Tuesday, January 15, 2019

4th Black Mental Health Symposium


The call for proposals is open is for the 4th Black Mental Health Symposium and closes on March 15, 2019. The BMHS is a professional development event that equips mental health professionals with culturally-specific interventions to improve outcomes in Black communities. This year's theme is Affirm. Awake. Arise. The Hilton Charlotte at University Place (NC) will house this 2-day BMHS on September 26-27, where there will be over 40 dynamic breakout sessions, student poster presentations, panel discussions, awards ceremony for scholarship, service, and advocacy; networking, and up to 12 NBCC-approved CE credits. Dr. King Davis from University of Texas at Austin will deliver a full keynote address. 

All proposal applications are welcome but preference is given to those that address Black LGBT issues, addictions recovery within Black communities, counseling and supervising Black students and counseling, publishing, Black issues in academia, transgenerational grief and trauma, and post-slavery phenomena. Applications can be found mid-page blackmhsymposium.com. Sponsors, advertisers, and exhibitors are encouraged to send inquiries to sponsor@blackmhsymposium.com. General questions or concerns can be addressed at info@blackmhsymposium.com. #BMHS2019

Counselor Day on The Hill



Join us in Springfield to advocate for your profession! ICA and all division members, as well as non-member Counselors, students, and educators are welcome






Thursday, March 21, 2019 - Springfield, IL


Come advocate for your profession! 

The Coalition of Illinois Counselor Organizations (CICO) sponsors this day of advocacy for counseling graduate students and professional counselors.

The Counselor Day on the Hill is an opportunity to learn about the legislative process and to advocate for counselor interests with Illinois legislators. There are opportunities to speak directly to your state Senator and Representative armed with information provided by CICO advocating for counselors in Illinois.

In the morning we start off with an introduction and a training to let you know what to expect and in-depth knowledge on the information you have been provided, lunch will be provided by CICO, and then we will head to the Capitol to meet with legislators and observe the process. At the end of the day we will reconvene to debrief, turn in leftover materials, and celebrate our efforts of the day!

This is a great opportunity for graduate students, counselor educators and professional counselors from throughout Illinois to advocate for mental health legislation, school counseling concerns, and help the voice of counselors to be heard.

ICA and all Division members, as well as non-member counselors, graduate students, and educators are welcome.



If are looking for others to carpool with let us know at ilcounseling.org@gmail.com and we will help out all we can to match people up.


If you have any questions or concerns please contact the ICA Office at 815-787-8787.

Coalition of Illinois Counselor Organizations | P.O. Box 706, DeKalb, IL 60115


Monday, January 14, 2019

New Year’s Resolutions and Important Dates



 Dear Fabulous CSLers,

Welcome back!  We hope you had a healthy, happy and rejuvenating winter break. Perhaps you used your time to relax, to reflect and to refocus. As your CSL faculty, we are proud of the accomplishments of 2018 and are excited about the opportunities to make our program better and stronger in 2019. So, in the spirit of making New Year’s Resolutions, we, your faculty, resolve to:
                                         i.    Hold ourselves and our students to the highest ethical standards
                                       ii.    Find new and innovative ways to infuse diversity and equity issues across our curriculum
                                      iii.    Increase international experiences for our counseling students
                                      iv.    Continually evaluate class offerings for students
                                        v.    Increase our collaborative involvement with the ECC 
                                      vi.    Honor wellness amongst ourselves, our students and our peers
                                     vii.    Advocate for professional development opportunities among faculty and students
                                   viii.    Continue to engage in existing community-based learning while cultivating new opportunities to serve marginalized populations
                                      ix.    Celebrate our students’ successes, including the 2nd ASCA National School Counselor of the Year! (We are so proud of you, Brian Coleman!).

What will you do to elevate your practice, increase your knowledge and serve others? We hope you will take a moment to think about this question and to cheer on your peers as they strive towards reaching their goals. Together we are better. We look forward to another productive quarter. As always, rise up, reach out, shine on.

With warm winter wishes,
Dr. Ockerman, CSL Program Director

Important Upcoming Dates:
·         Friday, January 11, no later than 11:59 p.m. is the last date for students to add a class within the add/drop window.  After this date, students will only be added to classes with very few exceptions (even if they have been attending the class).

·         Friday, January 18 is the last day to drop a class without penalty (no tuition charge and no record of the class on transcripts).  Students who withdraw between January 19 and February 22 will receive a “W” grade and will be responsible for applicable tuition charges. 

·         Friday, February 22 is the last day to withdraw from a class and receive a “W” grade.  After this date, students should receive whatever grade they have earned for the class.
a.    More information can be found here: https://academics.depaul.edu/calendar/Pages/default.aspx.

Ø  If you are interested in nominating a CSL faculty for the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award, you can do so by following the below procedure:
o   Nominations should be typed in letter form and signed, detailing reasons why the faculty member should be considered for the Excellence in Teaching Award.
o   Nominations should be submitted to Sarah Magnuson, Executive Assistant, at smagnuso@depaul.edu.
o   Nominations are due by January 31st