In this edition readers will find:
- Tis the Tax Season: Tips for Students and Recent Graduates
- ACA Publishes Assessment Tool for Evaluating Counselor Competence
- Seven Strategies for Starting a New Career Successfully
- Reliable Resource: CGS List of Graduate School Sources of Financial Aid
- Graduate Record Exam Takers Reaches All-Time High
- Uncle Sam May Offer Viable Career Opportunities
- Fast Fact: Degree Parity for Women in Graduate Education
- Quotable Quotes: A Student Laments
- "New Perspectives" Wants to Hear from You
- FSA Ombudsman Office Addresses Student Loan Problems and Disputes
- Relevant Research: Women, Men and the Economics of Marriage
- Inside JCD: Spring Edition Articles of Interest to Students, New Professionals
- Student Liability Insurance: An ACA Membership Benefit
- Back by Popular Demand: Conference Sessions for Students, New Professionals
- Free Consults on Jobs, Ethics, Private Practice in Pittsburgh
- About ACAeNews for Counseling Students and New Professionals
Visit our website:
www.counseling.org
ACA blogs, written by counselors, for counselors:
my.counseling.org
Tis the Tax Season: Tips for Students and Recent Graduates
April 15 is just around the corner! Students and recent graduates may want to determine what relevance their educational costs, student financial assistance and other factors might have on their 2009 return. Brad Greenburg, CPS, MST, a Tax Manager with Silver, Lerner, Schwartz & Fertel in Skokie, Illinois, has prepared a strategy sheet for students that can be found on the firm's website. The piece was written one year ago, but the author has told ACAeNews that the tax rules have held up over that period.
ACA Publishes Assessment Tool for Evaluating Counselor Competence
The Professional Counselor: Portfolio, Competencies, Performance Guidelines, and Assessment, Fourth Edition
by Dennis W. Engels, Casey A. Barrio Minton, Dee C. Ray, and Associates
Student learner outcomes and counselor work behaviors are tied to the 2009 CACREP Standards in this long-standing premiere handbook for students, educators, supervisors, researchers, and practitioners seeking to quickly and efficiently update, refresh, or evaluate their knowledge of and skills in the most important competencies in counseling. Ideal for use as a student portfolio or a supplementary text, this edition of The Professional Counselor continues a 35-year tradition of providing a useful framework for tracking individual professional growth and evaluation. This edition affords baseline and progress data supporting a systematic developmental plan, assessment, and charting of each student's or professional's progress toward developing professional counseling competencies.
2010 | 244 pgs
Order #72897
ISBN 978-1-55620-296-4
List Price: $49.95
ACA Member Price: $33.95
Seven Strategies for Starting a New Career Successfully
Randy Block, host of a TechCareers blog, has captured seven points that individuals starting their careers in counseling will find relevant. Consider the following:
- Maintain old contacts - Keep the old network (counselor educators, students, etc.) alive as you build and grow it.
- Avoid big projects - Proceed cautiously in the early going taking small, but distinctive, steps into your new counselor role.
- Get to know the stakeholders - Identify the people who will contribute to your counseling work and success and begin a bonding process with them.
- Identify priorities and challenges - Get a grasp of the "big picture" as you are working to perform your day-to-day responsibilities.
- Keep an "up" attitude - Advance a positive front as you tackle the challenges of clients and jump the early work hurdles.
- Give precise meaning to your work - Learn how things have been done in the counseling setting and move to put your "touch" on them.
- Keep managing your career - It's your career. Never lose sight of your short and long-term career goals.
Note: The portion of the message above in italics was added by the ACAeNews editor.
Reliable Resource: CGS List of Fellowship and Financial Aid Sources
Costs are rising and competition for limited amounts of student assistance is greater than ever, critical reasons why lists like the "Sources of Fellowships and Financial Aid" of the Council of Graduate Schools are so valuable. The CGS list contains 34 sources of financial aid counseling graduate students may wish to examine.
Graduate Record Exam Takers Reaches All-Time High
Some suggest the economy and job market are turning workers toward grad school. Others believe it to be a just a growing interest in seeking graduate degrees. Whatever the motivation, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) reports the total registrations for the Graduate Record Examination set a record in 2009 of 675,000, a 9% increase. ETS figures also included significant gains in minority test-takers. What the ETS numbers may mean for graduate admission competition remain to be seen.
Uncle Sam May Offer Viable Career Opportunities
As private sector entities shrink their workforces and many state and local governments and institutions struggle with staffing and budgeting concerns, predictions have the federal government growing. Projections suggest the federal government may be hiring as many as 273,000 new workers by the fall of 2012, with the fields of medical and public health, security, compliance and enforcement leading the opportunity race. The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize our federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works. The PPS website offers information and guidance for individuals interested in federal employment.
Fast Fact: Degree Parity for Women in Graduate School
According to the American Council on Education's Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2010 report, women now earn as many professional and doctoral degrees as men. Women also earn the majority of master's degrees due to their predominance in popular fields such as education and nursing. Men continue to earn the majority of master's degrees in engineering and business administration.
Quotable Quotes: A Student Laments
"I thought education was a way for people to gain financial stability. But now, a student has to be financially stable to get an education."
Philip Person, second-year law student at the University of California - Davis whose quest for scholarships to support rising state tuition and fees was profiled in a recent edition of Diverse Issues In Higher Education magazine.
"New Perspectives" Wants to Hear From You
Do you have questions about your path as a counseling student or new professional, including career concerns or even therapeutic inquiries? "New Perspectives," a monthly column in Counseling Today, is your opportunity to ask those questions anonymously and have them answered by seasoned professionals.
In addition, students and new professionals who are proving to be leaders in the counseling field can be nominated and featured in "New Perspectives." Supervisors, professors, colleagues, and student peers are welcome to make nominations. If you are interested in submitting a question or student/new professional nomination, e-mail "New Perspectives" column editor Donjanea Fletcher at dfletche@westga.edu.
FSA Ombudsman Office Addresses Student Loan Problems and Disputes
With more students borrowing to pay this college bills, the number of issues, problems and disputes has risen proportionately. The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman at the U.S. Department of Education encourages borrowers to make every effort to resolve their student loan problems. When that resolution is not immediate or successful, the FSA Ombudsman has a process that may come to the student's rescue. A visit to the following link will offer information and assistance on how to use this service.
Relevant Research: Women, Men and the Economics of Marriage
The institution of marriage has undergone significant changes in recent decades as women have outpaced men in education and earnings growth. This and other findings are reported in Women, Men and the Economics of Marriage, a new report from the Pew Research Center.
The unequal gains of women have been accompanied by gender role reversals in both the spousal characteristics and the economic benefits of marriage. A larger share of men in 2007, compared with their 1970 counterparts, are married to women whose education and income exceed their own. The reverse is true for women. In the past, marriage enhanced the economic status of women more than that of men. Now the economic gains associated with marriage are greater for men.
Inside JCD: Spring Edition Articles of Interest to Students and New Professionals
The spring 2010 edition of ACA's Journal of Counseling & Development (JCD) contains a number of articles that may be of particular interest to you. Watch your mailbox in March for this issue.
A Typology of Burnout in Professional Counselors
by Sang Min Lee., Seong Ho Cho, Daniel Kissinger & Nick T. Ogle
Content Analysis of the Journal of Counseling & Development: Volumes 74 - 84
by Adam T. Blancher, Walter C. Buboltz, Jr. & Barlow Soper
Criteria of Nonacademic Characteristics Used to Evaluate and Retain Community Counseling Students
by Jill D. Duba, Susan B. Paez & Aaron Kindsvatter
Metaphor as Instrument for Orchestrating Changes in Counselor Training and the Counseling Process
by Tracey Robert & Virginia A. Kelly
Client Outcomes Across Counselor Training Level Within a Multitiered Supervision Model
by Scott J. Nyman, Mark A Nafziger & Timothy B. Smith
Student Liability Insurance: An ACA Member Benefit
ACA has created a student liability insurance as a benefit for master's level student members. The following frequently asked questions may help you.
Q: As a master's level student member of ACA, how do I obtain proof of insurance to turn into my program?
A: In order to obtain "Evidence of Insurance," the student must update their student program level status by contacting the ACA Member Service Department at 800-347-6647/703-823-9800, ext. 222 (M-F, 8 am - 7 pm, ET). Most ACA student members have already done this and received the document. If you have updated your program status and have not received your proof, please contact the ACA Member Service Department.
Q: Am I covered for student activities beyond practicum and internship?
A: Yes. The coverage of the policy has not changed from when students were required to pay for it. Students are covered for any program-related activity including (but not limited to): site visits, practice sessions, interviews, pre-practicum activities, practicum, and internship. If there is any question about whether a particular activity is covered, contact the ACA Insurance Trust at 800-347-6647/703-823-9800, ext. 284.
Q: Who do I contact if I have any further questions?
A: A representative of the ACA Insurance Trust at 800-347-6647/703-823-9800, ext. 284 will be glad to talk to you.
Back by Popular Demand: Conference Sessions for Students, New Professionals
ACA will once again offer a number of special programs at the Pittsburgh Conference (March 18-23, 2010) for counseling students and new professionals. Session topics are selected based on feedback from students and New Professionals. The series includes:
- Finding a Meaningful Life after Graduate School - Gerald Corey
- Knowing Me, Supporting Me, and Marketing Me - Beverly O'Bryant
- Practical Pointers for Graduate Students and New Professionals - Sandra Lopez-Baez
- What Graduate Students and New Professionals Need to Know About Neuroscience - Allen and Mary Ivey
- Get a Job: Strategies for Successful Transition to and Mobility in Careers in Counseling - Rebecca Daniel-Burke
Check the conference program for the time and location of each of these very popular sessions.
Free Consults on Jobs, Ethics, Private Practice in Pittsburgh
Students and New Professionals are you worried about getting a job after graduation? Come to the Career Center at the March ACA Conference in Pittsburgh for:
- Career Consults
- Mock Interviews
- Resume critiques
Or are you concerned about an Ethics issue? Are you wanting to open your own Private Practice>?
All of these free consults are available to you at the Career Center. Click
About ACAeNews for Counseling Students and New Professionals
ACAeNews for Counseling Students and New Professionals is one of four new electronic newsletters that are published three times each year each by the American Counseling Association for the benefit of members working in these unique settings. It is disseminated as an opt-in subscription enewsletter and is a free benefit of ACA membership.
The other three special focus enewsletters are:
- ACAeNews for Mental Health, Private Practice and Community Agency Counselors
- ACAeNews for School Counselors
- ACAeNews for Counselor Educators
Any reference to a product, service or activity or listing of a web site in this publication does not imply endorsement by ACA. Any views and opinions are those of the sponsoring organization and may or may not be shared by ACA.
Direct comments, questions and submissions to Frank Burtnett. All submissions will be subject to review by ACA for accuracy, timeliness and relevance to the readership and may be edited.
Lynn E. Linde, President
llinde@loyola.edu
Richard Yep, CAE, Executive Director
ryep@counseling.org
Debra Bass, Director of Marketing and Communications
dbass@counseling.org
Frank Burtnett, NCC, NCCC, ACAeNews Editor
fburtnett@counseling.org
Don Kenneally, Internet Development / Production
dkenneally@counseling.org
ACA Website: www.counseling.org
Copyright 2010, American Counseling Association, 5999 Stevenson Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22304. Telephone: 703/823-9800. Email: fburtnett@counseling.org. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce anything contained in this newsletter as long as the American Counseling Association is identified as the original source of the information.
Contact Information
American Counseling Association
5999 Stevenson Ave. Alexandria, VA 22304
800.347.6647 | 800.473.2329 (fax) | 703.823.6862 (TDD)
Copyright 2009, American Counseling Association, All Rights Reserved.