POSITION DESCRIPTION
Position
Overview:
The Director of Counseling, Wellness
and Disability Services is a senior leader within the Office of Student
Experience. The Director provides strategic vision, clinical leadership, and
administrative oversight for Counseling and Wellness Services (CAWS),
Accommodation and Disability Services, and CARE coordination processes.
Counseling and Wellness assists
students in addressing personal, social, and academic challenges of the college
experience and supports their success and holistic development. The department
promotes students’ psychological well-being through confidential counseling,
crisis response, group programming, referral services, and campus-wide
prevention and outreach initiatives.
In addition, the Director leads the
University’s disability access and accommodation infrastructure and serves as
an integral member of the CARE case management team that ensures coordinated
and appropriate institutional response to students of concern.
The Director works collaboratively with
the Campus Clinic, Athletics and Physical Education, Residence Life, Academic
Affairs, Operations, and other campus partners to promote an integrated model
of student support.
This position requires a doctoral
degree in Counseling or Clinical Psychology from an APA-accredited academic
program and internship site. The Director must be a Licensed Psychologist
(Ph.D. or Psy.D.), or a PhD-level licensed professional counselor or licensed
clinical social worker in the United States, with demonstrated competency and
experiences in providing oversight and supervision of a counseling center staff
consisting of full-time and part-time counselors.
Reports to:
Dean of Student Experience
Essential Duties:
General Administration and Strategic Leadership:
- Provides vision and leadership in establishing and monitoring the scope and direction of CAWS, ensuring operations align with international standards of professional practice and ethical guidelines.
- Oversees the provision of culturally informed individual and group counseling services through training, consultation, supervision, and evaluation of CAWS clinical professionals.
- Ensures effective utilization of department resources, including counselor schedules, clinical workloads, and service demand management.
- Provides counseling services and oversees high-risk cases in coordination with relevant campus partners.
- Collaborates with campus units to establish coordinated and comprehensive wellness programs that support student emotional and psychological well-being.
- Ensures compliance with applicable regulations, professional ethics, and institutional policy regarding confidential records and documentation practices, consistent with provincial and national laws of China as well as professional ethics.
- Provides sound fiscal management of departmental budgets and establishes funding priorities.
- Provides annual reports assessing operations, service demand, outcomes, and strategic recommendations.
- Represents the University in professional networks and community partnerships related to mental health, disability access, and student well-being.
CARE Coordination and Case Management Oversight:
- Supervises the Student CARE Coordinator.
- Oversees intake, documentation, and triage processes for students reported through the CARE system.
- Ensures students receive appropriate outreach, check-ins, and reminders of support resources.
- Serves as a member of the cross-unit CARE Team.
- Ensures appropriate delegation of follow-up actions and coordinated support plans.
- Develops protocols for documentation, information-sharing, and risk management.
- Maintains appropriate communication with families consistent with privacy regulations.
- Evaluates CAWS services to inform prevention programming and resource allocation.
- Coordinates staffing of CAWS on Duty system, responding to off-hour response mental health emergencies.
Personnel Management:
- Oversees hiring, training, supervision, and evaluation of CAWS staff (four full-time counselors), the Assistant Director of Intercultural Belonging and Disability Services, and the Student CARE Coordinator.
- Plans and facilitates weekly staff meetings.
- Provides professional development opportunities and ongoing training.
- Establishes and communicates policies and procedures.
- Fosters a diverse, equitable, and culturally responsive team environment.
Clinical Services, Crisis, and Risk Response:
- Serves as a member of the Student Care Team for at-risk students.
- Provides culturally informed clinical assessments, diagnosis, crisis management, and counseling as needed.
- Shares responsibility for after-hours crisis response coverage.
- Ensures staff are trained in organized and competent crisis intervention.
- Works closely with Student Health to provide coordinated behavioral health services.
- Maintains licensure in good standing through continuing education and ethical practice.
- Oversees (with Clinic) management of University-identified insurance plans available to students, and annual insurance registration required of international students.
- Oversees required reporting and compliance with Ministry of Education (MOE) annual reporting requirements and administration of Psychological Health Survey.
Accommodation and Disability Services Leadership:
- Supervises the Assistant Director of Intercultural Belonging and Disability Services.
- Oversees committee evaluation of accommodation requests for academic accommodations and housing/room assignment needs.
- Chairs or co-chairs the Accommodations Committee to ensure appropriate cross-unit review.
- Reviews medical and psychological documentation to determine reasonable and appropriate accommodations.
- Ensures accommodations align with institutional policy and academic standards.
- Develops and maintains policies and procedures related to disability disclosure and implementation.
- Provides consultation and training to faculty and staff regarding accommodation implementation.
- Ensures consistent documentation, record security, and compliance with privacy laws.
- Monitors trends in accommodation requests and develops proactive inclusion strategies.
- Work toward achieving assigned annual objectives and KPIs, demonstrating accountability for performance and results.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
- University employees' job responsibilities will continue to expand in scope and depth as the University grows in size and complexity in its programs.
ABOUT DUKE KUNSHAN UNIVERSITY
Duke Kunshan is a world-class liberal arts university based in Kunshan, China, that offers a range of high quality, innovative academic programs for students from around the world. It was established in September 2013 as a U.S.-China partnership between Duke University and Wuhan University.
Duke Kunshan welcomed its first students in August 2014. The university began by offering Duke graduate degrees as well as a Global Learning Semester program for undergraduate students from Duke and top-tier Chinese and international universities.
In August 2018, the university welcomed its first undergraduate degree students. The four-year bachelor’s degree program follows the liberal arts tradition, with emphasis on critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and self-exploration.
Our vibrant, high-tech campus covers 200 acres in Kunshan’s Yangcheng Lake Science and Technology Park. Equipped with advanced classrooms, executive education conference facilities and library, as well as student and faculty housing, and multiple dining and recreational areas. We also have multipurpose meeting spaces, break rooms and study rooms that allow students to work individually or in groups to review course materials and complete assignments.
The city of Kunshan, in Jiangsu province, is one of China’s fastest-growing economies and is a hub for high-tech research and manufacturing. The city is surrounded by picturesque forests and water towns, and is also connected by high-speed rail and subway to Shanghai and Suzhou, two of China’s most dynamic cities.
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