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Lindsey Wilson College Doctoral Program Celebrates Decade of Service

Doctoral program in counselor education and supervision was one of the driving forces behind the move to become Lindsey Wilson University on July 1.

by Duane Bonifer

COLUMBIA, Ky. (06/28/2025) — Lindsey Wilson College's final major event before transitioning to Lindsey Wilson University on July 1 was a celebration of the academic program that was a major factor in the change.

At the 11th Lindsey Wilson Mental Health Symposium -- held Saturday, June 28, in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship and online -- the college community celebrated the first decade of the school's doctoral program in counselor education and supervision.

Lindsey Wilson's doctoral program debuted in 2015, hooding its first graduate in December 2018. An additional 44 students have graduated from the program, which is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, the gold standard of counselor education programs. Lindsey Wilson's master of education in counseling, which started in 1993, is also CACREP-accredited.

"We are becoming a university in a few days, and among the many reasons is our CACREP-accredited master of education in counseling," said Vice President for Academic Affairs Ray Lutgring. "Another major reason we should be calling ourselves a university is the incredibly successful doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision."

The brainchild of six members of Lindsey Wilson's School of Professional Counseling, in its first year of operation the doctoral program received an award as an innovative program from the Southeast Association of Counselor Education and Supervision.

"The program has changed over the years, but it would not be here without the effort of those six faculty," said Lutgring. "They had the vision and were willing to put in the work to launch a CACREP-accredited doctoral program."

To celebrate the work of those six faculty members and to commemorate the program's graduates, two plaques were unveiled -- one plaque lists the six pioneer faculty and the other recognizes the program's graduates. Both plaques will be displayed in the Dr. Robert and Carol Goodin Nursing & Counseling Center, where the doctoral program is housed.

'Assembling things as we fell'

Lindsey Wilson professor Edwin Gunberg, who was one of the six faculty members who helped start the doctoral program, said "it's hard to believe that 10 years have passed -- it's gone so quickly."

Although the doctoral program is now soaring, Gunberg said it took a lot of planning and research to get it off the ground.

"The metaphor we were using among ourselves when we started was that we had just thrown all of the parts of the airplane off the cliff, and then we were assembling things as we fell, hoping that it eventually would fly," said Gunberg. "It seems to have just done that."

Fellow faculty member Patrice Callery, who was also one of the original six professors, said a big reason the program took off was because of how it was built.

"We talked about what we liked about our programs, and what we didn't like about our doctoral programs," she said. "We combined the good parts of our doctoral programs, and by the time we were finished the program was so cool that I wished I had gone to our doctoral program."

Strong leadership has been another key to the program's success.

Faculty member Laura Smith, who came to Lindsey Wilson in 2016, said that professor Jeffrey Parsons, who directed the doctoral program for its first seven years, set an important tone that his successor, Patrick Hardesty, has continued.

"He really built an expectation that everyone's voice would be heard, valued and considered," said Smith. "We all have ownership in the program."

Focus on mission

Smith said that she was also attracted to the Lindsey Wilson doctoral program because "I loved the Lindsey Wilson mission's focus on every student, every day" as well as an emphasis on serving rural areas' mental healthcare needs.

The program's alumni who attended Saturday's conference said a strong sense of family among students and among students and faculty is another key ingredient that has made it successful. Alumna Stephanie Johnson of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was part of what became known as the program's "Covid cohort" because they started shortly after the pandemic erupted in 2020.

She said the manner in which faculty showed students support, compassion and "hey, we're going to get through this was empowering."

"The way faculty treated us and looked out for us really helped us get through the program during a very challenging time," said Johnson, who is a mental health counselor at Lake Behavioral Health.

Gunberg said that stories like Johnson's are one of the reasons he and four other members of the original six faculty members are still part of the program. The sixth member retired from the program, and the program's faculty has expanded to eight.

"I really like to see people come through our program who are going to advance the profession further than my colleagues and I have," he said. "These are folks who are going to take it into not just the next couple decades, but hopefully well beyond that. It is really, truly rewarding to discover that student who just takes off and does things you never imagined would be possible for them to do."

Lindsey Wilson College is a vibrant liberal arts college in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson -- which will become Lindsey Wilson University on July 1 -- has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students, and the college offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The college's 28 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.

Media Attachments

Faculty, students and alumni of the Lindsey Wilson College doctoral program in counselor education and supervision gather for a group picture at the 11th Lindsey Wilson Mental Health Symposium, held Saturday, June 28, in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. The doctoral program also celebrated its first decade of service.

Lindsey Wilson College professors Jeffrey Parson, right, and Patrick Hardesty unveil a plaque that recognizes the graduates of the college’s doctoral program in counselor education and supervision on Saturday, June 28, in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. The plaque will be updated and displayed in the Dr. Robert and Carol Goodin Nursing & Counseling Center, where the program is housed. Looking on are faculty members, from left, Edwin Gunberg, Laura Smith and Patricia Stewart-Hopkins.

Three of the six initial Lindsey Wilson College professors of the doctoral program in counselor education and supervision hold a plaque that recognizes them on Saturday, June 28, in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. The plaque will be displayed in the Dr. Robert and Carol Goodin Nursing & Counseling Center, where the program is housed. From left: Edwin Gunberg, Patrice Callery and Jeffrey Parsons. The other three original six are Daniel Williamson, Jennifer Williamson and Daya Sandhu.

Lindsey Wilson College doctoral student Sesiley Daugherty of Greenville, Kentucky, right, discusses her research with Lindsey Wilson professors Laura Smith, left, and Patricia Stewart-Hopkins as part of the 11th Lindsey Wilson Mental Health Symposium.

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