Womack Educational Leadership Department

Professional Counseling Scholarships

Supports graduate students in the field of Professional Counseling who display academic excellence. Preference is afforded to students who show a commitment to the field of counseling and demonstrate competency through their performance in courses, written work, and interaction with other students, faculty, and professionals.

Dr. Keith Carlson developed the MTSU Professional Counseling Program in 1970 and served as the program coordinator for 30 years until he retired in 2003. The Keith W. Carlson Scholarship was established in 2006 to support a Professional Counseling graduate student who is in their second semester or beyond, demonstrates financial need, and has a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Dr. Keith Carlson was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He spent 10 years working in a steel fabricating plant then two years of military service from 1953-1955 in the U. S. Army. After discharge from the military, Dr. Carlson began his college education part-time and went full-time in 1961 to Eureka College. In 1964 Dr. Carlson graduated with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Music, English Literature, and Religion and Philosophy).

After three years teaching in a middle school, Dr Carlson applied for a National Defense Education Act fellowship and was accepted to attend Northern Illinois University. In 1965, Dr. Carlson received a Master of Science degree in Elementary School Counseling, after which he applied and was accepted into the counselor education doctoral program and awarded a degree in January 1971.

Dr. Carlson began his employment at MTSU in the Fall of 1970 and soon developed the elementary school certification program, which was approved and graduated the first students in the Summer of 1975. Dr. Carlson began as the program coordinator at that time.

During the years that followed, Dr. Carlson went through the process to full professor. He served as president of both the Tennessee Association for Counselor Education and Supervision and the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, made numerous presentations yearly, and had multiple publications.

In 2000, Dr. Carlson initiated the process of national certification and began working towards it through CACREP. Due to Dr. Carlson’s leadership, the program was awarded certification in 2003. Having achieved accreditation, Dr. Carlson retired in 2003.

Supports future school counselors with this scholarship for students who are majoring in Professional Counseling and exhibit high academic performance. Preference will be afforded to students pursuing their degree in School Counseling.

The Eleanor Francis Nelson Jordan Scholarship is awarded to a graduate student who has been accepted into the Professional Counseling program, can demonstrate need, has a 3.0 undergraduate and/or graduate GPA, has experience in counseling-related activities, and shows leadership potential. Preference is given to a student who has been accepted into the School Counseling concentration.

Eleanor Frances Nelson Jordan graduated from Shelbyville High School in 1949. She graduated from Middle Tennessee State College in 1953 as the first recipient of a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages. Fran played clarinet in the Band of Blue and lived in Rutledge Hall for four years while a student at MTSU. After graduation, Mrs. Jordan taught Spanish and was a guidance counselor in Georgia. During this time, she decided to return to MTSU and further her education. She earned an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling in 1962. Fran later became a guidance counselor at Butler High School in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1967, she accepted the position of guidance counselor at Overton High School in Nashville and spent the rest of her career there, retiring in 1994. She met her future husband, Freeman Pillow “Bill” Jordan, Jr., while working in the cafeteria at MTSC. They were married from 1973 until his death in 2006.

In June 2019, the MTSU Professional Counseling Program celebrated 50 years of training professional school counselors. As part of the celebration, Dr. Ginny Dansby was honored as she retired after teaching 30 years in the program. To recognize Dr. Dansby’s contributions to the Program, an award was established in her name. The Dr. Virginia Dansby Perseverance Award was developed to honor a Professional Counseling student who has overcome multiple hardships and challenges yet persevered to obtain the Professional Counseling graduate degree.

Dr. Virginia S. Dansby was a professor in the Professional Counseling Program at the Womack Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education. She joined the faculty in January 1989 and retired in 2019. Dr. Dansby served as the Program Coordinator from 2003 to 2015. Dr. Dansby received her Ed.D. in Counseling Psychology from West Virginia University in 1989. Dr. Dansby was a secondary school counselor for 6 years and a licensed psychologist (HSP). She had a private practice in Murfreesboro for many years. Dr. Dansby was professionally active, serving as president of the Tennessee Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (TACES), a member of the Executive Board of the Tennessee Counseling Association (TCA), a member of the Executive Board of the Tennessee School Counselors Association (TSCA), and chair of the Awards Committee for Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES). She was president of the Tennessee Association for Specialists in Group Work (TASGW) from 2014-2015. She was presented the 2003-04 Outstanding Post-Secondary Counselor Award by TSCA, the 2007-08 Dr. Charles Thompson Counselor Educator of the Year Award by TACES, and the 2012 Humanistic Impact Award by the Association for Humanistic Counseling (AHC).

The Professional Counseling Program suffered a tremendous loss when Dr. Dansby passed away on September 12, 2024. Her contribution to our program and the larger community was invaluable. To learn more about Dr. Dansby, visit https://www.cremcoservices.com/obituary/virginia-dansby.

To donate to Dr. Dansby award/scholarship, send a check payable to “MTSU Foundation” at 1301 E. Main St., Box 109, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Online gifts may be made at www.mtsu.edu/give. When on this page, please choose “other” in the dropdown menu, then type Dansby or professional counseling in the next space/textbox.

This scholarship supports students who have been admitted into the MTSU Professional Counseling Program and have experience in counseling, counseling-related activities, and leadership roles. Preference will be allotted to students who are not Graduate Assistants as to give assistance to a greater number of graduate students.

The Winkler-Slicker Scholarship was established by Dr. Ellen K. Slicker in memory of her mother, Clarisse Birk Winkler, to be awarded to a student in the MTSU Professional Counseling Program.

The Winkler-Slicker Scholarship is awarded to a graduate student who has been accepted into the Professional Counseling Program, has a 3.5 undergraduate and/or graduate GPA, has experience in counseling-related activities, and shows leadership potential.

Clarisse Birk Winkler (1912-2012) was a native of St. Louis, Missouri. She was a life-long educator who graduated from Harris Teacher’s College in St. Louis in 1936. Clarisse taught in St. Louis Public Schools until her marriage to Norman Winkler in 1940. Teachers were not allowed to marry then, so she had to leave her position. However, public elementary schools in the suburbs of St. Louis did not have such a requirement, so Mrs. Winkler returned to teaching after the birth of her daughter, Ellen. She taught in Maplewood in the early 1950’s then in Affton from 1959 until she retired in 1977. Mrs. Winkler was first generation college graduate in her family of origin, was a two-time cancer survivor, and became a trailblazer for employed mothers. She was a devoted supporter of higher education for her daughter who received her doctorate at Texas A&M University, and for her grandsons who completed their undergraduate degrees at the University of Nebraska (Gregory) and at the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Vanderbilt University (Timothy). Mrs. Winkler also created Section 529 college savings funds for her four grandchildren. As a memorial to her mother, Dr. Ellen Slicker established this scholarship to continue their support of higher education.

Dr. Ellen K. Winkler Slicker was a professor in the Professional Counseling Program at the Womack Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education. She joined the faculty in January 1992 and retired in 2017. Dr. Slicker is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, where she attended K-12^th grade. She graduated from the University of Kansas (B.S. and M.S.), the University of Northern Colorado (Ed.S.), and Texas A&M University (Ph.D.). She has been married to Richard A. Slicker for over 40 years and has two sons and four grandchildren. Dr. Slicker was actively involved in MTSU committees at the university, college, and departmental levels, held offices in professional, published in scholarly journals, and presented at professional conferences both regularly and nationally, in addition to her graduate teaching responsibilities. Dr. Slicker is also a Tennessee Licensed Psychologist (HSP) with a private psychology practice.