Director Mental Health Services

Position Information

The Director of Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) provides strategic leadership, administrative oversight, and clinical direction for UTA’s comprehensive mental health services. The Director ensures accessible, high-quality, responsive counseling and psychological services that support student success, retention, and wellbeing. Has primary responsibility for departmental operations and outcomes.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide executive leadership for CAPS, including strategic planning, policy development, and assessment. This includes compiling, analyzing, and sharing Counseling Center data annually with the VPSA office to support assessment, transparency, and strategic decision-making.
• Direct, supervise, and evaluate clinical and administrative staff; ensure appropriate licensure and training.
• Oversee delivery of counseling, crisis intervention, consultation, and outreach services. In the event of a student mental health crisis, the Director may be required to serve in an on-call capacity. This includes being accessible by phone and, when circumstances warrant, responding in person to provide on-scene support, leadership, and coordination.
• Manage departmental budget, resources, and contracts; ensure fiscal responsibility.
• Ensure compliance with university, state, federal, accreditation, and ethical standards, including risk management.
• Participate in ongoing professional development opportunities and remain current with emerging research, best practices, and mental health trends affecting college-aged students.
• Collaborate with campus and community partners to support student mental health initiatives.
• Act as a campus consultant/educator regarding the scope of CAPS services, challenging mental health situations, and assessment of risk.
• Maintain a small counseling caseload to remain clinically engaged and informed about student needs.
• Serve on university committees as needed. For example, the Director serves as a member of DSA’s SALT team and actively contributes to institutional discussions, strategic initiatives, and student wellbeing planning.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in Psychology, Counseling Psychology, or Clinical Psychology.
• Licensed in the State of Texas.
• Significant progressively responsible clinical and administrative experience.
• Demonstrated experience supervising licensed mental health professionals.
• Demonstrated experience with crisis response and campus threat assessment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience directing or managing a university counseling center.
• Experience with budget development and management in higher education.
• Experience with departmental assessment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Advanced knowledge of college student mental health trends and best practices.
• Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage complex clinical operations and high-risk situations.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with senior leadership and multidisciplinary teams.

Workplace and Eligibility Conditions

Work involves direct exposure to individuals experiencing psychological distress.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

Benefits at UTA

We are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package to all our employees at the University. To help you understand the full value of these benefits, we have created a tool that calculates the total worth of your compensation package. This tool takes into account all of the benefits that you are eligible for, including health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off. To access this tool and learn more about the total value of your benefits, please click on the following link: https://resources.uta.edu/hr/services/records/compensation-tools.php

ADA Accommodations

The University of Texas at Arlington is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to 817-272-5554 or email ADADocs@uta.edu.