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AdvisingMore Less

Each student is responsible for knowing Mason’s rules, regulations, requirements, administrative policies and academic policies. The University Catalog, your program advisors, and the staff in the Student and Academic Affairs Office are key resources to assist you as you work toward completion of your degree requirements. It is highly recommended that you meet with your advisor at least once per semester to review degree progress and plan for future semesters.

You Have the Keys to Success:

  1. Be an Informed Student

    It is your responsibility to know where you are in completing your requirements. Your advisor is a resource to assist you. If you choose not to meet with your advisor you may miss key information and opportunities to make your experience at Mason a more valuable one.

  2. Read your Mason E-mail

    Students are responsible for the content of university communication sent to their Mason e-mail account (@masonlive.gmu.edu) and are required to activate that account and check it regularly. If you wish to forward your @masonlive.gmu.edu e-mails to a personal account please do so as soon as possible once admitted to avoid missing key communications from various university offices.

  3. Know and Use your Resources

    Friends and other CEHD students are great but they are not reliable sources of information for your individual degree requirements/progress. A reliable resource is a paid Mason employee and the subject matter expert on the question at hand (i.e. Licensure, Endorsements, Advising, Career Services, Admissions, Registrar, ITU Support, etc.). When in doubt, ask your advisor!

Where to look for Advising

Contact the Counseling program at counsel@gmu.edu. Faculty and staff will answer any questions that you may have about your program or degree.

CoursesMore Less

EDCD Courses

EDUC Courses

Documents and Forms More Less
Faculty and StaffMore Less

Faculty

Staff

  • West, Dorothy Academic, Personnel, and Student Services Coordinator Email
    Phone: (703) 993-2087
    Fax: (703) 993-5577
    Profile
Policies & ResourcesMore Less

Professional Performance Criteria

The American Counseling Association code of ethics requires counselors and counselor trainees to maintain standards of professional competence and possess good moral character. Therefore, the Counseling Program requires these Professional Dispositions.

APA Guidelines

All students taking Counseling courses are expected to use APA style described in detail in the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th Ed., 2010) for all written work. Students are expected to purchase this book.

Attendance Policy

Two or more unexcused absences may result in no credit for the courses that are 3 credits or more. For 2 credit courses, one or more unexcused absences may result in no credit for the course. For 1 credit courses, no unexcused absences are permitted.

Readmission Policy

Admitted students who do not attend classes for two consecutive semesters (excluding the summer term) are automatically dropped from degree-seeking status. These students must apply for readmission to the program in order to return to degree-seeking status. To apply for readmission, students must:

  1. Submit a statement describing (a) reasons for seeking readmission, and (b) current professional goals and activities.
  2. Submit a minimum of three letters from professional references who can address your readmission to the Counseling program.
  3. Submit a current transcript
  4. Complete a Graduate Re-enrollment Form.
  5. Observe the regular GSE admission deadlines.

Students requesting readmission may then be invited to an admission interview. Readmission is granted only upon Counseling full-time faculty's evaluation of the applicant's qualifications, interview, and past program participation.

Program and Faculty RecognitionsMore Less

Program and Multiple Faculty Recognitions

  • Two DVDs were produced by Alexander Street Press in 2012 on the C&D program’s unique training (Training Social Justice Counselors: Walking the Talk) and the C&D faculty’s innovative outreach program, Counselors Without Borders (Counselors Without Borders: Making Change for a Better World).
  • Drs. Rita Chi-Ying Chung and Fred Bemak were included as 2 of 5 people in the American Counseling Association Introductory Film, entitled Giving Back to the Community, for the American Counseling Association’s Annual Conference in 2011.
  • Chi Sigma Iota Outstanding Chapter Award for Exemplary Chapter Webpage, 2006

Dr. Fred Bemak

  • President-Elect, 2013-2014, American Counseling Association Counselors for Social Justice Division
  • Kitty Cole Human Rights Award, 2013, American Counseling Association National Award
  • Fulbright Senior Scholar, 2012, Department of Educational Sciences, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey
  • Professional Advancement, 2012, Association for Specialists in Group Work Award
  • Taiwanese Research Visiting Scholar, 2011, Awarded position to study school counseling in Taiwan through the Taiwan Ministry of Education
  • Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person, 2011, American Counseling Association National Award
  • Courtland Lee Social Justice Award, 2011, Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
  • American Psychological Association Fellow, 2009
  • Association for Specialists in Group Work (A Division of the American Counseling Association) Fellow, 2006
  • O'Hana Award for Social Justice Work 2004, Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ), a Division of the American Counseling Association.
  • Fulbright Scholar, 1994-1995
  • Kellogg Foundation Fellowship in International Development and Leadership, 1988-1990

Dr. Rita Chi-Ying Chung

  • President of Counselors for Social Justice (Division of the American Counseling Association) 2015-2016
  • 2015 American Counseling Association (ACA) Fellow.
  • 2014 American Psychological Association (APA) Fellow, Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race).
  • 2014 Social Psychology Network Action Teaching Award, Honorable Mention.
  • 2013 American Psychological Association (APA) Fellow, Division 52 (International Psychology).
  • Commonwealth of Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award, 2013, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
  • Commendation Award for work on Human Rights and Social Justice, 2013, Commonwealth of Virginia General Assembly
  • Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person, 2013, American Counseling Association National Award
  • Kitty Cole Human Rights Award, 2012, American Counseling Association National Award
  • Professional Advancement Award, 2012, Association for Specialists in Group Work
  • Courtland Lee Social Justice Award, 2011, Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
  • Kitty Cole Human Rights Award, 2011, Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development
  • Invited to speak about Child Trafficking at United Nations, 2008, United Nations, New York
  • Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) Fellow 2008, ASGW a Division of the American Counseling Association
  • O'hana Honors Award for Social Justice Work 2004, Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ), a Division of the American Counseling Association.

Dr. Stephanie F. Dailey

  • Chair-elect & Trustee, American Counseling Association Foundation, 2017-2021
  • ACA Liaison, American Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Partners, 2009-current
  • Chair, 2018-2019 Crisis, Disaster, & Trauma Counseling ACA Presidential Task Force
  • Chair, 2017-2018 Crisis Preparedness & Trauma Counseling ACA Presidential Task Force
  • Co-chair, 2016-2017 Increasing Diversity within ACA Leadership ACA Presidential Task Force
  • President, Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling, 2015-2016
  • President, Maryland Counseling Association, 2014-2015
  • Co-chair, ACA Ethics Committee, 2014-2016
  • ASERVIC Executive Board Member, 2011 – 2014
  • Commissioner, Arlington County Emergency Preparedness Advisory Commission, 2010-2013
  • 2017 Excellence in Teaching Award (Argosy University)
  • 2016 Maryland Counseling Association President’s Award for Advocacy & Equality

Dr. Rachael D. Goodman

  • Coordinator, Counselors Without Borders, 2013, outreach to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
  • Editorial Board Member, 2011-2014, Journal of Mental Health Counseling (JMHC)
  • Pre-Conference Service Day Coordinator, 2013, Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ)
  • Emerging Leaders Fellow, 2010, Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES)
  • Outstanding Research Award, 2009, Chi Sigma Iota (CSI) International
  • Dr. Daya & Mrs. Usha K. Sandhu Multicultural Counseling/Diversity Student Research Award, 2009, Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD)
  • President, Florida Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, 2009-2010

Dr. Shekila Melchior

  • Virginia Alliance for School Counseling President Elect, 2020 - 2021
  • Emerging Leader for the Association of Counselor Education & Supervision, 2017
  • Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Adolescent and Family Health, 2017 – 2019
  • Social Justice Work Group: ACES School Counselor Interest Network, 2018 - current
  • Counselors for Social Justice, Advocacy Committee Chair 2018 – 2019
  • ACA School Counseling Taskforce, 2017 – 2018
  • ACA Immigration Taskforce, 2017 – 2018
  • Graduate Student Commencement Speaker at Virginia Tech, 2017
  • Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Student – College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Virginia Tech, 2017
  • Edward Bouchet Honor Society, 2017
  • National Board of Certified Counselors Doctoral Minority Fellow, 2015

Dr. Sam Steen

  • Associate Editor, Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 2016-present
  • Professional Advancement Award, Association for Specialists in Group Work (A Division of the American Counseling Association), 2019
  • Counselors for Social Justice, Newsletter Co-Editor, 2019-present
  • Fellow, Association for Specialists in Group Work, 2018
  • Presidential Award, Association for Specialists in Group Work, 2011
  • Best Group Research Article of the Year, Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 2009
  • Holmes Scholar, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 2003-2007

Tori Stone, PhD, LPC

  • Chairperson of the Northern Virginia School Counseling Leadership Team
  • Virginia School Counselor Association Board of Directors 2018-2019
  • Human Rights and Social Justice Committee Member, Virginia School Counselor Association 2010 – 2013.
  • Above and Beyond Award, Prince William County, VA, Student Services, 2012.
  • Coordinator, American School Counselor Association Recognized ASCA Model School Counseling Program (Re-RAMP) application, Bull Run Middle School, Prince William County, VA., 2011.
  • Coordinator, American School Counselor Association Recognized ASCA Model School Counseling Program (RAMP) application, Bull Run Middle School, Prince William County, VA., 2008.
  • Middle School Vice President, Virginia School Counselor Association, 2006 – 2007
  • Secretary, Virginia School Counselor Association, 2004 – 2005
  • Middle School Counselor of the Year, Virginia School Counselor Association, 2002.

Dr. Regine M. Talleyrand

  • Editorial Board Member, 2012-present, Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology
Student and Alumni Awards and RecognitionMore Less

Counseling Student Recognition:

The Counseling faculty are proud to announce that Mirella Saldaña has been selected as Virginia School Counselor Association’s (VSCA) Graduate Student of Year!

Mirella demonstrates excellence in scholarship as well as a commitment to our program mission of social justice, advocacy, multiculturalism, and leadership. She works as a program coordinator in the Early Identification program, helping first generation college students to find academic success at Mason. Mirella is a passionate advocate for recent immigrant students and volunteers her time working with the Mason DREAMers program to promote a more inclusive educational climate for undocumented students. She also has facilitated focus groups with undocumented students in Fairfax County in an effort to identify their mental health needs. Mirella will be honored at the upcoming VSCA conference October 11-13 in Hampton, Virginia. Please join us in wishing her congratulations!