Postdoctoral Fellowships

The University of California at Santa Cruz announces the availability of two postdoctoral fellowship positions in Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) for the 2009-2010 academic year.  These 12 month full-time positions provide crisis intervention, case management, and brief therapy to a diverse university student population.  The fellowship begins August 25th, 2009 and will end August 24, 2010.  Salary is $32,000 with benefits.

Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of licensed psychologists, the postdoctoral fellows will conduct crisis intervention, case management, and brief therapy for university students. A major emphasis of the postdoctoral fellowship is developing skills and expertise in crisis intervention.  The fellows will also be involved in providing outreach and consultation services to the university community within the community psychology model of CPS. There is also the opportunity to provide group therapy.  Fellows will attend regularly scheduled staff meetings, Clinical Case conferences, and joint meetings with CPS and psychiatry staff.  In addition, fellows are encouraged to develop areas of additional specialization in consultation with the Training Director.

Major duties and tasks:

Clinical duties: 70%
1.Crisis intervention, case management, and referral
2.Brief therapy with students presenting with both developmental issues and more severe clinical presentations
3.Group therapy, outreach, intern trainings, and committee work as needed

Administrative duties: 30%

1.Maintain clinical records and case notes
2.Participate in clinical staff meetings and committee work
3.Provide consultation to psychiatry regarding CPS referrals and crisis cases
4.Receive training and supervision
5.Consultation and outreach with university community

Required Qualification of Candidates:

Applicants must have completed a doctoral degree in Counseling or Clinical Psychology including a Predoctoral internship by the start date of the fellowship.  Preference is given to candidates who have attended both an APA accredited internship and an APA accredited graduate program.  Applicants must possess skills and experience in providing brief individual and group therapy to a diverse college student population, and demonstrate experience and expertise in conducting crisis intervention.  Applicants should have an interest and knowledge of the developmental tasks facing college students, and interest in working with diverse university students.

Stipend and benefits:

The postdoctoral fellowship positions carry a stipend of $32,000 for the 12-month appointments.  Fellows are also given university health and life insurance, paid university holidays, and two weeks vacation.


What does Counseling and Psychological Services do?  The mission of Counseling and Psychological Services is to "support UC Santa Cruz students, both undergraduate and graduate, in achieving their personal and educational goals by providing a broad range of counseling, consultation, and outreach services and programs to the campus community".  The professional staff of CPS provides brief individual and couples therapy, intake assessment, risk assessment and crisis intervention, group therapy, consultation, outreach, and academic instruction to the university community.  CPS also provides high quality training and supervision to psychology interns in our APA Accredited Predoctoral Internship Program in Professional Psychology, and training and supervision for postdoctoral fellow specializing in crisis intervention.

Structure: Counseling and Psychological Services operates within a decentralized structure here at UC Santa Cruz.  CPS has a Central Office which is currently located and Kresge Annex B where we provide appointment scheduling, crisis services, group therapy and outreach programs.  (We have been temporarily relocated from the student Health Services Building while it undergoes earthquake retrofitting and renovation). We also hold all of our staff meetings, clinical case conferences, and training seminars here as well.  Some CPS staff are housed in our Central Office, while other psychologists and interns have offices in the residential colleges and Family Student Housing.  Postdoctoral fellows provide crisis intervention services in our Central Office in the afternoon shifts, and they also have an office out in one of the Colleges.  This hybrid centralized/decentralized structure allows us to provide the traditional clinical services as well as maintain our community psychology model with an emphasis on primary prevention and consultation regarding mental health issues in the campus community.  CPS is accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS).

Application procedures:

Interested candidates must apply online for the position, and applications must include:

1.Curriculum vitae, including anticipated date of graduation
2.Letter of interest, outlining interest in working with university students, experience and skills in providing crisis intervention, and expertise in diversity issues
3.Three letters of recommendation from clinical supervisors familiar with your clinical skills.  One of these letters must be from the Training Director or Director of your internship site.
4.Online application form

To apply, please visit our Staff Human Resources Web site at http://jobs.uscs.edu/jobpostings/ to obtain the specific job posting for the postdoctoral fellowship, the online application form, the supplemental requirements, and instructions.  You must apply for the Postdoctoral Fellow Position, job # 0802008 online.  To guarantee your materials will be reviewed, your application must be received by 5 p.m. on January 25, 2009.  Letters of recommendation may be submitted under separate cover, but also must be received by January 25, 2009 for full consideration.  Please ask your references to clearly mark their letters with the job #  0802008 and the name of the applicant at the top of letter.

Questions about application or Fellowship:

1.Questions about the application procedure should be directed to Crystal Byler, CPS office manager, at cbyler@ucsc.edu or 831-459-2629.
2.Questions about the postdoctoral fellowship should be directed to MaryJan Murphy Ph.D., Training Director and Acting Co-Director at mjmurphy@ucsc.edu or 831-459-2120.