History of the UF Division of Student Affairs | Page 57

57

our counselors. The expertise in this area also allowed the Counseling Center
to work with students, individually and in groups, as well as faculty, staff and
administrators to create a welcoming environment for the increasingly diverse
student body. The Counseling Center developed signature programs like ASPIRE;
International Initiatives; peer programs to reach out to first generation students;
and the Diversity Lunch Series which brought together students, faculty, and
staff for shared multicultural learning and engagement in difficult dialogues.
The Counseling Center addressed other campus climate issues, too. A campuswide program was initiated to prevent suicide. Faculty, staff, and student groups
were engaged in “gatekeeper” training to become aware of suicidal symptoms,
to learn how to talk with students about concerns, and to refer those who needed
professional assistance or crisis intervention. When UF decided to provide sexual
harassment education and prevention training to all employees, Counseling
Center staff were directly involved in all sessions, promoting awareness of
the psychological harm to students, faculty and staff who had experienced
harassment. Consultations and workshops were provided to academic units on
request as specific issues were uncovered by students speaking out about their
experiences.
A c a d e m i c Co n n e c t i o n s a n d P r o f e ss i o n a l T r a i n i n g
The Counseling Center has strong academic roots. As noted earlier, the
Counseling Center began as part of the Psychology Department and then was a
unit within University College. As a result, all Counseling Center staff held faculty
status and were expected to go through the promotion and tenure process. In
1976, University College was dissolved, and the Counseling Center became a unit
within the Division of Student Affairs (DSA). The move to Student Affairs created
an administrative home for the Counseling Center more in keeping with major
counseling centers across the country. It enabled increased cooperation and
coordination with various other Student Affairs units, working together for the
benefit of students. Advantageously, the Counseling Center director became a
direct report to the Vice President for Student Affairs. In keeping with other DSA
personnel, initially new Counseling Center professional hires were classified as
Administrative and Professional (A&P). However, to better reflect the job duties
and to ensure parity with existing Counseling Center faculty members, the A&P
lines were converted to Clinical Faculty lines in an agreement worked out by
the Provost, the chair of the Psychology Department, and the Director of the

Department histor ies : Coun seli n g an d W elln ess Center