Rate My Professor Grace Ann Mims

Grace Ann Mims, Ph.D., was a professor in the Department of Counseling, School Psychology, and Family Science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), College of Education. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Central Missouri, her master’s degree in college student personnel and community counseling from Western Illinois University, and her Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Holding six state and national professional counseling credentials—LIMHP, LIPC, LMFT-SD, NCC, ACS—Mims served as a counselor educator and supervisor for over 30 years, teaching and advising doctoral, specialist, and master’s students in clinical mental health counseling, school counseling, and higher education student affairs.

Mims joined UNK in 2008 and chaired the Counseling and School Psychology Department from 2010 to 2019, overseeing four graduate programs with approximately 200 students and a graduate certificate program. She diversified undergraduate offerings, facilitated online course delivery while preserving intensive clinical training, increased majors, and secured approval for additional faculty lines. She obtained approximately $880,000 in external grants through university-community partnerships to support graduate experiential learning and mental health promotion, including authoring a $350,000 VAWA federal grant in partnership with UNK Counseling and Health Care and the Women’s Center, renewed for $900,000. For these efforts, she received the 2011 UNK Student Affairs Partnership Award and co-founded the UNK/Buffalo County Sexual Assault Response Team, serving six years. As interim dean of the College of Education from 2019, she managed a $7,900,000 budget for personnel, operations, and foundation accounts, represented the college in state, national, and international partnerships, and served on UNK Administrative Council, Dean’s Council, and other committees. Previously at the University of South Dakota from 1993 to 2008, she established a 12-year service-learning partnership with the Sioux Falls School District, providing diversity training to 16,500 high school students and 1,500 educators. Mims was UNK Faculty Senate President from 2017 to 2019, member of the Equity, Access, and Diversity Committee, and University of Nebraska Diversity Officer Collaborative. She contributed to accreditation processes, including CACREP and CAEP self-reports, and published on group counseling, service-learning, and professional identity, with chapters in Introduction to Marriage and Family Therapy and articles such as Service Learning and Student Engagement: A Dual Language Book Project.