Newly Appointed Director of the Counseling Center

Patricia Telles-Irvin, Vice President for Student Affairs

It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Dr. Sherry Benton as the new Director of the Counseling Center. Her appointment begins today, February 1, 2008. She comes from Kansas State University where she has been highly effective in her various roles as an administrator, clinician and faculty. She held the position of Assistant Director of the Counseling Center and Training Director of their APA Accredited Pre-doctoral Psychology Internship Program since 1995. She was successful in leading three APA re-accreditation processes during her tenure. She was also an associate professor in Counseling and Educational Psychology in the College of Education. Prior to arriving at Kansas State University, she had been the Director of Outpatient Services at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Chemical Dependency Treatment Services in Topeka, Kansas.

Dr. Benton is a licensed psychologist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology. She received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Kansas in 1991 and her undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska in Secondary Education, History and Psychology. Her professional affiliations include the American Psychological Association Society of Counseling Psychology, where she serves as chair of the Section on University and College Counseling Centers, and the Association of Counseling Center Training Agencies, where she serves as Past President.

Dr. Benton’s publications span various topics in particular, college student drinking and substance abuse, psychological assessment, college student mental health, and methods of evidence based treatment and outcome measures. In her most recent book, she served as co-editor of College Student Mental Health: Effective Services and Strategies Across Campus (2006). This contribution to this area of literature has been very well received across the country. Other of her significant works that have had implications for counseling centers’ operations are “Evidence-based practice: Impact on counseling center practitioners” (2006) and “Identifying problems and tracking progress of college students in treatment” (2006), both presented at the American Psychological Association conferences. Finally, she has been at the forefront of evaluating the trends in the increase of severity of mental health issues among college students’. This research has been helpful in developing policies and implementing new interventions on campus.

I ask that you join me in welcoming her to the university. I look forward to working with her and enjoying her contributions to the field and to the lives of our students.