 2002).
The many influences mentioned previously hint at some of the benefits and challenges of being a counselor educator. In addition to the material effect of these influences on work and working conditions, the complexity of the influences themselves can add to the overwhelming experience of beginning work as a counselor educator, whether part time or full time. It is not unusual for new faculty to feel somewhat helpless, confused, overwhelmed, or disappointed (Magnuson, 2002). And it is not unusual for both new and more experienced counselor educators to experience burnout (Sangganjanavanich & Balkin, 2013). Yet the counselor educator has many opportunities within these roles and responsibilities both to personally prosper and to effect positive change that can benefit colleagues, students, and clients. New professionals who have an understanding of the reality of these roles and responsibilities and the broader context of higher education and their specific institution will be better able to cope, thrive, and make positive changes.
Additional Online Resources
American Counseling Association’s endorsement of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs Standards for accreditation
https://www.counseling.org/accreditation
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
https://www.acesonline.net
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
®
http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
www.cacrep.org
National Board for Certified Counselors
www.nbcc.org
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