SUMMARY

In support of the university’s mission and objectives, the University Counselor position serves as one of PBA’s primary mental health counselors and coordinates preventative training and programs across a wide variety of departments. This role is a 10-month position.

Personal Counseling & Mental Health Programming

• Provides one-on-one counseling regarding mental health issues for university students.
• Provides short-term mental health assessments to students in crisis.
• Conducts referrals to external agencies for students with mental health issues.
• Coordinates counseling support groups for students with mental health issues (e.g., grief & loss, relationships issues).
• Partners with other Counseling & Wellness Center staff to ensure that students’ emotional needs are being met.
• Conducts training sessions for faculty and staff about how to deal with students with mental health issues.
• Connects with Palm Beach County community agencies to partner with external resources. 
• Serves on-call to respond to student mental health emergencies. 
• Maintains caseload clinical notes/documentation.
• Responds to Navigate 360 alerts.

Administrative

• Serves as a Consultant to the Crisis Management Team, as necessary.
• Keeps the Director of Counseling & Wellness informed of daily activities, problems, emergencies, and occurrences that affect university students.
• Prepares reports as requested by the Director of Counseling & Wellness and AVP of Student Life, including, but not limited to monthly, statistical, discipline, surveys, and graphs.
• Attends and participates in Student Life and university-wide meetings, retreats, and committees.
• Assists with the selection of student and professional staff as requested by the Director of Counseling & Wellness.
• Maintains confidentiality in dealing with students, parents, university faculty/staff, and the community.
• Serves as a Christian role model for faculty, staff, and students.

Professional Development

• Develops professionally and stays current on Student Life issues and trends that affect university students, particularly as they relate to mental health issues.
• Joins, attends, and participates in local, state, and national counseling conferences. 
• Conducts research and administers surveys of other counseling center professionals.
• Develops and maintains a network with counseling center professionals.
• Attends Counseling & Wellness monthly team meetings.

Community Relations

• Recruits and vets community health partners that would serve as a referral for PBA students who require off-campus counseling. 
• Represents the University in a positive manner to parents, students, visitors, and the neighboring community through Christian conduct, behavior, and presentation on and off campus.

Qualifications

EDUCATION:

Master's degree in Counseling, Psychology, or Social Work required.

Professional certification(s): Active Florida licensure in Mental Health Counseling, Marriage & Family Therapy, or Social Work, required. Candidates with Registered Intern status with the State of Florida must obtain licensure within two (2) years of the date of hire. Florida Qualified Supervisor Status for Mental Health Counselors, preferred.

EXPERIENCE:

3+ years of mental health counseling or marriage & family experience at the college level preferred. 

ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Customer Service Orientation – Keeps internal and/or external key stakeholder(s), students, parents, faculty, staff and community partners in mind at all times.
• Professionalism – Displays a high level of professionalism, e.g., timeliness, reliability, communication, and work ethic.
• Christ-first Faith – Provides spiritual support to community members, including students, on their Christian faith journey.
• Adaptable/Flexibility – Ability to change or adjust to change.
• Analytical Thinking & Decision Making – Identifies and understands trends and/or issues, connects data points through analysis and logical conclusions/actionable strategies.
• Attention to Detail – Ability to efficiently and accurately focus on a specific task or number of tasks. Reviews details with a critical eye.
• Confidentiality – Maintains the necessary confidentiality and discretion required for the position.
• Develops Others – Ability to promote continuous improvement within teams and/or individuals.
• Effective Communication – Expresses ideas and information in a clear and concise manner both verbally and in writing to convey clear, well-articulated messaging across a wide variety of audiences.
• Establishes Trust – Gains the confidence of others by actions and words that promote being honest, forthcoming, and vulnerable.
• Leadership/Influence – Ability to motivate, coach and develop others, as well as influence a group of people to achieve common goals, and implement university strategies. Strong supervisory skills.
• Problem-solving – Anticipates, evaluates, diagnoses, and resolves problems in a systematic and fact-based manner.
• Self-development – Grow one’s self-awareness, abilities, skills, and/or talent.
• Teamwork & Collaboration – Creates a climate that fosters commitment to a common vision and shared values that promote cooperation and working together through trust and support of others both departmentally and cross-functionally.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to work non-routine hours during certain times of the year.
• Ability to sit for prolonged periods of time.