The department of counseling is pleased to congratulate Katherine McVay on being selected for the Counselor Education and Supervision (CE&S) Editorial Fellowship. CE&S is the official publication of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) which is a division of the American Counseling Association. Editorial fellows, including both doctoral students and new professionals, assist in reviewing articles for publication in the journal.
McVay, already a licensed professional counselor associate, graduated with her MS in clinical mental health counseling from UTSA in 2020 and is currently in the second year of her counselor education and supervision program. In addition to working in San Antonio as a social-emotional wellness support counselor for a private Catholic school, she also serves in leadership roles in several other groups for counseling students at UTSA.
Even as a master’s student, McVay pursued her interest in research and publishing, working as the editorial assistant for The Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, headed by UTSA counseling faculty. But even with this editorial opportunity and having submitted her own research for publication, McVay felt there was more to experience.
“That’s where my gap is. I’ve had the experience of moving journals along and sending out the reviews, but I never got to have that opportunity myself.”
“I just didn’t get to do any of the reviewing,” she said. “That’s where my gap is. I’ve had the experience of moving journals along and sending out the reviews, but I never got to have that opportunity myself.”
So when an editor for Counselor Education and Supervision lectured to her class in her first semester of the doctoral program, McVay was intrigued. She discussed the fellowship with several professors, all of whom urged her to apply for the opportunity.
“They definitely want to support us and see us do incredible things,” McVay said.
But despite the encouragement from her professors, McVay didn’t think she had a serious shot of being accepted; it wasn’t until a week before the application deadline that she was finally convinced to apply. Final decisions were expected in June, but due to the unprecedented number of applicants, McVay didn’t receive her official confirmation until August, when she was told she had been matched with a mentor from the journal’s editorial board.
“They said I was the quickest match, so that’s really exciting to hear that and have that done, especially after that extensive wait,” she said.
Under the guidance of their mentors, McVay and the other fellows will begin to learn about the process of reviewing articles for publication in the journal. All the articles under review have already made it through the first rounds of selection, McVay says. It will be up to her and the others to determine whether they meet additional criteria.
“Making sure the research is thorough and the results are presented in an articulate way to make sure we’re not publishing anything false, or misleading, or too opinionated. After that, we give our recommendations,” she said.
While the fellows are only required to review three articles – the journal is released quarterly – McVay anticipates doing more than that; her mentor completes one article every month.
“I would like to think that I have the time management skills to do more, because I think that this is an incredible opportunity,” she said.
Overall, McVay says she is grateful for the opportunity, especially in such a competitive year. She says she is the only current doctoral student among this year’s fellows – the rest are graduates. But even beyond that, she says the CE&S fellowship gives her an opportunity to give back to the counseling profession.
“I do think that research and advocacy is a really great way for me to continue to fulfill that commitment in my profession,” she said.
“I do think that research and advocacy is a really great way for me to continue to fulfill that commitment in my profession,” she said.
McVay is also especially grateful for the way UTSA prepared her for this moment.
“Honestly I can say every class in my doc program has prepared me in some sort of way,” she said. “So I think UTSA was a really great fit, and I’m hesitant to say I wouldn’t have gotten it if I didn’t stay at UTSA, but I also feel like this opportunity presented itself in a very unique way to UTSA.”
For more information on the CE&S Editorial fellowship program, visit https://acesonline.net/ces-journal/ces-fellows/.
-Christopher Reichert