Dr. Kurt Michael, third from left, listens as Jennifer Wandler, Watauga High School social worker and ASC coordinator, discusses a student’s case in fall 2018. Photo by Marie Freeman
BOONE, N.C. — A $30,000 grant awarded to Appalachian State University by Watauga County Schools has ensured students in the school district’s Watauga High School will continue to have access to high-quality mental health services offered through Appalachian’s Assessment, Support, and Counseling (ASC) Center.
This is the 13th consecutive year of renewed funding for the Watauga ASC Center.
Dr. Kurt Michael, assistant chair of Appalachian’s Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology and the Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology, is the grant recipient. The grant covers the center’s operation from July 2018 to June 2019.
His collaborators for the project include Dr. John Paul Jameson, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, and Dr. Jon Winek, professor in Appalachian’s Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling and director of the department’s marriage and family therapy program.
“The ASC Center is a major training site for graduate students learning how to serve as school mental health clinicians in clinical psychology, social work, and marriage and family therapy,” Michael said.
The ASC Center in Watauga High School was formed in 2006 by then-principal Angela Quick, along with Dr. Lauren Renkert, associate professor in and chair of Appalachian’s Department of Social Work, Michael and Winek.
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A school-based intervention program developed by Appalachian’s Dr. Kurt Michael lowers rural teens’ suicide attempts and boosts their well-being
About the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling
The Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling in Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education is responsible for organizing and providing instructional programs in counseling and other human development functions for public schools, colleges and universities and various agencies. The department offers Master of Arts degrees in clinical mental health counseling, professional school counseling, student affairs administration and marriage and family therapy. Learn more at https://hpc.appstate.edu.
About the Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology
Appalachian’s Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology serves more than 1,000 undergraduate majors seeking the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, as well as 80 graduate students in three master’s programs (experimental psychology, school psychology, and industrial-organizational psychology and human resource management) and the clinical psychology (Psy.D.) doctoral program. Learn more at https://psych.appstate.edu.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is home to 16 academic departments, one stand-alone academic program, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. There are approximately 6,100 student majors in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing Appalachian's general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As the premier public undergraduate institution in the state of North Carolina, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls more than 20,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
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