Faculty, Mental Health Lead Counselor

About the role

Under the direction of the Senior Director of Mental Health Counseling Services, the Faculty, Mental Health Counselor Lead provides clinical and administrative leadership for counseling operations at Austin Community College (ACC). This role ensures the delivery of high-quality, ethical, and accessible mental health services that support student well-being, retention, and academic success to a multicultural student population. The position balances direct mental health care services with clinical oversight, including clinical supervision of counseling staff, coordination of clinical operations, and leadership in crisis response, outreach, and campus collaboration. The Counselor Lead will serve as a key support to the Senior Director of Mental Health Services and the Director of Wellness, Outreach & Prevention, assisting with departmental operations, strategic initiatives, and continuity of leadership functions that advances departmental goals focused on persistence, retention, and student engagement that align with ACC’s mission along with professional standards from Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education.

Responsibilities

• Manages assigned counseling caseload that will include referrals from multiple internal and external partners.
• Oversees coordination of care that addresses the full-range of counseling needs of the student population; may require crisis intervention or stabilization in high-stress situations involving immediate risk to the mental and physical health of students.
• Part of a Mental Health Counseling team that develops and implements outreach prevention programs for enrolled ACC students on topics pertaining to critical issues in college mental health to support institutional efforts focusing on persistence, retention and student engagement.
• Maintains current, accurate, and timely clinical documentation in accordance with state and federal law, professional ethics, and district counseling services protocols.
• Provides short-term, individual, and group counseling via scheduled in-person or virtual appointments and walk-in coverage to students seeking assistance related to personal concerns.
• Conducts mental health assessments and screenings such as suicide risk, drug and alcohol, threat and risk assessment, etc., utilizing evidence-based practices.
• Exercises clinical judgement in assessing urgent student referral situations and making appropriate recommendations regarding intake, referrals, triage, and interventions.
• Provides support in managing campus crisis situations by coordinating with ACC mental health officers, administrators, faculty, and staff to provide appropriate intervention and referral.
• Provides professional consultation to faculty, staff,