FACULTY COUNSELORS
Criteria for Tenure
Counseling faculty
uphold and sustain the primary goal of Student Services:
“Promote, support and contribute to the academic mission of the
college.” Specifically,
counseling faculty help students to reach their academic goals through
educational, career and personal counseling, through direct classroom
instruction, through professional-level consultation and through
professional-level academic advising. In
addition, counseling faculty promote a quality workplace and campus environment
which values and appreciates each student and each employee as a human being and
as a fully-functioning member of the college community.
Counseling faculty help the college to achieve a quality workplace and
campus environment through active participation in committees, projects and
programs, and through active participation in the shared governance structure of
the college. As the foundation for
providing these services to the college community, the counseling center commits
itself to promote, value and celebrate the diversity and individual differences
with which each person enriches the world.
Counselors
work in partnership with all college staff to support student success.
Linkages within the campus are increasingly important, thus counselors
serve on campus wide as well as Student Services committees.
Additionally, they provide training, consultation, workshops and other
assistance when requested by faculty and campus organizations.
Faculty counselors teach courses in student development, psychology and
education. Counselors work with
individuals in small groups and in classroom settings to teach strategies
whereby students learn to solve problems, to communicate more effectively and to
make decisions that lead to their success.
In
addition to the traditional skills in human relations and student development,
counseling faculty are often required to develop and administer projects and/or
programs within Student Services areas. They
must, therefore, have organizational skills, general management and planning
skills, the ability to manage resources and information, interpret institutional
policies and evaluate institutional research.
They work collaboratively with other departments to further the goals of
Student Services and the college with special attention devoted to retention
services and programs.
Back to top I. GOALS
A. Promote,
support and contribute to the academic mission of the college.
B. Teach
students how to make decisions, set goals and engage in success-achieving
behaviors.
C. Teach
students to integrate work, education and leisure by developing meaningful life
goals, ethical behavior and examined personal values.
D. Promote
positive mental health practices through education, intervention, counseling,
consultation and referral.
E. Intervene
with students having trouble in achieving their educational goals.
F. Support
classroom faculty inside and outside the classroom.
G. Provide
emergency psychological functions including: suicide prevention, behavioral
management, mental health assessment, consultation and medical or emergency
services referral.
H. Promote a
quality workplace and campus environment which values and appreciates each
employee and each student as an individual and contributing member of the
college community.
I. Provide
direct classroom instruction.
J. Serve as
faculty advisers to students.
K. Provide
consultation to faculty and staff.
The
counselor in a community college is charged with a wide variety of
responsibilities with both explicit and implicit dimensions.
In judging a tenure candidate, the Working Committee must address itself
to both the quantitative dimension, which is easier to measure, and the
qualitative dimension of the counselor’s work.
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II.
PERSONAL ATTITUDES AND CHARACTERISTICS
A. Counselors are able to communicate in meaningful ways, are adept at
listening to others, are able to instill confidence and are skillful in
establishing rapport.
B. Counselors
respect the uniqueness and dignity of others, encourage growth of others and
teach others how to explore, expand and accept their potential and limits.
C. Counselors
show the personal characteristics of self-understanding, emotional stability,
self-confidence, autonomy, curiosity, enthusiasm and humor.
In addition, counselors are able to give and take criticism, are open to
new experiences and are willing to learn new methods, strategies and
interventions. They use good
judgement, make decisions with awareness of the consequences and are comfortable
in handling and following through with responsibilities.
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III. PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT TO COUNSELING
A. Counselors maintain professional ethical standards as established by the
American Psychological Association and the American Counseling Association.
B. As a condition of employment, counselors must be registered, certified or
licensed by the State of Washington. Counselors
know and abide by the applicable Washington State administrative codes that
govern health care professionals, counselors, social workers and psychologists.
C. Counselors
provide a theoretical rationale for use of various counseling procedures.
They know the research findings, and the theories derived from
psychology, counseling, personality, motivation, learning, human growth and
development, testing and pertinent related disciplines.
They relate and apply this knowledge to counselees’ situations, to
strategies employed with counselees, to the development of counseling services,
to consultation with staff and to the systems and organizational change.
D. Counselors
demonstrate professional attitudes and skills necessary for effective individual
and group counseling relationships which:
1. indicate
primary responsibility to the counselee.
2. promote
effective communication between counselee and counselor.
3. increase
counselee’s independence, acceptance of self, and responsibility for self in
making educational, career or personal decisions.
4. recognize
the integrity of the counselee as a unique individual.
E. Counselors
provide relevant information and evaluative data about counselees in such a way
that the counselee can integrate the information.
1. The
counselors at Highline Community College are knowledgeable about College
programs, occupational sources and resources in the community.
2. College
counselors are familiar with programs of other institutions, including
vocational-technical institutes, community colleges and baccalaureate
institutions.
3. Counselors
are able to use a variety of assessment instruments and interpret these data to
counselees.
F. Counselors
demonstrate awareness of personal and professional limitations and have the
ability and knowledge to make appropriate referrals.
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IV. PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE COUNSELING CENTER
A. Counselors are able to function as members of a counseling team and
relate and communicate effectively with colleagues.
1. Counselors
attend staff meetings regularly as participating members so professional
relations can be established and mutual learning facilitated.
2. Counselors
participate on request as members of working committees for particular projects
for the Counseling Center.
B. Counselors
seek and accept professional improvement experiences and supervision to increase
the repertoire of professional skills required for the wide variety of
counseling tasks.
C. Counselors
maintain necessary office routine by:
1. scheduling
daily activities such as appointments and other professional commitments, and
keeping those scheduled activities.
2. keeping
appropriate client records and summary reports of professional activities.
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V. PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT TO STUDENT SERVICES
A. Counselors serve on committees within Student Services such as Student
Affairs Council, Student Services Cabinet and other committees designated by the
Vice President for Students.
B. Counselors
provide consultation and assistance to other service areas such as Access
Services, Multicultural Services and Career and Employment Services.
C. Counselors
provide specialized training and workshops to other student service personnel as
part of the employee in-service training program.
D. Counselors
provide direct support and referral services to other Student Services directors
and personnel.
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VI. PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE COLLEGE
A. Counselors demonstrate a realistic understanding of the community college
and are committed to the mission, goals, responsibilities and philosophy of the
community college.
B. Counselors
participate as members of standing college committees and working committees.
C. Counselors
make and maintain contact with other faculty members and:
1. Work with
faculty members in planning instructional strategies and developing curricula
appropriate to the needs of students.
2. interpret
and apply behavioral principles and theory to classroom activities.
3. Interpret
characteristics of students, psychological principles, resources of the
counseling program and other information to faculty.
4. Provide consultation and training in classroom management skills.
D. Counselors
serve as consultants to both faculty and staff.
E. Counselors may act as advocates for both individual students and students
in general within the limits prescribed by the college administration, college
policies and prudent risk-management practices.
F. Counselors participate in weekly case conference sessions where they
present and discuss their clinical caseload with other counselors as part of the
ongoing peer review process.
G. When
counselors assume the responsibility to teach, instructional performance will be
evaluated by the tenure criteria of the division in which teaching is done.
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VII. PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY
A. Counselors know and use community resources, such as public and private
mental health facilities and employment resources.
B. Counselors
maintain appropriate professional relationships with colleagues in other schools
and agencies.
C. Counselors
work with current students and with people from the community who have
educational, career or personal concerns.
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Revised
7/9/07; Retyped 3/00
Last updated:
October 03, 2007
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