U-Idaho Counseling Programs Earn Highest Marks

By Donna Emert

If student success is the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of a degree program, then counseling programs at the University of Idaho are definitely measuring up.

In the most recent round of testing completed this fall, the University of Idaho’s Rehabilitation Counseling, Counseling and School Counseling program students collectively achieved a 100 percent pass rate on their professional certification examinations.

Those arduous, comprehensive exams are administered outside of the university by independent national boards.

“The average pass rate for these exams may vary somewhat based on the group of students and professionals completing this exam, but this success rate is well above the average,” said Susan Stuntzner, assistant professor and program coordinator for the university’s rehabilitation counseling program in Coeur d’Alene. “That’s an achievement that reflects well on our students, and it really speaks to the strengths of our program.”

Linda Taylor, who teaches graduate students in counseling and in school psychology on the university’s Coeur d’Alene campus, has had equally remarkable success: Her students earned a 100 percent pass rate on the National Counselors Exam, required to practice counseling; and on the Praxis II Exam, required to practice as a school counselor.

The success is remarkable not only because it is well above the national rate, but also because it was achieved during a period of budget cutbacks and departmental restructuring.

Stuntzner and Taylor both came to the university straight from their own doctoral programs about four years ago. Stuntzner holds a master’s degree in counseling from Portland State University and a doctorate in rehabilitation psychology from University of Wisconsin, Madison. She spent two and half years in Nebraska completing post-doctoral supervision in a state facility for persons with intellectual disabilities and other coexisting disorders as a psychology staff member. Taylor holds a master’s degree in counseling from Purdue University and a doctorate in school psychology from University of Nevada, Reno.

“We followed in the footsteps of some very renowned professors in the university’s counseling programs,” said Taylor. “As new professors in the program, it is really heartening to achieve this milestone.”

Leadership and Counseling Achievements

Kathryn Canfield-Davis, associate professor in leadership and counseling, is serving in the temporary role of chair of the Department of Leadership and Counseling.

Laura Holyoke, associate professor of leadership and counseling, along with two of her graduate students, presented their research on women’s experiences of authentic leadership at this year’s Research on Women in Education National Conference in Coeur d’Alene.

Above and Beyond

By Michael Kroth

On the front page of the Oct. 12, 1972, edition of the Winfield Daily Courier, a photo shows three men conferring in front of a tractor. Dee Lewis, John Story and Clarence Long are getting ready to finish planting wheat. The work crew includes six other local farmers. Dinner is provided by two of their wives, and about 90 acres have been seeded in about six hours.

The farm? It is the Grandview Ranch, located just outside of the small Kansas town of Winfield and owned by Hazel and Milton Kroth.

I have a picture of that front page on the door to my office. Why? Because these neighbors were planting that wheat out of the goodness of their hearts for my grandmother—and out of respect for my grandfather, who had died unexpectedly the Sunday before. Because it reminds me of the power of relationships, of the goodness of people, and of the importance of small acts of kindness. Because it tells me that people will go above and beyond what they have to do just because they care—and not just for money. Because I can imagine how my grandmother felt when her husband was ripped out of her life and immediately facing her was a task that must have seemed impossible to accomplish.

And then I can imagine how she felt when people showed up just to help her.

Paul Harvey, talking about farmers in that recent Super Bowl TV ad, caused many of us to choke up. It’s not hard to see why.

There is a paradox at play in some work environments, embodied in the phrase “do more with less.” I often contemplated what that really means. What, in particular, does the “less” mean? I think most of the time its intended meaning is fewer resources, which is understandable. We are going through challenging times.

But it could also mean with less respect or less care or less understanding. It is when “less” signals to employees that they are just cogs in a machine, or resources to be deployed, or numbers on a spread sheet, that “less” really means less productivity, because all too often people then work only because they have to and not because they want to. When people have to do something, they are less likely to do any more than they, well, have to. The creativity, ingenuity, synergy, commitment and effort that managers want they never really get to see.

Young men working for my grandfather on a hot, sweaty, harvest day in Kansas would look down and find a ripe, juicy watermelon he had planted for them long before, anticipating their needs before they even knew they would be working for him. My dad, remembering, said that he and the others got so much of the sticky, sweet juice over them that they had to go jump in the creek to get clean. My grandfather had the kind of insight into what keeps young people working by imagining their experience long before it occurred and then planning for it. Yes, my Grandpa Milton understood and cared for people.

What would it take in your organization to motivate people to go above and beyond the call of duty? What would it take to get your own “wheat planted and harvested” when times are tough?

My suggestion: Study human nature and human beings. Show them that you care about them. Search for what really motivates them, deep down inside. And don’t forget to plant watermelons long before they’re needed.

— Michael Kroth is an associate professor of adult/ organization learning and leadership. This column was first published in the Idaho Statesman.

Julie Fodor, director of the Center on Disabilities and Human Development, has stepped into the role of president of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. She oversaw the AUCD national conference in Washington, D.C., in December, which featured more than 180 presentations and more than 500 attendees. In addition to Fodor, the following staff and faculty gave presentations at the conference:

• Matt Wappett, “How Stress is Killing You, and What You Can Do About It” and ThinkCollege Panel, postsecondary options for students with intellectual disabilities.

• Cari Murphy, Shawn Wright, PreConference Workshop 3, “Mobile Me: Low-cost/No-cost Tools for Organizing Your Digital”.

• Gwen Mitchell, “Leadership Education Beyond the Classroom” and “Individualized Education Program Goals for Children with Social and Behavior Challenges”.

• Robin Greenfield, “Improving Child Outcomes in Rural Communities: Perceptions, Culture and the Use of Technology”.

In late December, Fodor was honored with an invitation to speak at a luncheon at the White House.

Matthew Wappett, assistant professor with the Center on Disabilities and Human Development, served as a part of the U.S. Young Scholar Delegation to Taiwan. He also presented at the Malcolm M. Renfrew Interdisciplinary Colloquium sponsored by the U-Idaho Research Office, the College of Graduate Studies and the University Honors Program. The title of the presentation was “Laughter and Learning: Why Happy Students are Better Students.”

CDHD’s Idaho Assistive Technology Program Participating at Federal Levels

Olivia Lebens, a program adviser at the Center for Disabilities and Human Development attended the 2012 Association of University Centers on Disabilities annual meeting and conference titled “Innovating Today-Shaping Tomorrow.” She was able to attend as a recipient of the Staff Supplemental Professional Development Grant Award. Lebens participated in the Council on Community Advocacy meeting, the National Gateway to Self-Determination training and visited Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo’s office. Lebens will share the Self-Determination Self-Assessment Checklist with her colleagues at CDHD, College of Education, the CDHD Community Advisory Committee as well as other interested individuals. This Self-Determination Self-Assessment Checklist is a tool created for University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities to determine “the degree to which its policies, practices and personnel, at a given point in time, are promoting self-determination for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.”

A project of the Center on Disabilities and Human Development, Idaho Assistive Technology Project (IATP), has been selected to participate in a new federal program set to distribute communication technology to people with vision and hearing loss. The National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program established by the FCC distributes equipment to low-income individuals who are deafblind. The goal of the group is to ensure that every person with combined hearing and vision loss has access to modern telecommunication tools from screen enlargement and software and video phones, to off-the-shelf products that are accessible or adaptable and the training necessary to use them. The program provides outreach, assessments, telecommunications technology and training free of charge to those who meet federal eligibility guidelines. For more information about Idaho’s NDBEDP, including a consumer guide and eligibility rules and to apply, go to http://bit.ly/IATPUI.

Robin Greenfield, CDHD Boise program director, and Matt Wappett, presented at the Idaho Partnership Conferences on Human Services in November called “Restore, Rebuild, Renew.” Greenfield presentation was “Figuring out the Steps to the Dance: Assessing Children with Very Complex Disabilities.” Wappett’s presentation was “How Stress is Killing You, and What You Can Do About It.”

Department and Center News Ethics

The Center for ETHICS at the University of Idaho offers study, intervention, outreach, consultation and leadership in developing and advancing the theory, knowledge and understanding of character education including moral and ethical reasoning, moral development, ethical leadership and ethical application. The center, through Director Sharon K. Stoll, professor of physical education, provides classes, workshops, applied interventions, evaluations, assessments and consultation about character education and all its perspectives to any organization, profession, industry and discipline.

The center completed a series of lessons for the World Anti Doping Agency. WADA is an independent international organization created in 1999 to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against doping in sport in all its forms. Composed and funded equally by the sports movement and the governments of the world, WADA coordinated the development and implementation of the World Anti Doping Code, a document harmonizing anti-doping policies in all sports and all countries. Now that a study has been developed with the help of the center, the next step is testing the curriculum. Preliminary data was reviewed by WADA in December, and an additional $21,000 for continued research has been released for 2013.

cWork continues with Winning With Character,

a nonprofit organization dedication to sport education, which served 55 high schools and three universities, working in character education in sports across the U.S. Winning With Character has contracted with the center to develop curriculum and evaluation tools and assessments for its intervention program which aims to challenge athletes to reach their full potential in the classroom, on the field and in society; provide understanding, reasoning and application of moral and ethical principles; and change thinking and behavior. cThe Servant Sport Leadership Program was developed by the Winning With Character Foundation and the Center for American Football Coaches Association members to help coaches and teams develop a sense of unity built upon a foundation of character. Sport Servant Leadership is a 12-week, distance-learning course that is offered entirely online for continuing education credits. This online education program is endorsed by the American Football Coaches Association. The purpose is to create an environment to aid coaches in their efforts to become servant leaders. It provides a rationale for the development of a servant leadership philosophy as a coach in football, inspires and challenges thinking that is directed toward servant leadership coaching, helps coaches become knowledgeable in literature and language of servant leadership and assesses coach’s personal qualities in the quest for servant leaders.