Dear Alumni and Friends of CAHE,
We are so excited to have this opportunity to share with you updates on how this academic year has been going here in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education as we head closer to commencement.
Looking Forward to Two New Faculty Faces in the Department
The Counseling program completed two faculty searches this year and we are excited to announce that we will be welcoming Dr. Injung Lee and Dr. TJ Schoonover to our department in the fall.
Dr. Lee is bringing clinical expertise gained in K-12 schools, a youth counseling center, and a university counseling center. Her primary research interests center on professional identity development of counselors-in-training, ethnic/cultural minority populations in counselor education, and trauma-informed teaching.
Dr. Schoonover is a licensed school counselor, LPC, and registered play therapist who is interested in researching childhood trauma and evidence-based interventions to support children exposed to trauma.
School Counselor Institute
After a two-year hiatus, we are re-opening the School Counselor Institute this summer.
We will be offering the program to two cohorts each year; one cohort will begin in July and one begins in January. To best meet the needs of potential students, the program is going to be fully online with a minimum number of synchronous sessions. This program is a pathway for licensed counselors who want to move into school counseling positions to make that transition as seamlessly as possible.
For more information on this program, please visit our School Counselor Institute website.
Face-to-Face Commencement Celebrations
This past fall, we were able to get students back in the classrooms for the most part and we made it through the spring semester with very few pandemic-related disruptions.
We are so glad to also be able to host Hooding Ceremonies for our May graduates. Both our Higher Education and Student Affairs Hooding Ceremony and Counseling Hooding Ceremony will take place Friday, May 13, prior to the university’s Graduate Commencement Ceremony. This will be an exciting and busy day with these events and we all appreciate just how much there will be to celebrate this year!
As we think about all that has transpired in the last couple of years, we know that our Huskie Family has remained strong and our students and faculty have been steadfastly committed to moving forward and making sure that learning didn’t miss a beat. 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,
Suzanne Degges-White
Professor and Chair
