Dr. Lucy Purgason, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling at Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education (RCOE), has been named as the recipient of the Chi Sigma Iota Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy (JCLA) Outstanding Article Award, along with co-authors, Dr. Lloyd-Hazlett and Dr. Avent Harris.
Their article titled “Mentoring Counselor Education Students: A Delphi Study with Leaders in the Field” was published in April 2018 in volume 5, issue 2 of the journal.
The award, which honors the authors of an exemplary article published in JCLA during the past year as selected by the journal’s editorial board, will be presented at the American Counseling Association (ACA) Conference & Expo during the Delegate Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony on Saturday, March 30 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
According to Purgason, “I was honored to learn that my colleagues and I are receiving the award for this article because of how much mentoring has benefitted me personally and professionally and how committed I am to paying that forward to our students here at Appalachian.”
“I was honored to learn that my colleagues and I are receiving the award for this article because of how much mentoring has benefitted me personally and professionally and how committed I am to paying that forward to our students here at Appalachian.”
She added that the research for the article “involved interviewing mentoring award recipients in the counseling field to develop a list of research-informed mentoring considerations.”
From the abstract:
Mentoring is a professional leadership contribution of counselor educators resulting in personal and vocational benefits for students. A need to understand research-informed mentoring from the mentor perspective exists as much of the literature is informed by the mentee perspective. In this study, an expert panel of counselor educator mentoring award recipients completed three questionnaire rounds for the purpose of identifying mentoring components. Consensus was reached on 141 items. Recommendations for implementation and training are discussed.
Purgason earned a Ph.D. in counseling and counselor education and an M.S./Ed.S. in school counseling from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), and a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She joined the RCOE faculty in August 2017.
Purgason is a licensed school counselor, National Certified Counselor, and Approved Clinical Supervisor. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., she spent nearly 5 years working as a school counselor in elementary and high school settings. These settings included diverse school environments in both urban and rural communities, Title I schools, and a school specifically for newly arrived refugee and immigrant students.
Purgason is a prolific author who regularly contributes to scholarly publications and is a sought-after presenter at state, regional and national conferences. She regularly engages in institutional and professional service and is a member of numerous professional organizations. Among these are American School Counseling Association, American Counseling Association, Chi Sigma Iota International Honor Society for Professional Counseling and North Carolina School Counseling Association.
Her research interests focus on understanding the importance of relationships for immigrant and refugee students, and students of other underrepresented groups, in both K-12 and higher education settings. She is particularly interested in exploring the agentic processes that first- and second-generation immigrant students use to negotiate intersecting cultural and ethnic identities and how social media is implicated in this process. Along with these research interests, Purgason also pursues scholarship related to supervision and mentoring of counselor education students.
About the American Counseling Association
The American Counseling Association is a not-for-profit, professional and educational organization that is dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession. Founded in 1952, ACA is the world's largest association exclusively representing professional counselors in various practice settings.
Lucy Purgason
