Dear Alumni and Friends of CAHE,
We are so excited to have this opportunity to share a little bit about the exciting happenings here in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education this fall. It has been an exciting semester as we have opened up our doors and have students back in classrooms and counseling lab space again.
Faculty and students enthusiastically got back to the business of face-to-face education and feel a sense of accomplishment as the semester draws to a close. Getting back into the swing of things took a little getting used to at first; but once we made it through those first few weeks of trepidation, gathering together to learn and grow together felt as natural as it had back in Fall 2019.
New Faces in the Department
We had two new faculty members, Dr. Jehan Hill and Dr. Peitao Zhu, who joined our Counseling program in Fall 2020, so they were super excited to finally see campus and our students in person. During the pandemic, our counselors-in-training provided clinical services through virtual sessions via telemental health services. While some clients still prefer to meet on the Teams virtual meeting platform, our counseling clinic offices are also back in use for counseling service provision.
This semester, we added two new faculty members in Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA), Dr. Jacki Mac and Dr. Q Hutchings. They are already building strong relationships with our students who appreciate their expertise and support. Dr. Gudrun Nyunt transitioned into a tenure-track faculty position after having served in the roles of Visiting Assistant Professor and then Clinical Assistant Professor. Dr. Kelly Wesener-Michael joined the department this year and is our Practitioner-Scholar in Residence in the HESA program. Once we were able to return to campus, we were ready to fill out the department to provide students with the best experience and most highly qualified faculty possible.
Student Affairs 101
The master’s students in our HESA program organized, hosted and delivered the Student Affairs 101 Conference on October 29. We were pleased to have over 75 guests on campus that day to participate in the event.
This event occurs annually and travels between universities that offer this area of graduate study. Faculty and graduate students have the opportunity to present their work regarding Student Affairs in higher education and it also serves as a recruitment tool for potential applicants. Participants learn about the current trends in Student Affairs and how to discern the difference between various types of graduate programs. They also are able to discover a wide spectrum of offices within Student Affairs and to gain an introduction to the life of a graduate student working in Student Affairs settings.
Last year, HESA hosted the event in a virtual meeting space, so it was especially gratifying for them to be able to deliver it face-to-face in the Holmes Student Center this year.
After a challenging couple of years, CAHE is back on the ground and building for the future! It’s a great time to take pride in being a Huskie alum! I hope you enjoy reading about our program updates below, and, if you are able to support our programs financially, please consider designating a gift to CAHE.
Please also stay in touch with us by visiting our website, following us on Facebook @niucahe and/or reaching out to me anytime at sdeggeswhite@niu.edu.
Go Huskies, and Happy Holidays,
Suzanne Degges-White
Professor and Chair
