Department History - CSA

The Department of Counseling and Student Affairs:
Rising to the Challenges

This Department, located in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences (CEBS) at Western Kentucky University (WKU), offers a Master of Arts in Education (MAE) degree in School Counseling, a MAE program in Student Affairs in Higher Education that prepares individuals for entry and mid-level positions in postsecondary settings, and two MAE degrees in Counseling programs. Mental Health Counseling (MHC) and Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) are offered to meet educational requirements in Kentucky and states with reciprocal licensure agreements as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. An Education Specialist (EdS) degree in Counseling is also available to students in the Department's programs.

CEBS Dean Charles Sam Evans attended the Department’s faculty meeting on January 26, 2005 and congratulated the faculty on receiving an eight-year accreditation for the MHC and MFT programs from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Courses in the master’s programs of the Department of Counseling and Student Affairs (CSA) are offered on campus in Bowling Green and two other locations: Owensboro Community and Technical College and at the Central Region Postsecondary Education Center in Elizabethtown.

From 2004-2008, Dr. Aaron W. Hughey was the head of the Department of Counseling and Student Afairs, which was formerly the Department of Counselor Education from 1969 to 1977 and Counseling Unit of the Department of Educational Leadership from 1977 until 2001. Hughey was appointed Interim Department Head in 2003 by CEBS Dean Sam Evans. Hughey followed Dr. Donald R. Nims, who served as Interim Department Head since 2001. Nims was appointed to his position by Dr. Karen I. Adams, the CEBS Dean from 1999 to 2003.

During past years since the early 1950s, the transformation process to form the Department of CSA has experienced tremendous growth and expansion since the early days of school guidance and counseling. Throughout this period of growth, major attention has been given by department members to preparing competent, functioning counselors for agencies, industry, commerce, government, and educational institutions at all levels. Large enrollment numbers in the expanded school counseling programs during those years have carried the load for the smaller, slower developing student affairs, mental health, and marriage and family therapy programs.

Sheeley and Stickle, the two faculty with longest records of service to the Department, prepared this history. Much additional history the two remember will remain unwritten. They were assisted by the following faculty contributors who supplied recollections: Drs. Wayne Ashley, Kelly M. Burch-Ragan, Don Dinkmeyer, Richard Greer, Bill Greenwalt, Delbert J. Hayden, Aaron W. Hughey, Susan James, Donald R. Nims, Jill D. Duba, Cynthia Mason Palmer, Cynthia L. Trumbo, Thomas L. Updike, Jr., and Jerry R. Wilder. Drs. Kelly Burch-Ragan, Donald Nims, and Cynthia Mason Palmer formerly earned master’s degrees in counseling from Western. Drs. Donald Nims and Cynthia Mason Palmer also received EdS degrees. The remembrance statements are placed at the close of this history.

Several very important federal legislative measures, which supported the growth of guidance and counseling in the United States, were approved during the last 60 years of the 20th century. Officials in colleges and universities throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, including WKU, became aware of these laws which promised federal funding benefits. Since the federal initiatives influenced and supported the growth of a counseling emphasis at Western, several are highlighted and reviewed which provided funding to the Commonwealth of Kentucky to improve education in general and guidance and counseling in particular.

Beginning in 1938 and throughout the 1940s and early 50s, funding was available to states to provide state supervisors of occupational information and guidance services to schools. After the launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958. The major purpose of Title V-A of NDEA was to establish, maintain, and improve programs of testing, counseling, and guidance in secondary schools. The search for giftedness among students in science and mathematics was of special concern. Over 100,000 school teachers were paid to attend NDEA semester or academic-year institutes in guidance and counseling at selected universities during the late 1950s, 60s, and early 70s, if they were among competitive applicants chosen by institute directors. With the NDEA Amendments of 1964, Congress extended guidance and counseling provisions to public elementary school, public junior college, and technical institution instructors. Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 provided that state funds could be allocated to school districts to employ school counselors and assist in providing guidance and counseling services at elementary and secondary education levels for disadvantaged children and youth.

In the fall of 2005, Congress decided authorization of funds for H.R. 3010, the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP) under the Fund for the Improvement of Education established under the ESEA. Elimination of funding for ESSCP in 2006-07 would have ended services in 99 school districts to elementary school students in Kentucky, 31 other states, and the District of Columbia. Under the ESSCP's statutory funding trigger, secondary schools have yet to benefit because the total fiscal year funding has never exceeded $40 million set aside for elementary school students.

While the Department's counseling programs were developing during the last half of the 20th century, state decisions to raise standards for school counselor preparation with provisional and standard guidance certifications were evident. What funneled down to Western and other state college and university administrators and faculty often depended upon what was decided by state education officials in Frankfort. From 1922, WKU was known as Western Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College until 1948 when the Kentucky General Assembly shortened the title to Western Kentucky State College. WKU achieved university status in 1966.

The Kentucky State Board of Education recognized need for guidance services in schools and approved certification of guidance counselors in 1956, which required a bachelor’s degree plus 15 semester hours of coursework in 11 competency areas and three years of teaching experience. The Kentucky Division of Guidance Services (now Division of Student, Family, and Community Support Services), was established August 1 that year to improve programs of guidance services in Kentucky’s public schools.
In 1959, the Kentucky State Board of Education adopted higher certification standards which provided school counselors provisional guidance with a master’s degree and standard certification including 24 semester hours beyond the master’s. It also gave broad guidelines for colleges in the state for school counselor preparation.

Certification requirements for school counselors were revised in 1968, effective in 1970. Among the changes, teaching requirements for certification were reduced from three to one year and allowed one-year approved internship to be substituted for the one year of teaching experience. Course modifications were made for elementary and secondary levels.

A new set of state school counselor certification revisions became effective September 1, 1994. Programs of graduate students who had not completed prior requirements had to be revised to meet the new standards. The State required a minimum of 60 semester hours in the combined master’s and Rank I programs for school counselors. Students were required to pursue 36 hour provisional guidance programs according to elementary or secondary baccalaureate degree level of preparation and complete special courses to meet standard guidance certification. Course work for Individual Intelligence Assessment certification was approved as were courses required to extend school counseling certification K-12. These requirements were available for student selection as part of their Rank I. or certification only programs. Counselor standards for experienced school counselors and new school counselors were adopted by the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board in 1996 and combined in 2005.

In 2005, changes in the regulations for school counselors were approved by the Education Professional Standards Board. Effective January 2006, only students who complete a master's degree in school counseling were eligible to receive provisional guidance certification. This ruling eliminated initial preparation for certification in a Rank I or certification only program. Also, P-12 certification preparation was included in the revised master's program. K-8 or 5-12 extensions were formerly available in this department's Rank I and certification only programs. A new set of standards was adopted from CACREP regulations.

Much like real life itself, the counselor education programs at WKU evolved and sometimes erupted from growth spurts and/or administrative changes involving decisions by the CEBS Deans and other University administrators. In 1965, the College of Education was established and programs which had been a part of the Department of Education were assigned to the new college. Two departments and a number of offices were established. Counselor Education became an area in the Department of Secondary Education. In 1966, Counselor Education became a part of the new Office of Leadership Programs in the College of Education. This office included the areas of school administration, supervision, and counselor education. That same year, the Human Relations Center was established at WKU in order to assist schools with desegregation programs. Project Talent Identification and Utilization was funded and assigned to the Office of Counselor Education. Both projects affected the growth and development of counselor education at WKU.

Dr. Emmett D. Burkeen, who joined the counselor education faculty in 1966, was named Director when Office status was designated and named Head when Counselor Education became a Department. With full support of Dr. Tate C. Page, Dean of the College of Education, both recommendations were approved by the University. Page retired in 1973. J. T. Sandefur, former Dean of the Graduate College, was appointed to replace Dean Page. Burkeen served as head of Counselor Education until 1977 when College of Education Dean J. T. Sandefur and other officials decided to reorganize in the College and merge the faculty of the Department of Counselor Education with faculty of the Educational Administration and Foundations into a new department named the Department of Educational Leadership (DEL). The DEL consisted of the Counseling Unit and the Educational Administration Unit. Dean Sandefur chose an administrator to head the new department, who held the position for two years. Burkeen was appointed Coordinator of the Counseling Unit from 1977 until 1979. Dr. William Traugott, a faculty member in the DEL, was appointed to head the Department in 1979. Traugott served until 1986. In 1985, the name of the College of Education was changed to the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.

When Burkeen left his coordinatorship position in 1979, he was replaced by Dr. Stephen B. Schnacke, a counselor educator. In 1986, Schnacke was chosen to head the DEL. Dr. Carl R. Martray, a former member of the Psychology Department and Jones-Jaggers Laboratory School principal, was named CEBS Dean in 1990, when Dr. Sandefur retired. Dr. Schnacke headed the DEL until 2001. Dr. Fred E. Stickle served as Coordinator of the Counseling Unit from 1986 until 2001, when the current department was named. Dr. Karen I. Adams, appointed Dean to replace Dr. Carl Martray who retired in 1999, was CEBS Dean in 2001 when the DEL was dissolved and the Department of CSA and the Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research became separate departments. Dr. Martray retired in 1999 and was replaced by Dean Adams. Dean Charles Sam Evans, who came to Western in 1990 as a professor in the Department of Teacher Education, was appointed to the CEBS deanship in 2003, his present position. Meanwhile, student enrollment in the DEL programs continued to flourish.

In 1952, there were 52 school counselors in Kentucky, who were working in only 10% of the secondary schools. Today in Kentucky there are approximately 1,600 school counselors with appointments at elementary and secondary education levels. The current Department of CSA is blessed with a very positive profile from its education constituencies.

A general guidance class added to the curriculum of WKU's Department of Education in the early 1950s was introduced to encourage school personnel in developing an understanding of the role and function of guidance in education. Other guidance courses were added to WKU's curriculum to help enrollees meet state certification requirements.

Western College and other state colleges established a program for the preparation of guidance counselors in compliance with state standards. Their programs required a master’s degree or its equivalent in guidance of 30 semester hours for provisional certification and Rank I in guidance (30 semester hours above the master’s degree) for standard guidance certification.

After the Third District Personnel and Guidance Association (now the South Central Counseling Association) was organized in 1959, most of the organization's meetings were held on WKU's campus. Faculty members from WKU gave leadership and support to the organization and the guidance movement in Western Kentucky.

In 1969, when the Department of Counselor Education was established within the College of Education, the Department began the process of revising existing courses and developing new courses to meet new state counselor certification guidelines which became effective in September 1970.

Plans were made in 1971 by the University to offer the education specialist degree. The Department of Counselor Education developed a specialist degree in three areas: school counseling (elementary and secondary), public service counseling, and student personnel services in higher education. Recently, the EdS degree in the Department was changed to a school counseling emphasis. A major in student personnel services in higher education at the master’s level was also developed. The programs were approved by the University in 1972. Those programs included several new courses which were added to curriculum offerings of the department. In August 1976, the department offered 22 graduate courses which contained content in the general areas of guidance, counseling, and student personnel services (E. D. Burkeen, personal communication, July 29, 1975).

During the 1960s, counseling classes offered on campus generally were held in Grise Hall Most offices of the counseling faculty were located in the Grant House (now a sorority home) across Normal Drive from Grise Hall. Oral comprehensive examinations were held in the Grant House for each graduate. Upon completion down the hill of the new College of Education building, the counselor education faculty moved to the fourth floor in the summer of 1970. Oral examinations gave way to group settings for comprehensive examinations. Later in the 1970s during Dean J. T. Sandefur’s administration, the building was named Tate Page Hall.

To accommodate graduate students interested in WKU's programs during the late 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, courses were offered and classes conducted by faculty at the following school, university, and military locations: Adair County at Columbia, Albany, Brescia College, Campbellsville University, Elizabethtown, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, Ft. Campbell, Fort Knox and the Fort Knox Conference Center, Kentucky Wesleyan, Louisville (at several schools until 1987), Owensboro, and Russell Springs.

Without adequate student support, the Master of Public Service degree program developed in 1971 was eliminated. A master’s with a major in student personnel services in higher education was also developed in 1971. Now named MAE in Student Affairs, the program was extended to 48 semester hours early in the 1990s. The MAE General Education program, formerly offered by the Department, was revised substantially in the fall of 2004. The program’s new name is Education and Behavioral Science Studies, now conducted through the Dean’s Office. A master’s degree with an emphasis in Gerontology was welcomed by many students in the 1990s, but the program’s life was short. A Master’s in Community Agency Counseling was developed with strong student enrollments. The program evolved into a 60 hour counseling degree with two options: (1) Professional Clinical Counseling and (2) Marriage and Family Therapy.

Vital to growth of departmental programs is who or what caused it to happen. That is the major purpose of this section, about the professionals who helped make the Department’s history. They planned, developed, and implemented the programs and services of the Department. This section of the Department of CSA history is divided into three overlapping parts: The Emerging Years, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s; Educational Leadership Years, 1980s and 1990s; and The Current Scene, 2000s.

Records do not indicate the name of the person who taught the first course in Guidance at Western. Generally, this course was taught by individuals who did not have extensive academic backgrounds in guidance and counseling. Most instructors had academic preparation in psychology and professional education. One exception to this was Dr. T. O. Hall. Dr. Hall was perhaps the first guidance professional at Western. He developed and taught several of the early courses in guidance. His area of specialty was vocational guidance. Records indicate that Dr. Hall was a dedicated professor and was highly respected by graduate students who enrolled in his courses. In the late 1950s, counselors in local high schools and certain supervisors with the Kentucky Division of Guidance Services were employed to teach courses during the summer session.

Dr. Tate C. Page, who was named Head of the Department of Education at Western in the early 1960s, was very supportive of the guidance concept in education. As a result, Page was very instrumental in selecting faculty members who would give leadership to developing counselor education programs. After he became Dean of the College of Education in 1965, he continued his efforts to give Counselor Education identity within the College of Education by recommending the area for Office status in 1967 and Department status in 1969. Both recommendations were approved by the University. Dr. Page retired as Dean of the College of Education in 1973.

In 1960, Ms. Ruth Fuller was employed to teach full time in counselor education. Up to that time she was serving as a guidance supervisor in the Western Kentucky area for the Division of Guidance Services. Many of the developments in guidance at Western in the early 1960s can be attributed to Ms. Fuller’s influence. She was highly respected as a professional in counselor education. Her death, as a result of an automobile accident, cut short a brilliant career in counselor education.

From 1961-70, Dr. Wayne Ashley, a supervisor with the Division of Guidance Services, assisted the department with several in-service and practicum activities. At the end of 1971, Ashley left the Division in Frankfort to head a special project at WKU. During the period from 1963-65, other persons taught in Counselor Education for brief periods. This group included Drs. Joe Morris, Lester Tuttle, and John Layne. Mrs. Juanita Dickson Hire served the department as a part-time member and as the counselor for the Jones-Jaggers Laboratory School on various occasions from 1964 through 1970. Ruth Meredith continued with this responsibility.

In January 1965, Mr. James McKee was employed as a full-time faculty member in counselor education and gave leadership to the program until 1967 when Counselor Education was given Office status. Mr. McKee was with Counselor Education from 1965 until his death in 1973. He was very instrumental in developing programs and working with school personnel throughout Western Kentucky.

In 1966, Dr. Emmett D. Burkeen (now deceased) joined the counselor education faculty and when Counselor Education was given Office status in 1967 was named as the first Director of Counselor Education. In 1969, Counselor Education was designated as the Department of Counselor Education with Burkeen appointed head. He retained his appointment until 1977 at which time the Department was transformed to Counseling Unit status in the Department of Educational Leadership. Burkeen assumed coordinatorship of the Counseling Unit until 1979.

Dr. DeWayne W. Mitchell joined the Counselor Education faculty in 1967. Dr. Vernon Lee Sheeley joined in 1968 from The University of Wyoming, where he completed his doctorate in counseling that year. In 1968, Dr. Jack Frost (now deceased) joined the faculty as a counselor in the Jones-Jaggers Laboratory School and gave leadership to certain aspects of elementary guidance.

During summers of the 1960s and 1970s, several counselors from local schools assisted in teaching and practicum activities. Included in this group were Dr. Frank O. Moxley (deceased), Mrs. Georgia Sublett, Ms. Mary Hills, and Mr. Billy Madison, all of whom were counselors in the Bowling Green schools. Ms. Shirley Cormney Black from the Warren County schools also assisted in summer programs along with Ms. Edith Alpe, a counselor in the Counseling Services Center.

Dr. Stephen B. Schnacke joined the Department of Counselor Education in 1970. In the late 60s and early 1970s, Dr. Seth Farley was formerly Jones-Jaggers Laboratory School principal before Dean Page switched his assignment full time to the Department in 1972. Dr. Jerry R. Wilder began his administrative career of nearly four decades at Western in 1967 and became Vice President for Student Affairs. During the fall of 1974, Dr. Wilder assumed part-time instructional responsibilities in the Department of Counselor Education. As practitioner in the discipline of Student Personnel Work combined with theoretical knowledge gained from his doctoral program at the University of Florida, Dr. Wilder’s contributions to the growth of the Student Affairs master’s program and to Western to the present have been extraordinary. Dr. Greer, who joined the Department in 1974, was Director of the Counseling and Testing Center from 1986-2006. Dr. Brumfield, who was Director of the University Counseling Center, also taught counselor education courses. Dr. William M. Traugott joined the Department of Counselor Education in 1976.

In 1977, there were eight full-time faculty members in the Department of Counselor Education and four part-time faculty members who worked at Western in other jobs. Full-time faculty members included Dr. Emmett D. Burkeen (Head) and Drs. Wayne Ashley, Seth Farley, Richard M. Greer, DeWayne Mitchell, Stephen Schnacke, Vernon Lee Sheeley, and William M. Traugott who joined the faculty in 1976. Part-time faculty included Drs. Stanley Brumfield, Gustave Kiewra, A. Faye Robinson, and Thomas Updike. In addition, two adjunct persons taught from time to time, on a part-time basis. They were Drs. Ernie Thro, Hardin County Schools and Donald Van Fleet, Frankfort. Dr. Faye Robinson, who was assistant dean of the Graduate College, was appointed associate dean of academic affairs in 1974. Dr. Robinson died on January 12, 2006.

In 1977, the Department of Counselor Education was renamed the Counseling Unit and combined with the School Administration, Research, and Foundations Unit to form the Department of Educational Leadership (DEL). College of Education Dean J. T. Sandefur (1973-90) appointed Dr. William Traugott to head the DEL in 1979, after resignation of Dr. Kenneth Estes, an administrator, who served as DEL Head since 1977. Traugott had an extensive background in educational administration and leadership. After his service as DEL Head from 1979-86, he taught counselor education courses in the DEL then retired in 1995.

Dr. Fred Stickle joined the Department in 1979. Now he is second in longevity with the Department of CSA. Dr. Thomas Updike, who came to Western in 1968 with intention of joining the Counselor Education faculty, was offered an administrative position by Dr. Raymond Cravens (Vice President of Academic Affairs). Twelve years later (1980), Updike joined the DEL full time then retired in 1991.

Hired as a hall director, Dr. Aaron W. Hughey came to Western in 1981 from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where he learned about Student Affairs and completed his master’s degree. While serving as hall director at Western until 1984, he completed a Specialist in Education degree in Student Personnel Services from the DEL. Then he left Western to accept a position as a hall director at Northern Illinois University and also to pursue his doctorate. After completing doctoral coursework, Dr. Hughey returned to Western in 1986 as Assistant Director of University Housing and completed his doctorate in December 1988. Dr. Stickle, Coordinator of the Counseling Unit of DEL, contacted Dr. Hughey to teach for the Unit as an adjunct to teach on a consistent basis. In 1991, Hughey was hired as a full-time faculty member in the DEL, specifically to coordinate the master’s program in Student Personnel Services. In 1993, he and Stickle revised Student Personnel Services to the current 48-hour program in Student Affairs. Promoted to a professorship in 2001, Dr. Hughey became Interim Department Head of Counseling and Student Affairs in 2003 and served as Department Head from 2004-2008.

Dr. Cynthia L. Trumbo, who joined the DEL faculty in 1987, contributed greatly to the DEL for two years at which time she and her former husband were ready to start a family. Although she resigned her full-time position, as adjunct Dr. Trumbo has continued to teach graduate courses in the Department for over 15 years.

Drs. Susan James and Don Dinkmeyer joined the DEL faculty in 1989. During her 16 years at Western, Dr. James has dedicated herself to all aspects of professionalism, including passage of licensure legislation and service on the Licensure Board in the Commonwealth of Kentucky for professional counseling and marriage and family therapy. Dr. Dinkmeyer’s early professional dedication with the DEL occurred in the early 90s when he spearheaded the effort to achieve CACREP accreditation. Although plans for CACREP accreditation were changed under the DEL, CACREP was achieved in 2005 with leadership piloted by Western President Gary A. Ransdell, CEBS Dean Sam Evans’ administrative decision, and accreditation planning actions taken by Department of Counseling and Student Affairs faculty.

Dr. Susan DeVaney, who joined the DEL faculty early in the 1990s, worked with Dr. Dinkmeyer to prepare for the CACREP accreditation effort that was abandoned. Dr. Delbert J. Hayden joined the DEL in 1992, after the College of Applied Arts and Health in which he was housed was eliminated. The Department of Home Economics and Family Living in which he worked was renamed and the master’s program in Child Development and Family Living in which he was hired as an instructor in 1969 and which emphasized marriage and family therapy for over 20 years was discontinued. The marriage and family therapy program was assigned a component of the DEL at which time Dr. Hayden and his colleague Dr. Tom Roberts became members. Dr. Hayden stayed at Western. Dr. Roberts left within a couple of years.

Dr. Karen Lynn Westbrooks joined the DEL faculty in 1993 with specializations in mental health counseling and marriage and family therapy. She left Western several years later to pursue other career interests. Dr. Cynthia Palmer Mason joined the DEL faculty in 1997, not long after receiving her doctoral degree from the University of Kentucky. When hired, she joined two of her former professors in her master’s and education specialist degree programs. Dr. Mason has contributed much professional experience to the CSA programs as a former teacher and school counselor in the Hopkins County School System.

Dr. Kelly Burch-Ragan, who received her master's degree from Western in the 1990s, joined the Department of CSA in 2003. Three new faculty members joined the Department of CSA in 2004: Drs. Tracy Lara, Jill D. Duba, and Shawn Spurgeon. Dr. Tracy Lara joined the CSA faculty impressed with the mission and goals of the University and the Department and faculty members' positive attitudes and how they responded to the learning and professional development needs of students. Dr. Jill D. Duba joined the CSA faculty direct from completion of her doctoral work in Counselor Education at Kent State University. She feels "adopted" by the senior faculty in a Department that is committed and dedicated to professional growth, their own and that of students enrolled in their courses. Dr. Shawn Spurgeon, direct from a faculty position at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, completed the triumvirate hired in 2004. Dr. Tammy Shaffer, assigned to be Director of the Family Counseling Center in the Clinical Education Complex, joined the CSA faculty in August 2005. These counselor educators and other CSA faculty members represent what the CSA is grounded upon.

Conclusion

The Department of Counseling and Student Affairs is a creation that evolved from very respectable pasts and avoided being trapped in time with beginnings and endings. During the years since 1965, CSA faculty have experienced and worked with administrative decisions of five different Deans and other administrators at WKU. Changes were inevitable during those past decades, yet essential qualities of counseling programs at WKU endured and often flourished with enrollees. With recent changes and more challenges to come very soon, enrollment numbers will be affected and help rewrite counselor education's history at WKU. Advanced technology will help modify societal directions taken into the future and alter the needs for counseling.

The origins and growth of the Department were based on several federal legislative acts which provided funding to states to improve education with guidance and counseling concepts and subsequent actions taken at the state level by Kentucky's certification agencies. Interpretations of those actions were made by WKUI's CEBS, University, departmental leaders, and faculty members representing a variety of academic preparations in their doctoral studies. To help WKU commemorate a remarkable centennial milestone (1906-2006), Sheeley and Stickle looked back at professionals and their profiles who shaped the counselor education movement at WKU since the 1950s. Reflections of their times reveal that faculty were always forging ahead with hopeful visions helping counselor education become what it is--always looking forward to a better tomorrow.

The Department of Counseling and Student Affairs and its predecessor groups at WKU have been blessed with highly dedicated professional faculty members who have contributed greatly to the development of programs offered. Each current faculty member is a highly competent individual who places a great deal of emphasis on helping graduate students to develop social, emotional, and cognitive helping skills for careers in counseling or other life careering they may choose. The motto of Western Kentucky University, "The Spirit Makes the Master," has been a major concern of the professionals who have worked to improve counselor education at this University since the 1950s.

Recollections of Current and Past Department
of Counseling and Student Affairs Faculty

The impact on me by the Department of Counselor Education is difficult to describe unless I look at it from the impact on my development, my career, even my life itself. I first came to Western, a 15-year-old boy, just out of high school. Those 15 years were spent in Edmonson County with very little contact with the outside world. I came at a time when WKU was overrun by returning veterans from World War II. To say I was like a duck out of water is a mild way to describe my milieu. I wanted to be a teacher and I stayed three years and became a teacher. I returned five years later and completed a BA, MA, and Rank I. I re-entered teaching and met or became acquainted with two staff members of the Counselor Education Department. These two got me interested in counseling and guidance. These two changed my career, my interests and my life. My first contact with Counselor Education was as a student, which finally led to me becoming a staff member.

If I were to prioritize things, events, or people, I would have to list relationships developed in the department were tremendous and at the top of the list. I could describe events or aspects that led to me joining the Counselor Education Department. Working in the surrounding counties with counselors trained at Western, meeting and working with Department staff members, and seeing the need in the schools for guidance personnel was what led me to pursue a doctorate and a position with the Counselor Education Department.

During my tenure, I worked primarily under one Department Head, Dr. Emmett Burkeen. I can truthfully say I have never worked with or been acquainted with a man who had more desire to help others. There were many others, many, but to me he demonstrated the height of altruism. Dr. Seth Farley, a department member, demonstrated the height of morality and integrity. The others were great. I name these to point out the impact of the Counselor Education Department on me, counselors in the field, and programs in general, which came from the instructors and adjuncts I worked with through their desire to help others.
In regard to my contribution to the Department, I felt that I brought a wealth of experience as a former counselor and supervisor with the State Department of Education. I came with a Federal grant for a vocational guidance project which ran for five years. This was at a time when career education was primarily being emphasized in the guidance office and the classroom. Also I brought experience and expertise in testing, an area being emphasized at the time due to the passage of NDEA.

Two generations of my family have attended WKU. The first generation obtained their undergraduate and master’s degrees. The second generation obtained a master’s degree. Both generations went on to receive their PhD’s from other esteemed institutions and returned as faculty and members of the administration at WKU. WKU has certainly changed over the years: however, the one thing that has not changed is the quality of education, the passion, and the warmth of the institution. The first generation even honeymooned on the campus of WKU, by virtue of the President’s invitation.

The quality of my academic training and development of professional skills was nurtured well, during my graduate studies. Additionally, the faculty took the time to learn about my career goals and encourage my pursuits by presenting unique opportunities that fit my needs. I was not merely a number, but someone who mattered.

Now, as a faculty member, I continue to find support for the experiences I had during my master’s level education. Not only does the faculty strive to constantly provide an outstanding education and to enhance professional skills, the faculty strives to continually meet the needs of each master’s-level student’s particular needs, interests, and future goals.

The privilege is truly mine in having not only been a master’s level student at WKU, but to now be an esteemed member of the full-time graduate faculty.

Our family moved to Bowling Green in July 1989. My overwhelming recollection is one of moving family–our daughter, 14 months, my two stepsons, 7 and 11, and my wife of less than three years. The boys had grown up in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and we were heading south.

This was an exercise in trust. Deb wanted to move to full-time motherhood, and I wanted to move toward full-time university work. As my father had worked at several colleges and universities, I thought I was familiar with the challenges and satisfactions of the new job.

I had first learned of WKU’s Counseling and Student Affairs Department (part of mega-department Educational Leadership) when I was invited to do a workshop on parent education at WKU. I’d been through Bowling Green on I-65 but had no knowledge of the campus. The workshop was held at DUC, went well, and on the way back to the Nashville airport Dr. Stickle indicated that a position was coming open in the fall. My visit and interview went fine that spring, and I had several offers to consider. Looking back on the decision to come to Western, I have one immensely strong recall. Deb and I came over to the Stickles’ house and met his family. We, too, had an infant. I will always remember pulling away from their house, Stephanie in Deb’s arms, thinking to myself, “This is definitely a place I would belong.”

Which seems to have proven itself over the past 17 years. It’s the sense of community and interaction among peers which has made this such an outstanding experience, as well as the acceptance and encouraging of many different interpretations of the role of counselor educator.

My first employment with the Department was as an Adjunct. Over the years I have worked as an adjunct for four other counseling programs. Working with this department was much different. I was contacted by Dr. Stickle, and we talked about the classes, counselor education and the students. I received more information and was better prepared to teach than with other programs. Dr. Stickle ensured that I had copies of the texts and sample copies of syllabi for the classes I taught. I was impressed with the support provided to the adjunct faculty. This was significantly different from what I experienced at other counseling programs.
After being hired as full time faculty I had two major observations involving the department. First, the faculty were student oriented, caring deeply about each student. While the student population is very large, at least one faculty member seemed to know a student well. The emphasis on student care can be seen in advising, teaching and mentoring of students. The second observation was that the faculty was collegial with one another. While disagreements occurred on philosophical, theoretical, worldview and other issues, the faculty seemed to work together with great respect and friendliness. Many professional relationships involved collaboration and cooperation among and between faculty. Having recently observed a department where some faculty did not speak with one another this made a significant impression.
I think the department continues to grow and develop together. We work to provide the best professional training possible for our students. While we sometimes disagree on how to do that, I think the focus remains on the student and student learning.

Reflection is good for the soul. It allows us to see where we have been and thus where we are. Such has been my “reflecting” on my first days and years in the Counselor Education Department as it was then known at Western.

I came to the Department in the fall of 1974 in a most serendipitous manner. My major professor in my Master’s Program at Appalachian State, Ed Harrill, had been at Western to teach a two-week course for the marriage and family counseling program, which was in the old Home Economics and Family Living Department. He visited with Emmett Burkeen, the Counselor Education Department Head, who informed Ed that one of his faculty members, Faye Rovinson, had just been promoted to Associate Dean of the Graduate College. As a result, he needed someone who might be interested, on short notice, in coming to Western to join the Department. Ed indicated that he knew of someone whom Emmett could contact. Thus did I join the Department of Counselor Education, the College of Education, and Western Kentucky University.

This “joining” the Counselor Education Department was a memorable learning experience for a brand new Assistant Professor. There were many persons in the department from whom I learned much. The depth and breadth of experience that these seasoned professionals had was, and has continued to be, a most positive influence on my own professional practice. I often told students whom I was advising that if they wanted to know elementary guidance, talk with DeWayne Mitchell. If they wanted to know secondary guidance, see Lee Sheeley. If they wanted to know how to integrate guidance into the school system, see Seth Farley or Emmett Burkeen. If they wanted to know career and ability assessment, see Wayne Ashley. If they wanted to know counseling in higher education, see Stan Brumfield, who also served as the Director of the University Counseling Center. If they wanted to know student affairs work in higher education, see Faye Robinson. (She still taught some in the department.) These persons were my mentors and teachers in my early years in higher education.

We all stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us and have either intentionally or accidentally influenced us. So has been my “standing on the shoulders” experience, and it started 31 years ago in the Counselor Education Department at Western Kentucky University when I came “on short notice.”

My introduction to WKU occurred in 1960 when I was traveling through Bowling Green at the age of 22. As I drove through the university area the first thing I noticed was the presence of many pretty girls. I was not into landscape architecture at the time but I also had some appreciation of the natural beauty of the campus. There were fewer buildings and more open spaces at that time--such is the price of progress. Standing on the sidewalk in front of McLean Hall I asked someone how many students were enrolled. He was not sure of the number but gave an estimate of approximately 2200. After my initial visit to the campus in the early 60s I had only minimal involvement with Western until I joined the faculty nine years later. When I came here as a faculty member in 1969 the student body was over 10,000. The decade of the 1960s saw tremendous growth at WKU.

I was hired as an instructor of Child Development and Family Living in the Department of Home Economics and Family Living in August of 1969. I am indebted to the department head, Dr. William A. Floyd, for the confidence he placed in me in my first faculty position. He agreed to hire me if I would commit to pursuing a doctoral program after the first year of teaching. My wife, Ellen, and our two pre-school daughters, Jennifer and Beth, lived in an apartment on the first floor of Bates Runner Hall. There was much noise and dust around our apartment since the Downing University Center and the concrete parking structure beside Diddle Arena were both under construction that year. Our former apartment is now part of an on-campus convenience store. In June of 1970 as per our agreement we headed to Florida State University where I began my doctoral program. After returning in the fall of 1972 I resumed my teaching career as Assistant Professor of Child Development and Family Living.

I chose to pursue studies in the area of family relationships in order to teach in the field of family studies and marriage and family therapy. Dr. Floyd had recently completed post-doctoral studies in marriage and family counseling at the University of Minnesota and I knew he wanted to establish a marriage and family therapy program at WKU. Starting a new academic program in marriage and family was difficult in the 1960s because our discipline was new and often misunderstood. Marriage and family therapy licensure laws were largely nonexistent and our profession was challenged to differentiate itself from older establish professions such as psychology and social work. WKU’s Master’s of Arts in Child Developemnt and Family Living was the first master’s program at a public university in Kentucky focused on training marriage and family therapists.

The College of Applied Arts and Health in which I was housed was eliminated in 1992 and its various departments were transferred to other colleges. The Department of Home Economics and Family Living was renamed the Department of Consumer and Family Sciences and was placed temporarily in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. The master’s program in Child Development and Family Living was discontinued altogether. We who had nurtured the young discipline of marriage and family therapy for over 20 years were saddened to see our program suffer such an unceremonious end. For a brief period it appeared that there would no longer be a master’s program for those students who wanted to become marriage and family therapists.

Just when we thought our destruction was assured the marriage and family therapy program was rescued and incorporated as a component of the Department of Educational Leadership in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Stephen B. Schnacke, the department head, readily accepted me and my colleague Dr. Tom Roberts on board as did Dr. Fred Stickle, the Coordinator of the counseling programs. I have always felt grateful to the counseling and student affairs faculty for the way they welcomed me into their academic home. Of course many changes have occurred since the reorganization of ‘92. The department is now called Counseling and Student Affairs with graduate degrees in Student Affairs, School Counseling, Professional Counseling, and Marriage and Family Therapy.

My life at Western seems to have passed quickly. I have prized my time in this academic community and can’t think of any place I would have preferred to spend my adult life. My family has been favored with many positive experiences as a result of our affiliation with the university. Ellen, my wife, received a master’s degree from Western and has taught family studies as adjunct professor of Child Development and Family Living. Because we have similar academic credentials, she was able to assist me professionally throughout my teaching career. Our youngest child, John was born in Bowling Green and he along with his older sisters, Jennifer and Beth, grew to adulthood in the community. All three of our children graduated from WKU. Each of them married someone they met at Western. We now have two great sons-in-law and a wonderful daughter-in-law along with seven grandchildren thanks to these Western-related unions. Who knows, maybe one or more of these little ones will be drown to the Hill someday. If they do come here I hope they will find the same positive and warm spirit we have felt through these past 36 years.

I came to Western Kentucky University in the summer of 1981. I was hired as a hall director by Howard Bailey, who was then one of two Assistant Deans of Student Affairs in the Division of Student Affairs. I had just completed my master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. While at UT, I was an Assistant Head Resident; that is how I financed my masters’s degree and how I originally learned about Student Affairs as a career. I was a hall director at Western from 1981-1984, during which time I completed a Specialist in Education degree in Student Personnel Services from the Department of Educational Leadership. My initial contact with the Department was with Dr. Gene Harryman. After speaking with him briefly about School Administration, he referred me to Dr. Tom Updike, who explained the EdS program to me. Since I did not want a second master’s, this is the program I chose to enter. I completed the degree in May of 1983; Drs. Updike, Schnacke and Kreisler were on my Specialist Project committee. I left Western in 1984 to take a position as a hall director at Northern Illinois University and also to pursue my doctorate. I spent two years there, completed all my doctoral coursework, and returned to Western in 1986 as Assistant Director of University Housing; John Osborne hired me primarily based on my previous experience at Western. When I returned, I was contacted by Dr. Sheeley about teaching CNS 100, Educational and Life Planning. I taught that course several times before completing my doctorate in December 1988. At that point, I was contacted by Dr. Stickle about teaching in the department as an adjunct. After an additional discussion with Dr. Schnacke, I began teaching in the department as an adjunct. After an additional discussion with Dr. Schnacke, I began teaching CNS 550 and CNS 554 on a consistent basis for the Department. I also taught some of the Student Personnel courses. In 1991, two faculty went on Optional Retirement (Drs. Harryman and Updike) and a new position was created. I was hired as a faculty member in Educational Leadership specifically to coordinate the master’s degree program in Student Personnel Services. Two years later, Dr. Stickle and I revised the program to the current 48-hour program in Student Affairs (based on the CACREP Standards). I was promoted to Associate Professor in 1996, received tenure in 1997, and was promoted to Professor in 2001. I became Interim Department Head in 2003 and served as Department Head from 2004-2008.

Upon joining the Department of Counseling and Student Affairs during the 2004-2005 academic year I found a diverse faculty representing a wide spectrum of counseling specialties and student affairs. I was immediately impressed by the positive and cooperative attitudes as well as faculty and staff determination to serve the learning needs of students. The department is full of energy as demonstrated by the successful attainment of national accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) and other departmental initiatives. Student learning and development remain the focus in meeting the departmental and university missions and goals while promoting professionalism through teaching, scholarship, and research.

My first contact with the Department of Counselor Education was in the fall of 1971. Following my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer elementary teacher, I came to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky to work as a teacher in the Job Corps. Some of my co-teachers were working on their graduate degrees in counseling and they encouraged me to apply. I met with Dr. Emmett Burkeen, who was head of the Department. What I remember most was how kind and encouraging Dr. Burkeen was to me. I had been teaching English as a second language to 3rd and 4th graders for two years and I felt very inadequate to taking graduate courses. Dr. Burkeen believed in my potential. He helped me get started in the Master’s of Public Service (MPS) degree in counseling.

This began my involvement with Western Kentucky University and the counseling programs. I earned the MPS degree in 1973. When the department began the EdS program, Dr. Burkeen again encouraged me to apply. I was one of the first students to complete the program and I earned my specialist degree in 1978. Dr. Vernon Lee Sheeley served on my specialist project committee. It was Dr. Sheeley’s recommendation that enabled me to be accepted into the doctoral program in Human Development Counseling at Vanderbilt University. I am proud to be a colleague of Dr. Sheeley.

I began my teaching career for the counseling department as an adjunct in 1991 and became a full-time faculty member in 1993. It was my honor to serve as Interim Department Head of the Department of Counseling and Student Affairs from 2001-2003. It is as if I had come full circle.

The Department has experienced many administrative changes over the past 30 years. Still, one thing has never changed and that is the encouragement we give to our students. It has always been the theme of the Department that we are here because of the students and for the students. I am convinced that any academic success I have achieved is because of the care, consideration, and professionalism of the faculty. I hope that I continue that tradition. The strength of the counseling programs has always been the dedication to student needs and a desire to prepare highly qualified counseling professionals. I am a product of this program and am proud to have the opportunity to make my contribution to the counselor education or our current and future students.

As I was finishing up my doctoral work in Counselor Education and Supervision at Kent State University, I was simultaneously searching for a faculty position that would assure just the “right fit.” I was looking for a department underscored with rigor, support, professional mindedness, and dedication to field of Professional Counseling and training the best counselor trainees. I was hoping to belong to a department and university where students were viewed and treated as the top priority of all faculty and staff. Furthermore, it was ideal to find an institution near my family back in Chicago. Little did I know that during my faculty search, in each and every way I was being lead to this very place. A very good friend and mentor of mine had mentioned to me that there was a job opening at WKU. I immediately jumped on the opportunity, contacted the search committee chair, Don Dinkmeyer, and began the application progress. One thing lead to another and I was offered the position in March of 2004. Since I have arrived, I have been involved in scholarly activity with various colleagues. My professional growth has been enhanced by the unconditional support and mentoring of senior faculty in the department. On both professional and personal levels, I have experienced nothing short of being cared for and gently encouraged. Conversations about how to teach and mentor students better comes naturally within this department. I truly have felt “adopted” into a family where I can be myself, yet have the room to experience and grow in ways that may not have been possible without the help and support of those around me.

During my 16 years at Western Kentucky University, I have seen a tremendous growth in the quality of education and preparation for mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists. In 1989, requirements for these two graduate degree specialties were 36 and 30 hours, respectively. Now our department offers a 60 hour, CACREP accredited degree, specializing in professional counseling or marriage and family therapy. In 1989, there was no certification or licensure for mental health or marriage and family counselors. Thanks to dedicated professionals in our state and on our faculty, our students strive for National Certified Counselor, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and/or Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist credentials.
The dedicated counseling faculty and the administrators who encourage and support them have accomplished so much. Today we have so many improvements: better syllabi, stronger course content, longer internships, more student feedback, more faculty research and publications, more tenured faculty and less adjuncts instructors, more diversity of faculty, and the beginning of a family counseling clinic at WKU. In addition, the delivery of instruction has improved with technological advancements. In 1989, there were no computers in the classroom. Now we have power point lectures, web-based classes, TV classes, and wireless laptop capabilities. With better technology, the possibilities for creative teaching are endless.
The hard work of faculty and the foresight has paid a great dividend. In 1989, our department was combined with School Administration, Research, and Foundations. Now we can put all of our energy into Counseling and Student Affairs and it shows. Personally, I feel gratitude to administrators who have encouraged quality from the number of class hours, to program accreditation, faculty training, and facility improvements. In fact, changes in quality have made it easier for me to teach and for students to learn. Even the beauty of the new extensive landscaping shows that WKU takes pride in it excellence.

My experience at Western Kentucky University has been very positive and I will always cherish the memories. I enrolled in a Master’s Degree Program in the 70s and thoroughly enjoyed the academic challenge of the classroom. I was quite impressed with my professor who learned our names quickly and seemed to be genuinely interested in each student. Later, I enrolled in a Specialist Program and received my Educational Specialist Degree in 1978.
My brother (Ray N. Palmer) and I commuted to Western together in the summers. Western is very special to both of us. Ray received his bachelor’s degree and I received two graduate degrees from the university.
Ray’s daughter (Brooke Leigh Palmer) completed her undergraduate degree at the university in 2004 and is presently enrolled in the MBA Program. My son (Scott Palmer Mason) was hired by the university and worked in the Admissions Office two years before being admitted to the School of Law at the University of Kentucky in 1999.
In 1993, I left the Hopkins County School System and moved to Lexington, KY. I graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1996 with my doctoral degree. My first job after graduation was a tenure-track faculty position in the Counseling Department at Auburn University. During the spring quarter of my first year at Auburn, I applied for a tenure-track position in the Department of Educational Leadership at Western. When hired, I joined a faculty with two of my professors from my Master’s and Specialist Degree Programs. This is my ninth year at the university; I have grown personally and professionally. I consider it an honor and a privilege to be an alumnus of the university and also an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Student Affairs.

Our daughter’s second birthday celebration was postponed because I was in Kentucky interviewing at Western Kentucky University. I had been in Kentucky only a few times. The first time was when my class at Cedarville College had our senior trip in Kentucky. I thought the state was so beautiful that I chose Kentucky for our honeymoon following my marriage to Jan Willis in Cleveland, Ohio. Little did we know that we would raise four children and live several decades in Kentucky.
My inclusion in the Counseling Unit put me as the “new kid on the block” in several ways. Not only was I the newest member of the faculty, but also the youngest. Many of the faculty were old enough to be my parents. This provided a good opportunity for me to receive excellent mentoring and wise council. At present, only one (Dr. Vernon Lee Sheeley) has been in the Counseling and Student Affairs Department longer than I.
Over the years many changes have taken place. The Master’s degree in Public Service was eliminated for lack of student support. We were on the cutting edge of developing new courses and programs of study. A new master’s program of 36 hours was introduced (Master’s in Community Agency Counseling) with strong student interest. The program evolved into a 60 hour counseling degree with two options: (1) Professional Clinical Counseling and (2) Marriage and Family Therapy. When the state legislature voted to license counselors and marriage and family therapists, Western was the first university in Kentucky that met the state requirements for license. The development of a master’s degree with an emphasis in Gerontology was welcomed by scores of students. But the program was not long lived because another department in the university took over the degree program. The Student Affairs program was revised and continues to attract a good number of students. But with the new and improved, we never forgot what constituted our largest clientele of students, those taking our School Counseling program. Western is noted throughout the state as the University with the largest and most successful School Counseling program. We are the leader in Kentucky.

I am delighted to share my remembrances during 1987-89, the years I was employed as an Assistant Professor in what is now the Counseling and Student Affairs Department. I appreciate your thoughtfully including me in the Department’s history of Western’s 100th anniversary celebration.

I arrived fresh out of graduate school and was very excited about joining the department and beginning my teaching career. Many exciting things were happening for me at that time in my life. As you know, I met my former husband and we were married that year. After two years of commuting, my husband and I were ready to start a family so I resigned my full-time position, settled in the Elizabethtown, KY area, and awaited the birth of our daughter, and began teaching as an Adjunct Professor at the WKU Elizabethtown office.

Do you remember how we used to chat almost every morning as my office was directly across from yours? I enjoyed those conversations and was impressed by your optimism, your numerous projects, slightly messy office, and the fact that you were doing the work you loved. You told me once that although you had received many job offers from other universities, but you would always stay at Western. As I a new educator, I was impressed with your professionalism.

There are other memories I have about the department at that time–Dr. Mitchell’s sense of humor, Dr. Schnacke’s efficiency and leadership as the Department Head, followed by Dr. Stickle who was also efficient, organized and helpful to all. It was interesting to get to know the other professors in the department, too. I also remember driving to Russell Springs, KY my first evening class of my teaching semester, enjoying the beautiful countryside and wondering what the experience was going to be like.

Many evening classes have come and gone in the 15 plus years that I have taught at Western. I still teach graduate courses in the Counseling and Student Affairs Department in Elizabethtown and also teach for the Elizabethtrown Community and Technical College in the Behavioral Sciences Department. Working with students of all ages continues to be a satisfying challenge and I am proud of my association with Western. Best wishes to you, Vernon, with the upcoming anniversary celebration.

In July 1968, when I arrived on the Western Kentucky University campus, it was truly the “Hill” because the University was still on the hill with only some athletic facilities and a couple of dormitories below the hill. The College of Education was housed in Cherry Hall but used part of Grise Hall for offices and classrooms. The University operated on a five and a half day week. Saturday mornings were important times for both faculty and students. Most all professional personnel, including college deans, taught classes. My intentions when coming to Western was to be a full-time Counselor Education Instructor. When I arrived on campus I was offered an administrative position by the Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Raymond Cravens. I spent 12 years in Wetherby Administration Building transferring full time to the Counselor Education Department under the leadership of Dr. Emmett Burkeen. I still remember the exact words of the College of Education’s Dean, Dr. Tate Page, at the Orientation Meeting for new faculty members. After we each walked across the stage at Garrett Conference Center and had been introduced by then University President Dr. Kelley Thompson, Dean Page said, “...it does not matter what you did any place else, we are only interested in what you do here. We expect you to do the work of three jobs for one salary...” There were over 30 new faculty members that joined the University for the 1968-69 academic year. Most of these wonderful people, after giving their best to Western, have moved away, retired or expired. It was a great pleasure to have served with them. Some of them were bigger than life. Each of them will live on in my memory and that of their students.

In April 1967, I accepted an invitation from President Kelly Thompson to join the faculty and staff at WKU. At that time, I was a captain in the U.S. Army and stationed at Ft. Jackson, Columbia, SC. I began my administrative career at WKU in August of 1967. During the course of the next 37 years, I served in a number of administrative positions in the general area of student affairs.

In January 1967, I engaged in two terms of post-doctoral level work in the University of Florida’s (UF) graduate program in student affairs. During the fall of 1974, I assumed part-time instructional responsibilities in WKU’s Department of Counselor Education. Through the medium of the classroom setting, I was able to integrate and interface the technical knowledge gained from seven years as a practitioner in the field of Student Personnel Work with the theoretical knowledge gained from the graduate program at UF.

When I began teaching in the Department of Counselor Education (two courses per academic year), the faculty included: Dr. Emmett Burkeen (Department Head), Dr. DeWayne Mitchell, Dr. Steven Schnacke, Dr. Vernon Sheeley, Dr. Richard Greer, and Mr. James McKee. The Department of Counselor Education enjoyed an excellent reputation throughout the Commonwealth, especially in the area of public school guidance. This premier department had produced more elementary and high school guidance counselors in the state than all other state public institutionns combined. When an elementary or secondary school needed a counselor, the principal would simply call Dr. Burkeen or another faculty member and file a request. In most cases, a WKY graduate would end up getting the position.

I really enjoyed the family atmosphere that characterized the Department of Counselor Education. The faculty expressed a “sense of family and togetherness” that I seldom observed in other academic departments. Every morning there was a number of faculty members from Counselor Education who joined their colleagues from other departments who gathered on the third floor faculty lounge for a time of sharing (professionally and personally) and fellowship.

The faculty in the Department demonstrated a genuine interest in and commitment to their students. They were always available to their students (open door policy) and would go the extra mile to serve their students’ academic and personal needs. The faculty were compassionate, always friendly, approachable and knowledgeable. They were sensitive to the needs of their students and capable of assisting them in solving complex problems. In short, they were excellent role models who were committed to the teaching profession. At that time in WKU heritage, the institution recognized teaching and service as its primary mission. Further, outstanding teaching and public service contributed significantly to advancement in professorial rank and meritorious salary increases.

The aforementioned reflections, I believe, capture the spirit and values of the faculty in the Department of Counselor Education for an extended number of years. During the past several years, the past Department of Counselor Education has evolved in a number of ways (administrative, sense of mission, sense of family, etc.).

The original of this history was submitted October 3, 2005 and was updated on February 5, 2008.