Good people add value wherever they are
The heart of any good organization is its people, and Bellevue University has many individuals who are dedicated to excellence and student success, accomplished in their fields of endeavor, and willing to go well beyond what is expected. Two of them are Drs. Carole Patrick and Monalisa “Mona” McGee.
Dr. Patrick, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, previously pioneered development of and taught in the University’s innovative Master of Science in Clinical Counseling program (MSCC). Recently she became President-elect of the board of directors of Stephen Center, Inc., an Omaha-based non-profit corporation which partners with the community, families and individuals to overcome homelessness, addiction and poverty. The Stephen Center has served homeless and low-income men, women and children in Omaha since 1984. She will step up to the Board President’s chair in 2013.
Dr. Mona McGee, the current Director of Clinical Counseling and Human Services programs at the University, was the 2011 recipient of the American Network of Community Options and Resources www.ancor.org Advocacy Award for her work on disability legislative issues at the state and national levels.
Dr. McGee was instrumental in bringing Nebraska U.S. Senator Mike Johanns to the Stephen Center recently to learn more about its programs and hear plans for a proposed facilities expansion.
Some of Bellevue University’s Clinical Counseling students fulfill their internship requirements at the Stephen Center through an agreement between the University and the Center.
Real Life Alumni Story
Bellevue University alum Nicole Turner-Beardslee of Norfolk, Nebraska, hoped to join a private counseling practice shortly after completing the University’s M.S. in Human Services and Clinical Counseling program in August 2011. A counselor friend recommended Beardslee contact counselor Cindy Dohren of Norfolk, and Beardslee and Dohren made plans to start a practice. But tragically, Dohren died in a car crash shortly before the new practice was to open.
On December 1, 2011, Beardslee and two other counselors, Peg McCue and Peg St. Clair, opened a new practice, Healing Hearts and Minds Therapy Services, in Norfolk. Beardslee emailed Dr. Mona McGee Sunday to report that “Business is going great! We are truly blessed!”