COUNSELING AND STUDENT AFFAIRS
MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MOORHEAD
NEWSLETTER
May 11, 2006
FACULTY UPDATE
The Counseling and Student Affairs (CNSA) program is experiencing a number of changes this fall. Dr. Melissa Halter, Assistant Professor of Counseling and Student Affairs, resigned from the program. We wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors! The 2006-2007 academic year will be Pat Neuman’s last year of phased retirement. She will be teaching the Practicum/Internship in Student Affairs during the fall semester but will not have official program duties during the spring 2007 semester. Pat’s retirement will become official at the end of the spring 2007 semester. Dr. Duane Halbur has been hired as the School Counseling program coordinator. He will start this August and will teach CNSA 650 Administration and Organization of Guidance and CNSA 611 Theories. Dr. Wes Erwin will be back in the classroom. He will be teaching CNSA 600 and CNSA 610 fall semester. The CNSA program hopes to hire a one-year fixed term faculty member with Student Affairs experience for the 2006-2007 year. A search for a tenure track faculty member in student affairs will be underway with a start date of August 2007. In addition, Karen Montgomery, a retired Fargo South High School counselor, will be teaching School Counseling Internship Seminar.
If you are going to have your thesis proposal meeting this fall semester, your committee will consist of Dr. Erwin, Dr. Halbur, and one member who is graduate faculty and is not from the education unit or the counseling center. Please contact Dr. Erwin if you have any questions.
Dr. Duane Halbur has been hired as the new School Counseling program coordinator. He is the current Coordinator for the School Counseling program at the University of North Dakota. He was faculty in the Counselor Education program at the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa prior to accepting the position at UND. Dr. Halbur will officially begin his work with the CNSA program August 21, 2006. He indicated that he is happy to accept emails at the following email address: drduanehalbur@earthlink.net if you have any questions or wish to welcome him.
Dr. Halbur brings a lot of expertise to the program. He is co-author of the book “Developing Your Theoretical Orientation in Counseling and Psychotherapy” (2006) and has published and presented on a wide array of topics. Please extend a warm CNSA welcome to him when you have the opportunity.
ADVISING TIPS FOR SUMMER 2006 COURSES
There are a number of courses offered this summer. ED 602, Statistics, will be offered from 9:00 am to 10:20 am, Monday – Thursday in LO 202 and ED 603, Methods of Research, will be offered 10:45 am to 12:05 pm, Monday – Thursday in LO 202. CNSA 640 Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling, will be offered 5:00-7:30pm on Wednesday in Lommen 210. CNSA 690, Family Counseling & Therapy, will have the first meeting on Monday, June 5 in Lommen 210, and will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays after the first meeting. The meeting time is 6:00 – 9:45pm. Psych 563, Abnormal Psychology, will be offered from 9:45 am to 11:45am, Monday – Thursday in Hagen Hall 208 (Note: Psych 563 Abnormal Psychology will also be offered Fall 2006). Be sure and register for the graduate level sections. All of these classes are held during First Summer Session, June 5-July 7, 2006.
You can also take ED 602 and ED 603 online. Talk to your advisor about whether or not this type of study will work for you. You can sign up for the online courses at the MSUM Continuing Studies Office, 811 11th St. South (just west across the street from Owens Hall in the blue house). Call for further information at 218-477-5862. You can also visit the Continuing Studies web page at:
http://appserv.mnstate.edu/continue/
ADVISING TIPS
If you elect to take comprehensive examinations in the summer, they will be read and graded fall semester. Please pick up and complete a comprehensive examination application in Lommen 209.
For students who will be participating in practicum and internship Fall 2006, please remember to have your liability insurance active by the first night of class and bring verification (such as a copy of the front page of the policy with your name and policy number). Liability insurance is required before you can work with clients or students in your practicum/internship.
If you have not yet completed a plan of study, please schedule an appointment with Dr. Erwin to complete one.
Research seminar will be held from 4:00 – 5:00pm on Thursdays in Lommen Hall 111 beginning September 7, 2006. This seminar is open to students no matter where they are in the thesis process. Attendance at this seminar is voluntary. Please check it out fall semester!
Please visit the CNSA web page. You no longer need the password and the username to enter the web page.
For graduating students, please remember to sign up for the CNSA alumni listserv. You can do this by sending a message to majordomo@mnstate.edu and subscribing to cnsa_alumni@mnstate.edu
All students who have made, or make in the future, changes to your email address need to remember to re-subscribe to all pertinent listservs for the program. Also, any changes in mail address, telephone number, and/or name must be provided to the CNSA Administrative Assistant, Bev Nokken (477-2297 and nokken@mnstate.edu). Unless you advise us otherwise, the only contact information we have for you is that on your initial application. Of course you should also inform the registrar’s office and, if applicable, the financial aid office. However, keep in mind that when you inform those offices, they do not pass the information on to us.
CACREP Accreditation UPDATE
The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accreditation process is going smoothly. The self-study will be completed by the end of June and submitted to the CACREP office. A site visit will occur during the fall 2006 or possibly the spring 2007 semester. During this site visit evaluators will visit the MSUM campus, examine the self-study and interview students, faculty, and administrators. If the site visit occurs during the fall semester an accreditation decision could be made public in January. More information will be provided about CACREP at the Fall All Student Meeting.
FALL MEETING FOR ALL GRADUATE STUDENTS
All students are required to attend the annual All Student Meeting on Monday August 28, 2006 in Lommen 210 at 5:00 p.m. Prospective students are also invited and encouraged to attend. Important information about the CNSA program will be reviewed and you will meet faculty and new students as well as visit with classmates. Graduate Student Organization officers and student representatives will be elected. And, there will be FOOD!! Yes, there still is such a thing as a free supper (beverage included!) See you all there.
2006 GRADUATES
The following students graduated May 12, 2006. The title of each student’s thesis is also given.
· Kristi Alverson, School Counseling. Thesis: “The Influence of Academic Achievement and Personal/Social Well Being in Transferring to an Alternative High School”
· Kia Frericks, Student Affairs. Thesis: “The Relationship between Supplemental Instruction, Course Grade, and Retention of Freshman Students”
· Jennifer Gifford, School Counseling. Thesis: “School Counselors: A Description of Documentation Practices for the 21st Century”
· Lorraine Joern, School Counseling. Thesis: "Participation in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program and North Dakota State Assessment Scores of Eighth Grade Students"
· Kristin Linson, Student Affairs and Community Counseling: "The Relationship between Multidimensional Perfectionism and Self-Esteem in College Students"
· Tara Marquardt, School Counseling: "The Keirsey Temperament of Primary and Secondary School Counselors"
· Julie Smith, School Counseling: "Effectiveness of Alcohol Education among Native American Eighth Graders"
· Tanya Stuhaug, School Counseling: "A Survey of Elementary School Counselors' Perceptions Regarding the Effectiveness of Play Therapy in the Schools"
During the month of April area school counselors were asked to complete an online survey regarding their continuing education needs and preferences. The survey was completed with the help of graduate assistant, Sarah Holte, and instructor Karen Montgomery and available on the CNSA webpage.
Our goal was to see what topics and in what format area school counselors might want to see opportunities for professional development. The prospect of partnering with practicing school counselors and MSUM in delivering continued education is an exciting opportunity we hope to explore more intently in the future.
A summary of the survey results is available online at www.mnstate.edu/cnsa
COUNSELOR PREPARATION EXAM RESULTS
Thirteen students took the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE) this year. The CNSA overall mean was 93.46 (SD = 7.02) whereas the overall mean of the national comparison group (n = 488) was 88.33 (SD = 10.79). In addition, the scores of two CNSA students were better than 94% of the scores of the national comparison group. Excellent work CNSA students!
NATIONAL COUNSELOR EXAMINATION RESULTS
Three students took the National Counselor Examination (NCE) on April 16, 2005. The CNSA overall mean was 127.67 (SD = 5.69), the overall mean for students from CACREP accredited programs was 115.50 (SD = 14.19) and the overall mean for students from non-CACREP accredited programs was 113.67 (SD = 14.95). CNSA students consistently score above the national mean on this examination. The significance of this is that passing the NCE is necessary to become a certified counselor and some states use this examination as a criterion for state licensure.
CNSA STUDENT AND ALUMNI SOCIAL
The Counseling and Student Affairs (CNSA) program held its second annual Social on May 1, 2006 from 5:00p.m. – 7:00p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott. Over 40 CNSA alumni, students, faculty, and guests were present. We were very pleased to have so many alumni, students and guests attend! There was a delicious taco bar and refreshments!
Door prizes were donated by the MSUM Alumni Foundation, MSUM bookstore, Bennigans, Atomic Coffee, and the FM Redhawks Baseball organization. Winners of the door prizes were: Amy Balluff – Thermos, Myla Korbel – Bennigans gift certificate, Dorothy Suomala -Atomic Coffee Gift Certificate, Mike Pulczinski – MSUM t-shirt, Kim Vess Halbur – Atomic Coffee Gift Certificate, Anna Thompson – MSUM personal radio, Jenny Lubinski – MSUM bookbag, Janet Sundquist - Redhawks baseball game tickets, and Nancy Just - Redhawks baseball game tickets.
A huge thanks to the planning committee: Karen Montgomery, CNSA instructor, and CNSA students Sarah Holte, Carol Sievers, and Eric Leinen. Thanks for your hard work and planning!!
Watch for the third annual CNSA Student and Alumni Social during the 2006-2007 academic year.
CNSA FACULTY AND STUDENTS PROFESSIONALLY ACTIVE
The CNSA faculty and students have been highly active in professional development activities! A big pat on the back for everyone who participated in professional development this year. Following are some of the activities in which the CNSA faculty and students participated:
· Dr. Wes Erwin, Director of CNSA, co-presented with a colleague, Jacqueline Lewis from Minnesota State University Mankato, at the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision national conference on October 20-23, 2005 in Pittsburgh. The program was entitled, “Addressing and Confronting Ethnocentrism in Counselors-in-Training.”
· The following three groups presented in the North Dakota Counseling Association Midwinter Conference held on February 5-7, 2006 in Bismarck.
Jamie Nelson and Jenessa Fillipi presented the program “Multicultural Counseling (K-12) and the Development Model”.
Kristi Alverson, Lorraine Joern, Jenny Dragseth, and Tara Marquardt presented the program entitled “Counselor’s Role in Welcoming and Orienting New Students-A Developmental Approach.”
Dr. Wes Erwin, Sarah Holte, Amy Halvorson, Jenny Durham, and Chika Asai presented the program, “Benefiting Multicultural Clients by Considering Acculturation.”
· Eric Leinen is currently a member of the Association of International Educators (NAFSA). He attended NAFSA Regional convention on November 2004 in Sioux Falls.
· Joanie Kyllo attended the Upper Midwest Regions/Association of College and University Housing Officers Conference held on November 9-11, 2005.
· Jordan Urich is currently a member of the Association of College Unions International (ACUI). She attended the conference planning committee for the Regional conference in November 2005, and the international conference in Kansas City, MO in March 2005.
· Kia Frericks, Amy Halvorson, Valerie Shepersky, Jordan Urich, Brian Vrtis, and Jenessa Fillipi volunteered at the Dorothy Day Food Pantry in Moorhead on December 13, 2005.
· Maria Toomey, who graduated in December 2005 in Community Counseling, has been selected as the Graduate Student Lecturer for the 2006-2007 academic year. Her presentation will be on her thesis topic, "Correlation of Religious and Spiritual Support and Depression and Despair Following Prenatal Loss."
The faculty encourages continued participation in professional development activities. Some monetary assistance is available for students attending or presenting at conferences. For more information contact Sandra Schob, Activities Business Manager, CMU Room 225, 477-2486 and ask for a Funding Request Form for Student Travel. The CNSA program also will reimburse students for up to $50.00 towards their conference registration fee if they are presenting at a conference.
FACULTY AVAILABILITY THIS SUMMER
Dr. Erwin will be teaching and maintaining office hours during the first summer session until July 7, 2006. He will not be available from July 8 - August 21, 2006.
The faculty wish you a rewarding and relaxing summer!
Newsletter compiled by Chika Asai, Graduate Assistant, and Dr. Wes Erwin