The mission of the Department of Counseling and Instructional Sciences is to help people learn and grow. Whether it’s becoming an instructional designer, school librarian, educational technology specialist, school counselor or mental health counselor - we have a path for you. Located in the College of Education and Professional Studies, the department offers a variety of online and in-person graduate degrees and certificate programs.
We are designers of workforce skills…
We impact the region’s economy by training leaders in instructional design who work
in private business and industry, government agencies including the military, educational
institutions, and healthcare organizations designing and evaluating programs of training
that keep our workforce on the cutting edge.
We are educational innovators….
We enable schools to innovate and adapt through training school counselors, school
librarians and educational technology specialists. School counseling graduates use
data-based methods to advocate, consult and intervene with all students to ensure
all students can become well developed and college and career ready young adults.
The graduates from our library media and educational technology master’s programs
innovate and deliver 21st century learning experiences that leverage digital and web-based
resources to the region’s students.
We are catalysts for healing and growth…
We guard our region’s health and well-being. Graduates from our mental health counseling
master’s program are the front line of our region’s mental health system and serve
as clinical leaders in that system. Graduates of the clinical and counseling psychology
doctoral program become mental health experts and make contributions to mental health
reform and policy-making.
▼ Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Joel Billingsley, an Associate Professor of Instructional Design & Development,
has spent over a decade working to create multimedia resources to teach others about
racial equity and structural racism in Mobile. This efforts resulted in the production
fo the documentary Mobile in Black and White in 2013. These efforts continue in the work of she and her colleagues to produce
a feature-length documentary on the survivors of the Clotilda slave ship, who subsequently founded the community
in north Mobile known as Africatown. This project will include the documentary, oral
history collections, art exhibits and a K-12 curriculum and poetry book. Dr. Billingsley's
mentorship of Instructional Design doctoral students allows for them to apply their
skills to issues such as this and integrate social justice priorities and instructional
design professional skills.
Dr. Joel Billingsley, an Associate Professor of Instructional Design & Development,
has spent over a decade working to create multimedia resources to teach others about
racial equity and structural racism in Mobile. This efforts resulted in the production
fo the documentary Mobile in Black and White in 2013. These efforts continue in the work of she and her colleagues to produce
a feature-length documentary on the survivors of the Clotilda slave ship, who subsequently founded the community
in north Mobile known as Africatown. This project will include the documentary, oral
history collections, art exhibits and a K-12 curriculum and poetry book. Dr. Billingsley's
mentorship of Instructional Design doctoral students allows for them to apply their
skills to issues such as this and integrate social justice priorities and instructional
design professional skills. ▼ Student Spotlight
Dr. John Hoyle, a 2018 graduate of the Ph.D. program in Instructional Design & Development
was recently appointed Interim President of the Alabama School of Math & Science.
Earlier this year his dissertation entitled Black Girls Matter: An Ethnographic Investigation of Rural African-American Girls
Experiencing a Specialized Stem High School For Gifted and Talented Students. Dr. Hoyle's dissertation, chaired by Dr. Jim Van Haneghan, was nominated for the
Council of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award.
Dr. John Hoyle, a 2018 graduate of the Ph.D. program in Instructional Design & Development
was recently appointed Interim President of the Alabama School of Math & Science.
Earlier this year his dissertation entitled Black Girls Matter: An Ethnographic Investigation of Rural African-American Girls
Experiencing a Specialized Stem High School For Gifted and Talented Students. Dr. Hoyle's dissertation, chaired by Dr. Jim Van Haneghan, was nominated for the
Council of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award.
