Announcing new Counseling Center director

Dear UIC students, faculty and staff,

It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Shenay Bridges-Carter as executive director for the UIC Counseling Center, effective Jan. 13, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Bridges-Carter comes to UIC from student affairs at Northwestern University, where she served as senior director of clinical services - counseling and psychological services. At Northwestern, she managed the operations of the clinical services department, including providing culturally sensitive direct services, supervising clinical trainees, managing crisis coverage and consulting with medical and other relevant staff regarding client care.

Her 20 years of expertise in college counseling centers and student affairs at two higher-education institutions have positioned Bridges-Carter for success at UIC. In managing the landscape, she has cultivated an appreciation for working at a diverse institution with people who have a variety of life experiences (racial, ethnic, educational, socioeconomic and commuter/non-commuter) and the contribution the counseling center makes to the campus community.

Bridges-Carter joins the Counseling Center under the Office of Health and Well-being, where her responsibilities include driving institution-wide cultural change and transformational efforts to improve health and wellness outcomes for students in mental health and the socioecological factors impacting mental health higher-education settings, including issues related to identity and inclusion.

She looks forward to partnering with other key health and well-being leaders, faculty and staff at UIC to understand the student experience, create a more inclusive learning environment that connects to campus wellness and realize how mental health impacts students. Her goals in working with the Counseling Center include gaining buy-in from staff, addressing perspectives of services and highlighting skills to showcase services.

Bridges-Carter asserts that we are always meeting people who are transitioning at some time or another in these exciting and challenging times, and she wants the Counseling Center to be a welcoming environment, a place for fun and a space to talk about the good things happening for lives to flourish.

Bridges-Carter holds a doctorate in counseling psychology from Pennsylvania State University and completed undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is an Aurora, Illinois, native and married mother of three girls, plus a pet parent to Ramie, a pitbull-mastiff mix.

Please join me in welcoming Bridges-Carter to UIC.

Sincerely,

Raphael Florestal-Kevelier
Associate Vice Chancellor, Student Health and Well-being
UIC Student Affairs

For more information, please contact:
UIC Health and Well-being
[email protected]