Mission Statement:

The UNI Counselor Education program prepares professionals mastering the art and science of counseling who advocate for and empower the healthy development of themselves and their clients, demonstrating multicultural competencies and ethical practice.

Greetings and Welcome!

We have exceptional programs here at the University of Northern Iowa offering innovative and cutting edge opportunities to our students. Our graduate programs in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling have been nationally CACREP accredited since 1990. Our Clinical Mental Health Counseling program was the first accredited program in the nation. UNI was also one of the first programs nationally to prepare K-12 and Elementary School Counselors.

Unique Features:

Our training clinic was recently renovated and expanded to a state of the art facility. We have 6 counseling rooms and one group room all with camera and taping options with interactive technology in the central classroom.

Both Dr. Linda Nebbe and I served on the state of Iowa Department of Education’s School Counseling Task Force working with others on state guidelines and training for professionals. Iowa reinstated school counseling in legislation in July 2007 and a teaching background is not required. Dr. Darcie Davis-Gage and Dr. Linda Nebbe have served on the Iowa Board of Behavioral Sciences, which oversees licensing for mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists. All of our faculty are engaged in research, publications in professional journals, and present regularly at state, regional, and national conferences. We offer opportunities for students to be engaged in these activities as well. This year we established the first annual Counselor Education Scholars Symposium, which is a venue for students to share information from scholarly endeavors.

Fall 2007, our program began utilizing the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE), which is used in over 240 universities. Our students continue to have a 100% pass rate for this exam and for the National Counselor Exam (NCE), since implementation.

History:

The University of Northern Iowa has a long history of providing leadership in the quest for excellence in the accreditation process. Leadership at UNI was instrumental in the development of accreditation procedures for establishment of standards for Counselor Education since serving as one of the two state colleges which initially tested the original Standards of Counselor Education Programs developed by ACES in 1964 and implemented in 1967.

The counseling programs at the University of Northern Iowa were first initiated over 40 years ago, during the National Defense Education era. At this time, the UNI Counselor Education faculty conducted several NDEA summer institutes. As a result of these institutes, UNI was requested to be one of the first two universities to implement elementary school guidance programming. This resulted in the implementation of one of the first yearlong institutes in elementary guidance. The U.S. Department of Education recognized this program as exceptionally creative and innovative. To date, the program has retained its regional and national leadership in the field and faculty members strive to maintain its distinction as a high quality program.

Student Centered:

We offer opportunities for students to be engaged professional early in the program; often the first year. We currently have 18 students, both from the Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling Programs, working with School Counselors on tornado recovery efforts with students in Aplington-Parkersburg School District. We are also planning to utilize are clinic space and create more collaboration across campus and throughout the community for student professional engagement.

If you are looking for a creative, innovative, and challenging opportunity to grow personally and profession into the counselor profession, please contact me for more information.

Dr. Jan R. Bartlett
Counseling Programs Coordinator
Associate Professor
Phone: 319.273.7979
Email: jan.bartlett@uni.edu