About the School Counseling Program

The program prepares school counseling professionals:

• Who are leaders promoting educational success for all students by developing and managing school counseling programming related to academic, career, social, and emotional growth
• Who use facilitative, consultative, and collaborative leadership skills to provide a certainty of educational opportunities for all students
• Who collaboratively design, coordinate, implement, and evaluate student assistance (counseling) services
• Who collaboratively design, coordinate, implement, and evaluate education and career (guidance) services

All students will demonstrate knowledge, performance, and dispositions in the areas of:

1. Students will be able to collect, analyze, and use data to inform practice.
2. Students will have the knowledge, awareness, and skills necessary to work from an ethical and culturally responsive lens across the school community.
3. Students will demonstrate knowledge and skills in college/career, academic, and social-emotional counseling.
4. Students will be able to articulate the importance of leadership, advocacy, equity, and systemic change to create positive school climates for all learners.

What is a Cohort?

Butler University School Counseling graduate students will go through the graduate program as a cohort. Being part of a cohort means:

• You will always be identified with the cohort group you start the program with and cohort members will have a special means of identifying one another…you’ll see!
• Everyone in your cohort will begin the program in an orientation session held immediately prior to the beginning of fall semester classes.
• You can count on the classes you need being offered on the same night, one night a week for three years at 4:30 PM and 7:15 PM. Summer classes meet ONLINE twice a week for six weeks at either 4:00 PM or 7:00 PM.
• You will be given preferential treatment when it comes to enrolling in the practicum and internships associated with your cohort.
• You will have monthly group meetings with your cohort during regularly scheduled class times. Some faculty may choose to hold class online.

Expect Technological Proficiency

Students should have easy access to the internet as most courses use Canvas to post documents and assignments.

Our program has partnerships with a local non-profit organization to assist grieving children and a local, high-risk, inner-city school. Our counselor education faculty are committed to respecting diversity and similarity within ourselves, our graduate students, and the K-12 students our graduates are being prepared to serve. We encourage, promote, and respect diversity in the counselor education curriculum and in the knowledge, skills, and attitudes expected of our graduate students and alumni.

Educational, vocational, and school counselors—in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools—help students evaluate their abilities, interests, talents, and personality characteristics in order to develop realistic academic and career goals. Counselors use interviews, counseling sessions, tests, and other methods to evaluate and advise students.

Examples of counselor roles:

• ​Counselors can operate career information centers and career education programs.
• Career-planning and placement counselors at the college level assist alumni or students with career development and job-hunting techniques.
• High school counselors advise on college majors, admission requirements, entrance exams, and financial aid and on trade or technical schools and apprenticeship programs. They help students develop job search skills such as resume writing and interviewing techniques.
• Elementary school counselors observe younger children during classroom and play activities, and confer with their teachers and parents to evaluate their strengths, problems, or special needs. They also help students develop good study habits. They do less vocational and academic counseling than do secondary school counselors.

School counselors at all education levels: 

• Help students understand and deal with social, behavioral, and personal problems
• Emphasize preventive and developmental counseling to provide students with the life skills needed to deal with problems before they occur, and to enhance personal, social, and academic growth
• Provide special services, including alcohol and drug prevention programs, and classes that teach students to handle conflicts without resorting to violence
• Try to identify cases involving domestic abuse and other family problems that can affect a student’s development
• Work with students individually, with small groups, or with entire classes
• Consult and work with parents, teachers, school administrators, school psychologists, school nurses, and social workers

Taken from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.