2026 NBCC Innovation in Counselor Education Program Community Engagement Award

Counselor Education programs are critical to sustaining the Counselor workforce. NBCC recognizes the Clemson University Department of Education and Human Development’s Counselor Education Program as the 2026 NBCC Innovation in Counselor Education Program Community Engagement Award winner. This award honors the program for its contributions toward expanding access to mental health services, strengthening the profession, and promoting equity in health and education.

Craig Cashwell, PhD, NCC, ACS, LPC, CSAT-S, a Professor in the program, nominated it for the award. Its embedded Counseling program allows master’s-level Counseling students to provide peer support services to other students at the university’s various colleges. Professors Drs. Corrine Sackett and Brooke Wymer Ellis guide students in the program, helping them receive hands-on training while having a positive impact on the university.

In fall of 2027, the university will launch a doctoral program in which, under faculty supervision, doctoral students will supervise master’s students in the embedded counseling program.

Dr. Cashwell says the program supports mental health care accessibility on campus. Through the program, students who experience a mental health crisis have access to timely mental health support. Dr. Sackett started the program because Clemson’s counseling center had a high demand for services. Additionally, not all students are able to access the counseling center. The embedded counseling program provides mental health accessibility across campus and valuable experience for Counselors-in-training.

“[My colleagues] are just really caring people who care about the whole student,” Dr. Cashwell shares. “I think that translates, of course. Students feel seen, they feel heard, they feel supported because this process of becoming a Counselor is really hard. Our students talk about it as being a transformative experience for them developmentally.”

In addition to the embedded counseling program, Clemson University offers the Community Collaboration for Counselors initiative, a collaboration between Clemson University and the Greenville County School District that is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Through the program, teachers receive tuition assistance to complete a master’s degree in school counseling while continuing to work in their schools. Upon completion of the program, graduates become School Counselors.

“We recognize that there’s a shortage of Counselors everywhere. But in rural states such as South Carolina, it’s even more problematic. And so the intent of this is to place these students as interns in historically underserved schools. And so they’re making a difference right away,” Dr. Cashwell says.

For Counselor Educators wanting to launch community engagement programs in their universities, “[my] advice would be the importance of collaboration between faculty and administrators, administrators both in terms of your own department in college, but also the collaboration with the counseling center has been invaluable,” he shares.

Community engagement gives counselors-in-training important experience connecting with others and learning about the mental health needs in their area. Through equipping students with the skills to serve their peers and schools in the community, Clemson University increases access to mental health care.

“The work that we do is still really a calling to serve others, and with all the boundaries and all the parameters that we have as Professional Counselors, I think that’s what’s the most meaningful to us about the award,” Dr. Cashwell says. “We’re a group of Counselors first who are also Counselor Educators, and that professional identity piece is very important for us. And so that servant leadership mindset, I think really drives a lot of what we do.”