3:51 p.m., June 20, 2007--John Bishop, UD associate vice president for counseling and student development, is stepping down as head of the Center for Counseling and Student Development (CCSD) and will serve as professor and coordinator of graduate programs in the Department of Individual and Family Studies, beginning Sept. 1.

Charles Beale, associate director of the center, will become interim director on Aug. 1.

Under his watch directing CCSD for 31 years, Bishop estimates that approximately 46,000 UD students have been counseled by the center, an average of about 1,500 each year.

In 2004, Bishop received the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors' lifetime achievement award, its highest honor. A graduate of Albright College, Bishop received his doctoral degree from Ohio University and began his career in the counseling center in 1969. He was named director in 1976.

Joining the UD staff in 1980 from the University of Georgia, Beale has served as associate director for clinical services at CCSD since 1980, as a counseling psychologist and also as an assistant professor of individual and family studies. He chairs the CCSD Review and Consultation Committee and served as vice president of Delaware's Board of Examiners of Psychologists.

Beale received his bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University and his master's and doctoral degrees in counseling from the College of William and Mary.

CCSD has helped generations of students with their personal, career and educational concerns since its beginnings in 1946. The center has expanded as the student body grew and was accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services Inc. in 1973.

Besides individual and group counseling, CCSD offers educational programs on campus; sponsors Wellspring, the student wellness program; and the Student Services for Athletes program.

The center has played a major role in UD receiving more than $2.3 million in grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Substance and Mental Health Service Administration to combat substance abuse among college students.

CCSD offers educational and training opportunities for graduate students in the UD master's program in counseling in higher education, plus predoctoral internships, accredited by the American Psychological Association, and postdoctoral fellowships for graduate trainees in psychology.

Article by Sue Moncure
Photos by Kathy Atkinson