Faithe Kroll, mental health practitioner for Counseling Care, is recognized by UNK Staff Senate with the Employee Achievement Award for February.
Kroll has been employed at UNK since 2011.
The Employee Achievement Award recognizes staff for exemplary service and notable contributions to their department and UNK community, embracing an attitude of teamwork, commitment to excellence, contributing to high staff morale and other notable awards or recognition on and off campus.
As the only licensed drug and alcohol counselor on staff, Kroll is responsible for the majority of substance use assessments, treatment coordination and counseling for UNK students who have legal charges related to drugs and/or alcohol, and for students who have problematic substance use.
Kroll is instrumental in helping students learn about the effects of drinking and how to address co-occurring mental health issues and substance abuse, including treating students who are having suicidal thoughts and abusing substances.
She also developed and facilitated a substance abuse support group for UNK students.
Kroll is facilitator of the Choices class, an alcohol education course offered monthly for UNK students. She works closely with the UNK Code of Conduct officer, UNK Police, Residence Life, Loper Athletics, Buffalo County Diversion program and probation office to coordinate services for students.
She regularly consults with faculty and staff on substance abuse issues and consistently looks for ways to address problematic use at UNK. Kroll was voted as mental health practitioner of the year by the Nebraska Counseling Association in 2013 and has been asked to speak at several counseling and substance abuse conferences across the State.
Comments from those who nominated Kroll:
“Faithe approaches her work with passion and enthusiasm. She supervises graduate interns who are interested in a career as a drug and alcohol counselor and volunteers to help other counselors during busy times of the semester.”
“Faithe’s commitment to her profession, the UNK student body and the community is evident in her work with students. If it were not for her counseling skills and caring attitude, there are some UNK students who would find themselves in significant trouble due to substance abuse. She genuinely cares about the students and her co-workers.”
“Faithe organizes the Secret Santa exchange each year, which the staff really enjoys. She takes time to get to know her colleagues and often uses humor to boost morale in a setting that is often quite stressful.”
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