Editor’s note: Information for each candidate, including biographical information, qualifications and reasons for seeking office is published below and in the December issue of Counseling Today. Online voting for all ACA, division and region elections will begin Dec. 1. The following answers are published as the candidates submitted them. They have not been edited.
ACES DIVISION CANDIDATES
President-Elect
Erika Cameron
I am honored for the opportunity to run for President-elect of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES). I am currently an Associate Professor at the University of San Diego. Prior to becoming a counselor educator, I worked as a school counselor in Missouri and Hawaii. As an active member of ACES, I most recently served as president of WACES (2015 – 2016). During that time we were able to increase membership, double our conference attendance, and create opportunities for Master-level students to be involved in WACES. From 2014-2016, I was a member of the ACES Governing Council, which gave me an understanding of the complex needs of our profession and the opportunity to witness the positive impact ACES makes. It is without a doubt that ACES has accomplished a lot and set the wheels in motion to propel counselor education and supervision into the future, but we can still grow in ways yet to be imagined. If elected, I would be only the third president from the western region in the association’s 77-year history. As a result, I would bring to the governing council a new perspective and understanding of underrepresented regions that would only continue to enhance the impact of ACES. I know that my leadership, skills, and passion would help our association to think creatively about the future of counseling, counselor education, and supervision. It is my intention to support the mission of ACES by continuing past president’s initiatives, cultivating all of our regions, and focusing on the needs of our supervisors in non-faculty roles. In closing, I want to assure the members of ACES that I am committed to work tirelessly to continue ACES’ initiatives, foster collaboration, and help ACES continue to make an impact on the counseling profession. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kristopher M. Goodrich
I have been a proud member of ACES since my time as a graduate student at Syracuse University, through which I have had multiple opportunities to take on different roles within the division. These include: serving as a co-chair of the New Faculty Interest Network (NFIN) for two years, having served as a reviewer for Counselor Education and Supervision for 6 years (as well as time before as an ad hoc reviewer), and by invitation of current editor supported the journal acting as “manuscript editor” for three submissions while the journal editor sought an Associate Editor to support him in his role. More recently, I have also served as president of RMACES, facilitating the RMACES conference in Steamboat Springs, CO in October 2016. Finally, I was appointed as an ACES representative on the ACES/CACREP Joint Task Force regarding Competency Based Education (CBE), which is currently in its second year, to understand the potential for CBE in Counselor Education. If elected President-elect of ACES, I would like to focus my term to support the needs of practitioner supervisors, a group within ACES that has received little attention. I view this group as fundamental to supporting the training of novice professional counselors, and wish to expand the resources to this group both to support counselor training and supervision, as well as find opportunities to expand our membership base. Additionally, I would like to begin the discussion of licensure parity for other forms of counselor licensure (such as school counseling), which is not currently uniform and quite diverse state-to-state. Currently, we have only discussed licensure in regards to mental health counseling, but I would like to expand the dialogue to other forms of counselor credentialing to support the CACREP standards across other specialization areas to further the vision of one unified counseling profession.
Secretary-Elect
Laura Bruneau
My commitment to ACES began in 2003 while completing my doctoral degree at Kent State University. During the last decade, while teaching at Adams State University in Colorado, I have faithfully served ACES. My service history with ACES includes through three years on the ACES Research Grants Committee and six years as Rocky Mountain ACES Secretary. In particular, through my role as RMACES Secretary, I (a) developed strong relationships with faculty and doctoral students across the region, (b) kept careful documentation, (c) voted on policy and procedures, (d) assisted with conference planning, and (e) collaborated on new initiatives. I look forward to expanding upon my leadership skills through service on the ACES Executive Council. I am also excited to become a key part of the association, which I consider to be my professional home. I take the role of secretary to heart, firmly believing that no association can operate effectively without a commitment to careful documentation and efficient communication. As Secretary, I will utilize my fine-tuned organization skills to keep records of the association. Furthermore, I will collaborate with my colleagues to ensure that ACES is meeting its commitment to advancing teaching and supervision practices, promoting professional advocacy, and disseminating premier and culturally-relevant research. If elected, I will support the objectives that align with the mission of ACES, including unifying the profession through licensure portability. Simply stated, I want to serve because I enjoy this type of service and I want to represent the Counselor Education community at the national level.
Keely Hope
Dr. Keely Hope is an Associate Professor of Mental Health Counseling and Program Director of Counselor Education in the Psychology Department at Eastern Washington University. She is a transplant to the Northwest from the South. Professionally, her background includes working with acute and severe mental health issues in the indigent and homeless population as well as in a college-counseling center. One of her favorite aspects of education is supervising her students’ clinical experiences; from first year students just beginning to learn to second year’s coming into their own. As a professor at a teaching focused university, ACES is of primary interest to her. ACES and WACES have become her professional home. Dr. Hope has been active in leadership roles in counseling organizations since her master’s program including, but not limited to, being an emerging leader in SACES, a Chi Sigma Iota International Fellow, and has served as the treasurer of the Washington State ACES (WSACES) for many years. She has served as part of leadership in WACES for the past two years and plans to continue in some fashion. During her tenure as WACES president, she served as part of the teaching work group to help plan a timeline for implementation of the suggestions that the teaching task force provided. She was part of a very successful conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now, as Immediate Past President she will aid the current President to continue to grow WACES and serve the unique needs of the western region. She would truly love to represent the west as Secretary of ACES.