Liddell
Leads Iowa College Deans
The state of Iowa
has some of the most progressive colleges, innovative professionals,
and productive scholars in the entire country,” said Associate
Professor Debora Liddell, president of the Iowa Student
Personnel Association (ISPA).
ISPA is the premier
student affairs organization in the Midwest. “The statewide association
allows scholars, practitioners, new professionals, and graduate students
to come together to share resources, generate new knowledge, and collaborate
in partnerships that benefit the state and advance higher education,” Liddell
said.
 Liddell
led a group of deans and vice presidents invited from Iowa’s
four-year institutions. Participating administrators represented
Grinnell, Luther, Wartburg, Loras, St. Ambrose, University
of Dubuque, Central, Mount Mercy, Upper Iowa, Drake, as well
as all three Regents universities. They gathered this spring
in the College of Education to discuss challenges on their
campuses.
 Renee
Romano, vice president for Educational and Student Services
at the University of Northern Iowa, says Liddell totally revitalized
ISPA. “Deb made a concerted effort to assess the needs
and desires of the organization’s membership,”
Romano said. “Then she made an enormous difference to
ISPA by delivering those services and addressing identified
issues.”
Jerry Price, dean
of students at Drake University, says he values Liddell’s leadership
for several reasons. “First,” he said, “it is enormously
beneficial for ISPA practitioners and graduate students to see a well-respected
faculty member committed to student affairs. Second, Deb is a person
of great warmth and passion, and at the same time challenging and supporting.
These qualities show through in her leadership. To me, her leadership
always communicates —above all else—how very important
our work is.”
Liddell says the
deans’ meeting is an important opportunity for her, as a graduate-preparation
faculty member, to hear about issues that will affect new professionals. “This
not only informs what I teach my graduate students,” she said, “but
it also provides an opportunity for me to impact my profession consulting
with my practicing colleagues.”
For more information
on the Student Development in Postsecondary Education program, visit 
School
Counseling Reaches Out
School counselors
perform a variety of important activities in schools. They assist students
with academic, career, and personal/social concerns through individual
and small group counseling, classroom guidance lessons, consultation,
coordination of services, and outreach and advocacy efforts. School
counselors work collaboratively with teachers and other educators to
provide an educational system where students can realize their potential
and set healthy, realistic, and optimistic aspirations for themselves.
They also work collaboratively with parents and community organizations
to help students face the challenges of the 21st century.
National
School Counseling Week, Feb. 3-7, sponsored by the American School
Counselor Association focused public attention on the unique contribution
of professional school counselors within the schools. Assistant Professor Tarrell
Portman made 15 presentations throughout Iowa, traveling about
800 miles, and meeting with nearly 300 school counselors and administrators.
She participated in a state panel for “Legislative Day” concerning
the reinstatement of school counseling and media specialist dialogue
into the Iowa Code. She also made a presentation at the 13th Annual
Feast of the Forum at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, and
at Grinnell High School, the Poweshiek County Mental Health Center,
and Dubuque and Iowa City community school districts.
“I
am convinced outreach is a major component of the Regent institutions,” Portman
said. “School counseling programs at Iowa’s three Regents
universities not only prepare future school counselors but partner
with each other, AEAs, and local districts in the professional development
of practitioners in Iowa schools. One way of serving Iowa’s children
is to disseminate research findings to school counselors and administrators
through face-to-face interactions.”
For
more information on the program, visit 
|
