Smith received the 2017 Mary Smith Arnold Anti-Oppression Award from ACA’s Association of Counselors for Social Justice, which honors professional counselors and educators who have an exemplary record of challenging multiple forms of oppression in the counseling professions and in their local schools and communities.
Dr. Ana Puig received the 2016 Compadrazgo/Comadrazga (Godparent) Mentoring Leadership Award. This award recognizes an individual of the Latina/o Network of the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development who is active in the mentorship of Latina/o counseling students or professionals, demonstrates commitment to multiculturalism and social justice, and has demonstrated leadership (or leadership potential) within the Latina/o Network. Dr. Puig is a scholar and the research director of the Office of Educational Research in the College of Education. She is also affiliate faculty with the UF Counselor Education Program.
In June 2016, tragedy struck in Orlando with the largest mass shooting in US history at the Pulse Nightclub. As sadness, fear, and an array of other emotions surfaced among individuals in the Central Florida community and around the world, Dr. Super stepped forward to help organize a statewide collaborative effort to provide counseling services and support to victims, their families, and others (including many in the LGBT+ community) who were hurting and afraid.
The University of Florida (Beta Chapter) of Chi Sigma Iota (CSI), the international counseling honor society, received national recognition at the American Counseling Association (ACA) Convention in San Francisco in March 2017.
UF counselor education masters and doctoral students traveled to Tallahassee, the state capital, to advocate for mental health. Students met with their state representatives and senators to discuss legislation affecting mental health and to educate legislators about counseling.
Counselor education students and faculty traveled to the Florida state capitol in Tallahassee in February to advocate for counselors. Students and faculty attended legislative sessions and met with state representatives and senators to discuss a variety of counseling issues.
Kathleen Joseph, a 2015 M.Ed/Ed.S. graduate from the Counselor Education program at the University of Florida, was honored as the Florida Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (FAMFT) Student of the Year. This award honors a current student member who demonstrates academic and clinical excellence, while offering unique contributions to their learning community. Kathleen currently serves as Student Representative to FAMFT. Since graduation, Kathleen began working as the Coordinator to the BrainPower program at the Girls Place Inc., of Gainesville. BrainPower is a targeted intervention program aimed at providing intentional mental health services to the young women at the Girls Place, with a goal of extending mental health services to the girls and their families in a way that promotes resiliency as the girls transition through the various stages of child and adolescent development. Additionally, she serves as a mental health services provider to the University of Florida athletic association, where she provides crisis intervention and mental health services to student athletes. Kathleen also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer for the College of Education where she designed and currently teaches the online course, EDF 3135–The Adolescent.
Emily (Mills) Schweim was recently honored as “Teacher of the Year” at the high school where she is employed in Orange County, Florida. She graduated from the UF Counselor Education program in School Counseling in 2012, and begin working as a school counselor. After leaving the secondary level for a year to work as an academic advisor at the University of Georgia, she relocated back to Florida and took a position at a high school in Orange County. She has been in her current position as a high school counselor for the past two years, and stated that she loves her job. She commented that she enjoys getting to live life with her students, and impact change when possible. She reported being thankful for her professors, especially Dr. Mary Ann Clark, her advisor, for her continued support of her and advocacy for the counseling profession.
Ahmad Jazimin Jusoh, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling, University of Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia, is a visiting scholar with the UF Counselor Education program through January 2016. Jusoh has taught graduate courses in individual counseling, counseling research, and practicum in counseling in Malaysia. His scholarly interests focus on prevention and intervention strategies for adolescents, specifically focused on Choice Theory Reality Therapy addressing the school and community settings. He has also conducted research focused on counselor training and development, specifically related to counseling competencies.
