Director of Counseling Field Experience and Compliance

Months Per Year:
12
Work Model:
Hybrid Work Eligible
Seattle University will be one of the most innovative and progressive Jesuit and Catholic universities in the world, educating with excellence at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. We embrace an intersectional framework for defining diversity in its broadest sense, including differences in gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, generational history, culture, socioeconomic class, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship status, political perspectives, geographic origin and physical ability. Seattle University strives to be a welcome, open and safe campus climate for all who learn, live and work at Seattle University.
Seattle University's Core Competencies
Effective Team Collaboration: Works harmoniously with others towards a common goal, leveraging individual strengths to achieve shared objectives.
Emotionally Intelligent Communication: Engages in a skillful exchange of information, thoughts, and feelings, verbally and non-verbally.
Ethics and Integrity: Demonstrates an unwavering commitment to honesty, professionalism, and alignment with our Jesuit mission in all actions and decisions.
Flexibility and Innovation: Embraces change, approaching problems with curiosity adaptability, and is committed to making a positive impact.
Mindful Inclusion: Fosters mindful inclusion by consciously creating a workplace that celebrates differences, embraces cultural humility, and empowers uniqueness.
Outcomes-Driven Orientation: Sets clear objectives, pursues excellence, and delivers measurable outcomes while upholding Jesuit Catholic values.
Job Description Summary
The Director of Counseling Field Experience and Compliance provides strategic leadership and oversight of students’ clinical training experiences in alignment with standards established by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). This role focuses on ensuring that practicum and internship experiences are developmentally appropriate, rigorously supervised, and structured to support the attainment of core counseling competencies and professional identity.
This position is responsible for the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of practicum and internship experiences that meet CACREP requirements across all programs in the Counseling Department. This includes ensuring that students engage in required direct and indirect service hours, receive qualified individual and group supervision, and participate in ongoing evaluation processes that assess clinical skills, ethical practice, and professional dispositions. The Director works closely with faculty and site supervisors to align clinical experiences with curricular goals, support student development, and intervene with faculty to provide additional guidance or remediation when needed to ensure timely graduate degree completion.
Emphasis is placed on the quality, consistency, and educational integrity of the student experience across practicum and internship. The Director establishes standards for supervision, develops training and orientation resources for faculty and site supervisors, monitors student progress, and ensures that all clinical experiences adhere to ethical guidelines of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and accreditation expectations of CACREP.
In addition, the position leads efforts to maintain accurate and transparent professional licensure disclosures in accordance with federal regulations and CACREP-aligned program standards. This includes monitoring state licensure requirements for multiple states, communicating how the program curriculum supports licensure eligibility, and advising students on post-graduation pathways toward credentialing.
The Director is responsible for portions of the accreditation processes by overseeing documentation, assessment data, and reporting related to practicum and internship outcomes. This position works closely with the CACREP liaison to ensure compliance with CACREP field experience requirements.
The role requires professional expertise in counselor education, clinical supervision, and licensure processes, as well as strong leadership, organizational, and communication skills to ensure high-quality clinical training experiences and successful student progression toward professional practice.
Position Description:
Professional Practice in Clinical Training (PPCT) (70%)
Responsible for the clinical training process, ensuring effective operation of clinical practicums and internships by organizing and evaluating clinical sites, analyzing clinical site data, and supporting students, site supervisors, and faculty supervisors.
Collaborate and meet quarterly with practicum and internship instructors to ensure there is synchronicity across field experiences as it relates to state and CACREP clinical field experience requirements.
Develop, maintain, and implement the goals, policies, standards, and procedures for the departmental PPCT manuals for students and site supervisors.
Address concerns related to practicum and internship students' academic, skills, and professional dispositions in collaboration with Program Directors, Student Development Chair, and appropriate faculty advisor.
Develop and deliver practicum and internship orientation for site supervisors to orient them to the CACREP supervision and field experience requirements.
Monitor policies and procedures used in the field experience courses to ensure they meet CACREP requirements.
Maintain collaborative partnerships with diverse community agencies and stakeholders that align with the Counseling Department and College of Education’s social justice mission.
Ensure that counseling students have opportunities to work with diverse clients in professional practice.
Maintain regular contact with practicum and internship counseling faculty, constituents, and supervisors at clinical sites to strengthen relationships with partner institutions.
Ensure that affiliation agreements are completed between the university and placement sites.
Ensure support for prospective and current site supervisors and community partners through the vetting and placement processes, and clinical training experience.
Responsible for the regular clinical field experience assessments of students and site supervisors during each academic term and analyzing satisfaction surveys from students and site supervisors at the end of professional practice.
Ensure the effectiveness of clinical evaluation tools and methods to determine consistency with learning outcomes and objectives.
Collaborate with field experience faculty and site supervisors to address student clinical issues as they arise.
Other duties as assigned.
CACREP Accreditation (15%)
Oversee documentation, assessment data, and reporting related to practicum and internship outcomes.
Support the CACREP Liaison as a contact for students, faculty, supervisors, licensing boards, and accrediting bodies to support continuous program improvement and ensure compliance with CACREP standards around the field experience.
Collaborate with the CACREP Liaison to ensure all counseling programs maintain compliance with CACREP standards through regular internal program evaluation including annual review of syllabi.
Provide the CACREP Liaison with support on the organization and development of all reaccreditation requirements including any required self-study, site visit preparation and reporting, etc.
Other duties as assigned.
Professional Licensure Disclosure (15%)
Annually review multiple state statutes and administrative codes for educational requirements for licensure.
Collaborate with counseling program leaders to update students and faculty on certification and licensure mandates.
Provide incoming and continuing counseling students with information sessions for obtaining licensing and credentials at significant benchmarks throughout their program.
Advise students and faculty on PPCT requirements, licensing exams, external workshops, and courses that relate to internship and licensing (i.e., ACA, WMHCA).
Other duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications
Doctoral degree in a counselor education program from a CACREP-accredited program.
Experience as an instructor of record in master’s and/or doctorate-level clinical mental health or school counseling instruction in a post-secondary or college institution.
Familiarity with CACREP regulations pertaining to field placement and field experience.
Familiarity with counselor licensure/certification policy and regulations, or state administrative statutes and codes.
Experience within an education environment (K-12 or higher education) and/or mental health agency.
Experience with Microsoft 365, including strong proficiency in Excel, SharePoint, Teams, and Outlook.
Experience with data management systems.
Excellent organizational, attention to detail, and interpersonal communication skills, both verbal and written.
Demonstrated success in a fast-paced environment, working collaboratively, and communicating effectively to promote teamwork, collegiality, and wellness.
Proven ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and professionalism.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks with competing deadlines.