Senior Mental Health Counselor

The Senior Mental Health Counselor provides a range of direct clinical services to Alfred University students while also contributing to the leadership, coordination, and administrative functions of the Wellness Center. This position carries an active clinical caseload and serves as a resource to counseling staff, a point of continuity in the Director’s absence, and a contributor to center-wide policy, outreach, and professional development. Responsibilities include:  direct clinical services; crisis response; clinical consultation and peer support; supervision of trainees; outreach and programming; administrative and operational support; committee participation. 

Salary:$62,345.00-$65,158.12, Annually

Essential Functions:

• Clinical service to students: individual and group counseling; intake assessments; triage; risk evaluation and safety planning; referrals to community and higher levels of care; Critical Incident Debriefing.
• Crisis Response: daytime walk-in and urgent care coverage; follow-up coordination post-crisis as clinically indicated.
• Consultation:  faculty, staff, administration, parents, student organizations, and community partners regarding student mental health concerns; participation on the Behavioral Intervention/CARE Team as assigned.
• Peer Consultation and Clinical Leadership: serves as a resource to staff counselors on complex clinical presentations, risk management, and ethical questions; facilitates or co-facilitates case consultation meetings; models reflective, evidence-informed clinical practice.
• Supervision: provides clinical supervision to practicum students, doctoral interns, or provisionally licensed staff as assigned by the Director and consistent with New York State licensure requirements; supports onboarding and professional development of new clinical staff.
• Director’s Designee: serves in an acting capacity during the Director’s scheduled absences, exercising appropriate judgment regarding operational continuity, urgent clinical concerns, and staff communication within agreed-upon parameters.
• Policy and Administration: assists the Director in development, review, and implementation of Wellness Center policies, clinical protocols, and procedural documentation; contributes to annual reporting and program evaluation; supports scheduling and caseload coverage during staff vacancies or high-demand periods.
• Outreach to students and student groups; development and delivery of psychoeducational programming for the campus community.
• Programming:  topical information and mental health awareness initiatives presented to the campus community in various settings.
• Training: professional staff, student staff, and faculty on mental health topics, crisis response, and wellness-related content.
• Committee work; participation in relevant institutional and divisional committees and task forces.

Other Duties & Responsibilities:

• Supports and assists in creating intersections for faculty, staff, and students that will assist in transforming people’s lives.
• Supports and assists in creating an evolving culture of mentoring and rich engagement opportunities for faculty, staff, and students.
• Maintains a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and a high degree of cultural competence and respect for a wide range of identities and experiences, therefore welcoming and supporting all faculty, staff, and students and expanding access to the AU experience.
• Maintains a safe working environment within and around their facilities and associated equipment and supplies including, but not limited to, obtaining Safety Data Sheet (SDS) information pertaining to any hazards associated with their work environment.
• Participates in all required assigned training, including safety training, and will comply with safety rules, regulations, and protocols.
• Effective written and oral communication skills.
• Contributes to the overall success of the University by performing other duties as assigned.

Qualifications-Education & #xperience, Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Formal Education:
  • Master’s Degree in Counseling, Social Work, Clinical Psychology, or a closely related mental health field from a CACREP-, CSWE-, or APA-accredited program. 
    Licensure:  Current, unrestricted independent clinical licensure in New York State (LMHC, LCSW, LMFT, or Licensed Psychologist) at time of appointment, or full licensure achieved within six months of hire. Eligibility to provide licensure supervision to pre-licensed staff per NYS Office of the Professions requirements is preferred. 
• Experience:
  • Minimum of three (3) years of post-graduate direct clinical experience, including at least one year in a college, university, or comparable young adult mental health setting. 
• Preferred Experience:
  • Five (5) or more years of post-graduate clinical experience with at least two (2) years in a college or university counseling center; experience providing clinical supervision; experience with crisis coordination or behavioral intervention team collaboration; experience contributing to policy development or program evaluation. 
    Additional Knowledge and Skills:  Demonstrated clinical competency across a generalist range of presenting concerns common in college populations; experience with short-term and time-sensitive therapeutic models; strong commitment to multicultural competence and providing affirming, equitable services to students from diverse backgrounds including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, international, first-generation, and neurodiverse students; familiarity with college counseling EHR systems preferred. 

Physical Demands & Work Environment:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. 

Personal Protective Equipment must be worn when required.  A respiratory function test and the ability to use respirators may be required.  Stairs and uneven surfaces may be present; artificial lifts, etc., may or may not be available.  The position may require the incumbent to walk outdoors in all types of weather to other buildings or offices located on the campus.  The Campus is in an area that contains numerous hills and slopes and may not always be fully accessible for mobility-impaired individuals.

About Alfred University:
Lighting the way for students since 1836. “We've always been a place for makers, especially those who make the future. Our commitment to independent thinking, creativity, academic rigor, and community have made us a unique kind of leader since 1836.”

Alfred University (AU) was founded on principles of social justice in 1836 by liberal, independent thinkers who placed high value on education for all citizens. The University has retained and built upon the strong values of its founders, developing as an institution of national and international renown that is responsive to the needs of contemporary society while remaining consistent with the spirit of its origins. Alfred University is the second oldest coeducational college in the United States as well as one of the earliest nineteenth-century colleges to have enrolled African American and Native American students. It has a long-standing history of educating socially conscious students who make a difference in their professions and their communities.

Over the course of the twentieth century, Alfred University evolved into a complex institution offering a full range of programs in the liberal arts and sciences, art and design, engineering, business, education, counseling, and school psychology to its nearly 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students that live, learn, and play on a 232-acre campus located in an idyllic, creative valley in Western New York.
 

Alfred University actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee, student or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, gender identification or expression, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, criminal conviction status, political affiliation or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.