Counselor Education Graduates Moving On to Work at Universities

Heidi Wells

Sandra Bullins, from left, Anthony Suarez, Donghun Lee and Justin Cook are graduating and going to work at universities.

Four University of Arkansas doctoral students in the counselor education program will take positions at universities this fall after successfully defending their dissertation research.

The students, their dissertation titles and their new positions:

• Sandra Bullins, "An Investigation into the Relationship between Spirituality and Coping Responses among Women with Visual Impairment," post-doctoral fellowship, Virginia Commonwealth University. Brent Thomas Williams is her faculty adviser.
• Justin Cook, "The Relationship Between Mental Health and Ultra-running: A Case Study," assistant professor, Missouri Baptist University. Kristin Higgins is his faculty adviser.
• Donghun Lee, "Counselors' Self-discrepancy and its Impact on their Burnout and Wellness," assistant professor, State University of New York at Oneonta. Higgins is his faculty adviser.
• Anthony Suarez, "A Phenomenological Inquiry into the Shared Lived Experience of Married Male Doctoral Students in Counselor Education and Their Non-Student Spouses," assistant professor, Valparaiso University. Kristi Perryman is his faculty adviser.

The counselor education program is accredited through the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. It is merging with the rehabilitation education and research program. Based in the College of Education and Health Professions, the counselor education program now offers four cognates: clinical mental health counseling, rehabilitation counseling, school counseling and addiction counseling.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked the rehabilitation counseling program in the top 20 among graduate rehabilitation programs for the past two decades. It was ranked No. 13 in 2015, the last year those programs were ranked.