The meeting of the Marywood University Counseling Advisory Board was convened at 5:00pm on March 31, 2008 by John Lemoncelli ex-officio.

 
Attendance:

Debbie Murphy – Pocono Mountain School District, Supervisor of Guidance

Joe Deluca – Wyoming Valley H.S. Asst. Principal

John Bakas – Scranton Counseling Center

Gabe Vannan – Alumni, Tri-County

Carol McNamara – Susquehanna School District, Intern Supervisor

Tony Pagnatti – Clarks Summit State Hospital

Sal Luzio – Riverside

Mary Sciala – Community Medical Center – Pastoral Care

 

New Members were introduced and welcomed.

 

Procedural:

-         It was recommended that the board meet two times per year and as needed during the course of the semester.

-         The official meetings will be the first Monday of October and the last Monday of March.

-         The concept of chairperson was tabled for a future meeting.

-         A review of the counseling programs was provided for the edification of new board members.

-         Much discussion ensued regarding the clinical grounding of school counselors and the necessity to maintain balance between traditional guidance activities and clinical interventions. At the present time it was noted by the board that there is diversity among the school districts and the requirements that the various school districts have for their guidance counselors. There was also a discussion regarding the importance of licensure for school counselors. Staff informed the board that all faculty advisors already strongly advise all school counselor students to obtain their license eligibility prior to leaving Marywood.

-         There was also much discussion regarding the advantage of training teachers to become school counselors. There was a strong sentiment with the board that counselors who were former teachers bring something different to the discipline then non-teachers. The board was informed that all school counselors’ interns must procure a minimum of ten hours of teacher classroom observation. It was strongly encouraged that this requirement be doubled and that the faculty intern supervisor insists that students observe a variety of teachers.

-         The board also strongly recommended that school interns be required to begin their internship in August and where possible remain through the end of the school year. It was recommended that this would allow the interns to see the operations of guidance prior to the beginning of the school year and the end of the school year as well. This recommendation was accepted unanimously by the board and Dr. Lemoncelli will initiate the recommendations in the fall.

 

Issues that need to be revisited:

-         The instructions of “teaching” for school counselors.

-          Bereavement issues

-         Additional coursework on crisis intervention.

 

Another item that was tabled was the recommendation of mandating a drug and alcohol course for mental health counselors.

 
Mental health:

-         There was significant discussion regarding the cut backs in mental health funding and how that will impact not only the mental health systems, but also the school systems.

-         John Bakes will provide more feedback to the board at the October meeting.

 

Items Resolved:

-         The board unanimously approved the revised mission statement for the counseling program

-         The board unanimously approved the revised program objectives for the counseling program

 

The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 pm. The next meeting will be October 6, 2008 at 5:00pm.