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Faculty Members Receive Awards at ACA Conference

Aca

Last week, three Palo Alto University (PAU) professors, Rachel Jacoby, PhD, Szu-Yu (Darlene) Chen, PhD, and Shreya Vaishnav, PhD, received awards at the American Counseling Association (ACA) Conference & Expo in Toronto, Canada. 

Dr. Jacoby won the Robert H. Rencken Emerging Professional Leader Award, which recognizes an ACA member who has demonstrated the potential to become a dedicated leader of the counseling profession in future years. 

“I was both shocked and excited to be recognized for this award,” said Jacoby. “I have worked very hard to become a leader in the field, particularly in child and adolescent counseling. To know that others value my contributions is incredibly humbling.”

Jacoby has been active in leadership roles for several years. She is currently president of the Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC), a division of the ACA. She is also the Member-at-Large of the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (NCACES) and co-faculty advisor for the PAU chapter of Chi Sigma Iota (CSI), the counseling honors fraternity. Previously, Jacoby founded and was president of the ACAC-Ohio Chapter where she was recognized for her accomplishments in supervision and clinical work.

“I feel so privileged to be able to contribute and represent PAU alongside Shreya and Darlene. All of our faculty continue to make outstanding contributions to the counseling field. To be able to share in celebrating our faculty accomplishments is truly remarkable,” said Jacoby.

Two other PAU professors, Szu-Yu (Darlene) Chen, PhD, and Shreya Vaishnav, PhD, received awards from the Association for Multicultural Counseling & Development (AMCD), a branch of the ACA. The AMCD develops programs to improve educational and professional opportunities for members from diverse cultural backgrounds and promotes multicultural competencies for increased ethnic and racial empathy and understanding in the field of counseling. 

Dr. Chen received the Advocacy Award, which honors an AMCD member who has exemplified competent practice in advocacy and has fostered an awareness of advocacy among members of the counseling profession.

“I’m very honored that my advocacy work has been recognized,” said Chen, associate chair of the MA in Counseling program. “It’s important for the Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community to have more of a voice in counseling and access to mental health services, and with this award, I hope to support other AAPI students and faculty to have a voice.”

Originally from Taiwan, Chen has a passion for supporting international students and faculty and was the chair of the ACES International Student and Faculty Interest Network in 2021 and 2022. Chen has been a professor since 2015, and at PAU since 2017. 

Chen’s research includes play therapy, creating inclusive spaces in online pedagogy, addressing the impacts of racism and inequities on Asian / Asian American child and adolescent development, and exploring opportunities and challenges of multicultural and international online education. Chen is also developing a Mandarin Bilingual Certification Program and established the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Task Force at PAU to address issues of diversity and inclusion at the University.

“It’s important to acknowledge faculty leaders such as Dr. Chen so that AAPI students have more role models, more professors that look like them and understand their culture,” said PAU assistant professor, Shreya Vaishnav.

Dr. Vaishnav received the AMCD Young Emerging Leader Award, which honors an early-career AMCD member who has demonstrated a commitment to multicultural counseling and development and the potential for future leadership in the counseling profession. 

With only three years of experience as a PAU faculty member, Vaishnav has made great strides regarding the promotion of multicultural competence in the counseling profession. For the last two years, she was on the board of the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (WACES) and is currently a member of the AMCD AAPI Concerns Group. Vaishnav has published seven publications and two book chapters that advocate for multicultural competence, including research about the lack of AAPI leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I was definitely surprised that I was selected for this award,” said Vaishnav. “Witnessing the recognition of my colleagues, Darlene and Rachel, during the conference brought me great joy.”