Director, Master of Education in Counseling Program

Responsibilities:
The University of Puget Sound seeks an experienced counselor educator to lead its CACREP-accredited Master of Education in Counseling program. The program prepares school counselors and clinical mental health counselors through a cohort model offered in two delivery modes: a long-standing in-person program and a low-residency hybrid program that enrolled its first cohort in Fall 2026. The Director provides year-round leadership across both delivery modes and serves as the program's CACREP liaison.

The Director is a core counselor education faculty member who teaches, advises, and supervises alongside program colleagues, and who receives administrative release time to lead the program. Responsibilities include:

• Coordinating all aspects of the counselor education program across both delivery modes and both specialized practice areas, including curriculum, scheduling, staffing, and program policy.
• Serving as CACREP liaison, leading accreditation reporting, program assessment, and continuous improvement.
• Oversight of the program budget and expenditures.
• Responding to inquiries regarding the program from prospective and current students, faculty, site partners, alumni, employers, credentialing bodies, and the public.
• Leading admissions, recruitment, and enrollment planning in partnership with the Office of Admission.
• Overseeing academic advising and leading student support, remediation, and professional gatekeeping processes.
• Recruiting, orienting, mentoring, and supporting core and affiliate faculty, including preparation for teaching in digital delivery formats.
• Overseeing the hybrid delivery mode, including two on-campus residency weekends each year, online course quality, and parity of student support across modes.
• Supervising the Hybrid Program Coordinator.
• Teaching graduate courses, advising graduate students, supervising students in clinical placements, and participating in departmental and university governance.
• Maintaining scholarly and professional activity in counselor education consistent with a tenure-line appointment.

Teaching responsibilities typically include teaching one course per term.

Qualifications:
Required

• An earned doctoral degree in counselor education, preferably from a CACREP-accredited program, conferred by July 1, 2027; or a related doctoral degree together with employment as a full-time faculty member in a counselor education program for a minimum of one full academic year before July 1, 2013. Applicants meeting the core faculty criteria at CACREP 2024 Standard 1.Y.3 or 1.Y.4 are also eligible. Because the Director must be designated core counselor education faculty, applicants whose doctorate will not be conferred by the start date are not eligible.
• Sustained membership in professional counseling organizations, relevant professional counseling credentials, and evidence of sustained professional engagement in the counseling profession.
• Licensed or certified as a professional counselor or school counselor, or eligible for licensure or certification in Washington State.
• Demonstrated administrative or program leadership experience in higher education.
• Demonstrated knowledge of CACREP accreditation processes.
• Graduate-level teaching experience in counselor education.
• Commitment to teaching excellence and to liberal arts education.

Preferred

• Experience leading or administering a CACREP-accredited program, including self-study, annual reporting, or substantive change reporting.
• Experience with hybrid, blended, or digitally delivered graduate counseling programs, including low-residency models.
• Counseling practice experience in school and/or clinical mental health settings.
• Experience with program assessment systems and continuous improvement cycles.
• Experience supervising staff.
• Knowledge of Washington State school counselor certification and mental health counselor licensure pathways.
• Experience with accessible and inclusive course design.
• Research interests or professional experience in evidence-based, culturally responsive counseling practice.

Application Deadline:
Review of applications begins January 4th, 2027. Interested individuals are encouraged to submit application materials no later than this date to ensure full consideration.

Compensation and Benefits:
Rank: Associate Professor, dependent upon qualifications and experience.

Salary is commensurate with education and experience.

Faculty salaries at the University of Puget Sound are based on a common salary scale based on experience. Associate Professor salaries in 2026-2027 begin at $93,585 through $102,639 annualized based on experience.

Puget Sound offers a generous benefits package. For more information, visit: Summary of 2026 Benefits for Faculty Members.pdf

Puget Sound has a well-established Shared Faculty Appointments Policy, https://www.pugetsound.edu/policies/faculty-policies/shared-faculty-appointments

About Puget Sound:
The University of Puget Sound is located in Tacoma, Washington, a vibrant, diverse mid-sized urban port city. Within, and near, Tacoma there is ready access to urban, rural, and natural areas as well as opportunities to participate in a wide variety of cultural activities.

About the School of Education and the Master of Education in Counseling Program:
The School of Education offers a Master of Education in Counseling program, a Master of Arts in Teaching program, and a minor in Education Studies. Students complete sustained clinical experiences in local public schools, mental health agencies, and community settings.

The Master of Education in Counseling program prepares students for careers as school counselors and clinical mental health counselors. Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the program has served the South Puget Sound region for more than forty years. Students complete a cohort-based curriculum that includes pre-practicum, practicum, and internship placements in schools, agencies, and community organizations across Washington State.

In Fall 2026 the program added a low-residency hybrid delivery mode alongside its established in-person program. Hybrid students complete a combination of synchronous and asynchronous coursework and attend two on-campus residency weekends each year. Both delivery modes share the same curriculum, learning outcomes, assessments, and requirements. The program is supported by core faculty, a Clinical Placement Coordinator, a Hybrid Program Coordinator, an Admission and Certification Officer, and a pool of affiliate faculty drawn from practice in the region.

More information may be found on the program website: https://www.pugetsound.edu/academics/master-education-counseling

University Diversity Statement:

• We acknowledge the richness of commonalities and differences we share as a university community; the intrinsic worth of all who work and study here; that education is enhanced by the investigation of and the reflection upon multiple perspectives.
• We aspire to create respect for and appreciation of all persons as a key characteristic of our campus community; to increase the diversity of all parts of our University community through commitment to diversity in our recruitment and retention efforts; to foster a spirit of openness to active engagement among all members of our campus community.
• We act to achieve an environment that welcomes and supports diversity; to ensure full educational opportunity for all who teach and learn here; to prepare effectively citizen-leaders for a pluralistic world.

Puget Sound is committed to an environment that welcomes and supports diversity. We seek diversity of identity, thought, perspective, and background in our students, faculty, and staff. To learn more please visit: http://www.pugetsound.edu/about/diversity-at-puget-sound/

Required Documents:
Applicants submitted without the required attachments will not be considered.

• Curriculum vitae
• Letter of Interest
• Leadership statement addressing the applicant's approach to program administration, accreditation, and faculty collaboration
• Teaching statement
• Research statement
• Teaching evaluations
• Diversity Statement (see prompt below)
• Unofficial transcripts (an official transcript will be required by the successful candidate)
• Contact Information for 3 References. You will be prompted to enter the contact information for three (3) reference providers. The system will automatically email these reference providers to request a letter.

Note: In the online application system, please submit curriculum vitae when prompted to submit resume. Additional documents can be attached within the application.

Applicant's Diversity Statement:
As a department and university, we are strongly committed to creating an inclusive and effective teaching, learning, and working environment for all. In their diversity statement, applicants should reflect on how they will advance the values articulated in the University Diversity Statement in all aspects of their future work as faculty and members of the university community.

All offers of employment are contingent on successful completion of a background inquiry.

The University of Puget Sound is an equal opportunity employer.

Given the current Executive Order and the $100,000 petition fee for new H-1b visas, at the moment sponsoring a new H-1b is cost-prohibitive to us. Therefore, unless the executive order is rescinded or blocked by the courts, we are unable to commit to new H visa sponsorship at this time. Applicants with questions about visa sponsorship are encouraged to reach out to Human Resources.

How to Apply
For complete job description and application instructions, visit: www.pugetsound.edu/employment

About Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a selective national liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, drawing 2,600 students from 48 states and 20 countries. Puget Sound graduates include Rhodes and Fulbright scholars, notables in the arts and culture, entrepreneurs and elected officials, and leaders in business and finance locally and throughout the world. A low student-faculty ratio provides Puget Sound students with personal attention from faculty who have a strong commitment to teaching and offer 1,200 courses each year in more than 40 traditional and interdisciplinary fields, including graduate programs in occupational and physical therapy and in education. Puget Sound is the only nationally ranked independent undergraduate liberal arts college in Western Washington, and one of just five independent colleges in the Pacific Northwest granted a charter by Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most prestigious academic honorary society. Visit "About Puget Sound" (http://www.pugetsound.edu/about) to learn more about the college.

As a strategic goal and through our core values, University of Puget Sound is committed to an environment that welcomes and supports diversity. We seek diversity of identity, thought, perspective, and background in our students, faculty, and staff. EOE/AA