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TACES Adds UTEP Graduate Student to its Board

Last Updated on October 05, 2021 at 4:00 PM

Originally published October 05, 2021

By Daniel Perez

UTEP Communications

The Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (TACES) Board of Directors named Zuzanna Gromulska of The University of Texas at El Paso as its graduate student representative during the 2021-22 academic year.

UTEP mental health graduate student Zuzanna Gromulska, left, said she would use her time as the 2021-22 student representative on the Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (TACES) Board of Directors, to serve as a bridge between educators and graduate students. Paul Carrola, Ph.D., associate professor, is the TACES board president this academic year. Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre / UTEP Communications
UTEP mental health graduate student Zuzanna Gromulska, left, said she would use her time as the 2021-22 student representative on the Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (TACES) Board of Directors, to serve as a bridge between educators and graduate students. Paul Carrola, Ph.D., associate professor, is the TACES board president this academic year. Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre / UTEP CommunicationsV

Gromulska, a native of Warsaw, Poland, expects to earn her master’s degree in mental health counseling in spring 2022. During her term in office, she said she would provide a student’s perspective to mental health academic training and, through her work on different committees, would serve as a bridge between educators and graduate students.

TACES, the second largest division of the Texas Counseling Association (TCA), works to enhance the practice of professional counseling through the promotion of effective counselor education, supervision and leadership.

Gromulska, who joined the TCA in 2019, said she expects that her TACES work will lead to opportunities to network, research and participate in various conferences and a possible return to academia for a doctoral degree.

Paul Carrola, Ph.D., associate professor and coordinator of UTEP’s Mental Health Counseling program, is president of the TACES board this academic year. It is the midpoint of his three-year commitment to the organization. He was president-elect last year and will be the group’s past president next year.

He said he was “happy and excited” to have a UTEP student on the TACES board. He noted that the position usually goes to a doctoral student so he expects Gromulska to benefit from the experience.

“She is an outstanding student who is very passionate about the counseling profession and issues related to social justice and advocacy,” Carrola said.

Gromulska said that she has worked with Carrola on several projects and she knows two other TACES board members. She said that familiarity creates clearer communication channels.

“It makes me feel welcomed and supported knowing that I have people around who I enjoy working with,” said Gromulska, an experienced early childhood education teacher who earned her master’s degree in educational psychology from Janusz Korczak University in Warsaw.

The graduate student was enthusiastic about her statewide assignment and encouraged her UTEP mental health-counseling peers to share their ideas on how to improve their academic formation.

At the same time, Gromulska encouraged other graduate students to get involved in extracurricular activities such as conferences, research teams and honor societies. She said that the time invested in these activities would keep individuals connected to their professional communities, and give them a stronger sense of professional identity as well as a sense of belonging.