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The American Council on Rural Special Education has established a new award in honor of Kim Floyd, associate professor in the College of Applied Human Sciences School of Counseling and Well-being, and her son, Kasey.

The ACRES board created the Kim and Kasey Floyd Rural Social Justice Award to recognize individuals or organizations who have worked to personally address inequities in educational opportunities or access due to systemic social injustice for persons with disabilities who live in rural areas and are further disenfranchised or disempowered.

As Alexandra Snyder entered West Virginia University, she had visions of becoming a physical or occupational therapist. “After a few months I wasn’t positive if that was the correct path for me, so I began looking into other majors. The health and well-being program began accepting students my sophomore year. I switched to this major because of the many professional opportunities this program offers,” she said. Snyder, from Hollidaysburg, Pa., added a minor in health promotion to her portfolio.

“This major has taught me about people's overall health and how to be effective as a worker in the healthcare setting. Those two things were essential since I have always been interested in health and helping others through community service.”

One of every four children in the United States has a parent wrestling with drug or alcohol addiction, based on national data, and is at risk of developing a substance use disorder later in life.

To begin to break that cycle and give adults in those kids’ lives the tools to make a difference,  West Virginia University’s  Project TRAIN has expanded its program, originally focused on helping K-12 teachers support students affected by addiction, to youth camps statewide.

When it comes to keeping the lines of communication open after a divorce, West Virginia University researchers Jonathon Beckmeyer and Jessica Troilo say you can have far too much of a good thing.

Their study of 708 divorced parents of children under 18 shows that even innocuous chitchat between divorced co-parents can put children’s well-being at risk. Simply put, “limit any communication to shared parenting issues,” the researchers suggest.

Christine Schimmel, associate professor of counseling, has been appointed as the new WVU faculty ombudsperson for the 2022-23 academic year.

Selected through an internal, University-wide search process by a committee with representatives from the WVU Faculty Senate and the Provost’s Office, Schimmel will provide confidential and informal assistance to all faculty members across the University community.

Allison Lampinen is among a remarkable cohort of College of Applied Human Sciences students who successfully passed the National Counseling Exam utilized by the state of West Virginia as the qualifying testing for professional licensure as a counselor.

“I can never thank the WVU Counseling program enough for what it has given me. I was able to pass the NCE the first time and was hired at the school I have been wanting to work for since the beginning,” Lapinen said. “I know these accomplishments are direct results from attending a CACREP program where the professors are passionate about what they do and truly want you to be successful.”

Two new faculty members will join the College of Applied Human Sciences for fall 2022. Joni Williamson, sport management teaching assistant professor, and Rachel Wattick, health and well-being teaching assistant professor, bring experience in athletics administration and food science, respectively.

Williamson comes to WVU after spending the last four years as the director of athletics and adventure sports at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C. She has held additional roles at the NCAA in academic and membership affairs, Wittenberg University as associate director of athletics, Wright State as director of athletics promotions and Washington State as facilities operations assistant.

In West Virginia, inequities in youth access to mental health services have been magnified by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and a statewide school counselor shortage. Research demonstrates that classroom teachers want to assist students who are experiencing mental health issues, but they do not always have the knowledge or resources to intervene.

To better equip West Virginia teachers and other school personnel to identify the signs and symptoms of mental health crises among students, Rawn Boulden, assistant professor, and Christine Schimmel, associate professor, of the School Counseling and Well-Being at West Virginia University, have received a five-year, $500,000 grant to provide Youth Mental Health First Aid Training in West Virginia schools.

Many mass killings are rooted in some sort of grievance — real or imagined unfair treatment — a  West Virginia University expert said in the aftermath of the Texas elementary school shootings that left more than 20 dead.

Jeff Daniels, a professor of counseling, helped develop a model that focuses on detectable behaviors of school and workplace violence perpetrators based on research in an upcoming book. Daniels, who studies school violence, hostage crises and police ambushes, said the model aims to identify people “going down what we call the fatal grievance pathway.”

Rafael Joseph had plenty of options when it came to where he would pursue a master’s degree in counseling. He knew that there would be numerous similarities between programs when it came to curriculum. For Joseph, his decision to attend West Virginia University was based on the in-class education and the level of care and support from faculty.

The guidance he received helped lead Joseph to land one of 30 spots as a National Board for Certified Counselors Minority Fellow for Mental Health Counselors for 2022-23. The fellowship provides financial support to attend professional development trainings, seminars and symposiums throughout the country. The programing centers on mental health issues for underserved populations.