Graduate Student Assistantship

College Counseling and Student Services Masters Program (second year)

The graduate student assistant will, with appropriate training, provide supervision and mentoring support and assume primary responsibility for the day-to-day operation of one of the University Counseling Services (UCS) peer education programs. The graduate student assistant will work with the coordinator in setting student learning objectives and designing strategies to meet these goals. This includes direct supervision of the peer educators, one-on-one and group student contact, counseling opportunities, helping to plan and facilitate the weekly peer education class and campus-wide events, assisting with a training seminar and administrative responsibilities.

The graduate student assistant will work under the direct supervision of the peer program coordinator. Graduate student assistants may choose to apply to one of our peer education programs: The BLUES Project, Project D.A.T.E. or JADE.

Each peer education program has the goal to recruit between eight and fifteen student peer educators each year. Student peer educators and the graduate student assistant will receive training in each program's topical curriculum and communication skills. Students are thus prepared to make educational presentations to classes, clubs and organizations on campus as well as plan and facilitate campus-wide fairs and events. Depending on the program, students may be asked to present to groups off campus. These peer educators include men and women who represent diverse backgrounds, including age, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

The graduate student assistant must fulfill a minimum of 240 direct student contact hours and a minimum of 600 total hours for their college counseling or student services master's program requirement. These hours will be fulfilled by participation in activities such as meeting with peer educators individually to discuss their goals and progress; mentoring and counseling these students; planning, co-leading and co-facilitating weekly class meetings; meeting weekly for supervision with the program coordinator; and participating in weekly UCS staff meetings, professional seminars, continuing education programs and division-wide meetings.

Graduate student assistant positions are open to second-year students in the college counseling and student services master’s degree program. For further information, please contact Merril Simon, coordinator of the program, in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling. Funding for these positions is contingent on available resources from the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs and is not guaranteed for future years.