University News

Nikels Named Chair of WIU Counselor Ed Department

January 23, 2017

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MACOMB/MOLINE, IL -- Holly Nikels, a professor in the Western Illinois University's Department of Counselor Education, has been named chair of the department.

Nikels, who also serves as the program and clinical coordinator, joined the WIU faculty in 2003 as an assistant professor. She was named an associate professor in 2007, with tenure granted in 2009, and a full professor in 2013. She also has a private practice in Bettendorf, IA. Before coming to Western, she was a school counselor in Vermillion, SD, and has also served as a school-based therapist and employee assistance counselor in Lincoln, NE, and an intake coordinator/primary therapist at a hospital in Kearney, NE.

Nikels has published extensively in academic journals, presented at numerous regional, state and national conferences and received grants totaling more than $500,000. Nikels is a licensed professional counselor in Illinois, and is a member of Illinois Health Coalition Advisory Board, a grant reviewer for the Scott County Regional Authority Board and the program director of the PACERS Mentoring Program at Rock Island High School.

"Dr. Nikels is an invaluable member of the College of Education and Human Services (COEHS), and the department. Her contributions to the University and to her profession are outstanding and will allow her to continue the department's tradition of excellence," said COEHS Dean Erskine Smith.

Nikels received her bachelor's degree in human development/early childhood education and her master's and specialist's degrees in community counseling from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She earned her doctorate in counselor education with an emphasis in school counseling from the University of South Dakota.

Learn more about the counselor ed department at WIU at www.wiu.edu/CounselorEd.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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