History of the UF Division of Student Affairs | Page 58

58

Counseling Center. The agreement later was approved by the chair of Counselor
Education as well. From that time forward, all new hires at the Counseling Center
were classified as Clinical Faculty.
The Counseling Center has a long history of training professional students in
counseling and clinical psychology and counselor education at the practicum,
internship, and post-doctoral levels. The training program has become a
highly evolved, structured and sequential set of supervised experiences
with clinical and didactic components. In 1982, the Counseling Center’s predoctoral internship in professional psychology was accredited by the American
Psychological Association (APA). The Counseling Center became the first APA
accredited counseling center training program in the State of Florida and the
Southeast and among the earliest in the country. Counseling Center faculty
also had an essential role in the re-organized APA accredited UF Counseling
Psychology Program; this close relationship continues today.
Today, faculty teach the pre-practicum and first two practicum classes for
all counseling psychology graduate students. Trainees at all levels from the
counselor education graduate program also participate. At the pre- and postdoctoral level, trainees are selected in a highly competitive process from a
national and international pool of students who are completing capstone
requirements for their doctoral degree or professional licensure. In addition,
faculty have also taught academic courses in the Departments of Psychology,
Counselor Education, Behavioral Studies, and Women’s Studies; the First Year
Florida Program; and the Study Abroad Program in Florence, Italy.
Co n so l i d at i o n w i t h S t u d e n t M e n ta l H e a lt h
Services
In 2009, UF announced a reorganization of mental health services for students.
The reorganization combined the Counseling Center with the Student Mental
Health Center, formerly located within the Student Health Care Center and
reporting to the Department of Community Health and Family Medicine.
Additionally, GatorWell Health Promotion Services (GWHP) began reporting to
the Counseling Center director. Staff at the Counseling Center were classified
as Clinical Faculty whereas staff at the Student Health Care Center were
classified as TEAMS employees. In recognition of problems that could result
from two classifications for staff in the same unit with similar job descriptions
but different opportunities for promotion and raises, an agreement was formed
with the support of the Vice President for Student Affairs to reclassify all staff in
H i st o ry o f t h e U F D S A