Jihene Ayadi, a doctoral candidate in counselor education and supervision, won the Outstanding Doctoral Student award at the European Branch of the American Counseling Association conference. The conference was held last week in Athens, Greece.

Ayadi, a Fulbright scholar, is currently in Tunisia working with the Southern Mediterranean University to develop a Counseling and Academic Advising Center. At the conference, Ayadi and her adviser Kristin Higgins presented on the center's implementation. They are also working on an article about the project.

The center Ayadi developed allows students to receive both advising and counseling in the same place. This is rare, as these functions typically occur in two separate entities on campus. Ayadi previously worked as a graduate assistant in the University of Arkansas Counseling and Psychological Services office. Her experiences there helped guide her research.

Ayadi earned the Outstanding Doctoral Student award for the U of A counseling program in spring 2015. She now serves as a research graduate assistant in the program. Ayadi is on track to graduate in May 2019.