Northeastern Illinois University ICA Chapter Report, March 17, 2015
Mid-year Report
*please note that all Counselor Education Student Association (CESA) events are free of charge.
RECURRING EVENTS 2014-15
CESA monthly meetings have occurred on September 8th, October 6th, November 3rd,
December 1st, January 15th, February 5th, and March 5th.
CESA bi-monthly newsletter contains counseling related articles written by students and
faculty, and includes information on upcoming counseling association events, departmental
events, and training events in the community. The newsletter has been published this year on
October 15, December 15, and February 15.
CESA social media outlets have been maintained and updated. Our website,
http://neiucesa.weebly.com; our Student Facebook Page, NEIU Counselor Education Student
Association; and our Alumni LinkedIn page have continued to grow, with over 100 students on
FB (averaging 30 posts and 90 comments monthly) and 70 alumni on LinkedIn. These online
resources provide a platform for information sharing and networking.
CESA Peer Mentor Program is a brand new pilot program that provides first year NEIU
Counselor Education students a final year internship student as a mentor to answer questions on
the program and the profession and build professional identity for both mentor and mentee. 24
students have participated this year.
FALL 2014 EVENTS
On November 17th a “Resume and Internship Panel Workshop” was held for chapter
members. This workshop presented information on how to tailor your resume in the counseling
field and for counseling internships. After a brief overview of the internship process, a panel of
current interns and alumni answered questions for students preparing for their internship year.
On December 12th an “End-Of-The-Semester Mixer” was held off campus. This was a social
event where students were encouraged to unwind after finals and have a drink or some food with
fellow classmates.
FUTURE SPRING 2015 EVENTS
On April 1st, CESA is scheduled to host an Introduction to Play Therapy workshop for
students. Illinois Association for Play Therapy offered to do a free introductory training for
NEIU students. An NEIU professor who is active in IAPT and a registered play therapy
supervisor will be leading the interactive training.
On April 28th, CESA is scheduled to host a Licensure Workshop for students to learn about
the process involved from taking the NCE exam and graduating, to the various levels of state
licensure. Faculty from the Counselor Education Department explained the LPC, LCPC,
AMFT, and LMFT licensing process.
SUMMER EVENTS
On June 26th (tentative), CESA is scheduled to host their annual recognition ceremony for
graduating counselor education students. We are looking for a speaker from a professional
association to speak for 10-15 minutes at the event. Last year Michele Kerulis, ICA President
spoke. We also have an alumni and faculty speaker, and graduating students cross the stage to
be given a recognition certificate from the department head. Afterwards, family, friends,
students and faculty celebrate with light refreshments while a PowerPoint of students and music
play in the background.
Looking Ahead
We continue to make the development of students’ professional identity a keystone of our
chapter’s efforts. We will be trying to find sources of university or community funding to
support more student professional memberships during the 2015-16 year.
We continue to welcome the opportunity for collaboration with ICA and its divisions and
chapters.
Sincerely,
Leslie Contos, CESA President
Bill Harrison, CESA Vice-President
Katherine Petty, CESA Treasurer
Melissa Erickson, CESA Secretary