Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/769485
The December Retreat and Academic Program Review (APR) was a rousing success! Thanks to all faculty and Program Advisory Council members who attended. Thanks to Elaine Willerton for the informative and useful report of the DMFS activities for the 2015-2016 academic year. It is wonderful to look back on what we have accomplished and, most importantly, what our students accomplished during the year. Our discussions during the Retreat and APR were very fruitful and will inform many of the initiatives coming in this year. In 2017 we look forward to: 1. A COAMFTE site visit and the decision about reaccreditation 2. Changes in the PhD program to align more closely with the Version 12 Standards from COAMFTE: • Many of these were outlined by Mark White at the Retreat and are very exciting 3. New academic offerings in the DMFS 4. Continued growth in the number of students in the clinical training portion of the program (thanks to Liz Fawcett, Branden Henline and Rachel Butterfras for continued evolution in how these students are served) 5. A new videoconferencing software – ZOOM – will be implemented early in the year Kudos, and thanks, to James for his service as a commissioner and chair of COAMFTE. We so appreciate his influence on our field during the last several years. The changes made during his tenure were amazing, and have helped to move the MFT forward in many, many ways. James represented himself, and all of us in the NCU community, so well in his service to the MFT field. Dr. Emily Schmittel joined the DMFS as the newest full-time Foundations faculty member. Emily has worked as an adjunct faculty member since November, 2014. She has taught many different courses, participated in curriculum development, and facilitates a supervision group. Emily was trained at Michigan State Darren Adamson, PhD | Chair, Department of Marriage and Family Sciences University. She currently resides with her husband in St. Louis, Missouri. We are thrilled to have her move into this full-time teaching position, and look forward to the continue contribution she will make to the success of the DMFS programs. Since the last newsletter was released, we have hired the following adjunct faculty: • Dr. Amy Blanchard, a graduate of East Carolina University. Amy works in her own private practice, Concord Family Therapy, in New Hampshire, and teaches at Plymouth State University. • Dr. Shawn Brue, a graduate of NCU, who works as a private practitioner at the Christian Family Counseling Center in Oklahoma, and teaches at Cameron University. • Dr. Veronica Hay, a graduate of Loma Linda University, who works as a counselor supervisor for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools in California. • Dr. Andrea Meyer Stinson, a graduate of Florida State University, who works as a professor, assistant PD and Clinic Director for the Mercer University School of Medicine in the MFT Program in Georgia. • Dr. Elizabeth Speights, a graduate of Texas Woman's University, who works as an adjunct professor for Abilene Christian University in Texas. • Dr. Jenna Wilson, a graduate of Nova Southeastern University, who works as the Clinical Director of The Bougainvilla House, a substance abuse treatment center in Florida. A warm welcome to each of these new faculty. We are so thrilled to have you join us! Thanks to each of you, as faculty and staff, for the support you provide to the students we serve, and to each other. This is a wonderful department because each of us is committed to making it a great place to work!