By Tyler Forrest
© Amanda MacDiarmid, Stellar Exposures, owned by Inside Business. Photo Permission: Ron Crow
In less than five years, Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott has been recognized as an influential faculty member at Old Dominion University. This fall, she is the recipient of the "Top Forty Under 40" award from Inside Business. The award highlights the magnificent work and service by those professionals in the Hampton Roads region who are under 40 years of age and represent a variety of professions. She was chosen by a panel of five judges and joins a group of previous Darden College of Education and Professional Studies award winners including Dr. Narketta Sparkman-Key.
As an assistant professor, graduate program director and school counseling coordinator in the nationally awarded Department of Counseling and Human Services in the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, Goodman-Scott teaches graduate courses, conducts research on school counseling, is an active member of local and national committees that have widespread effects in multiple areas, contributes to both textbooks and academic journals, and is a recognized leader in the community, university and counseling profession.
One might beg to question: does she ever sleep?
"I enjoy advocating through my research, including topics like school-wide prevention, universal mental health screening and school counseling ratios," said Goodman-Scott. "I'm honored to be recognized by the place I've called home for so many years: Hampton Roads. Here I spent much of my childhood, then came back to pursue a career in academia, and raise my young family."
In her nomination letter, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies & Research Dr. Gail Dickerson lauded Dr. Goodman-Scott for her vision, leadership, innovation, and strategies for success through academic endeavors saying, "First, the essence of academia in a research intensive university like ODU is the creation of new knowledge, which demonstrates innovation. Dr. Goodman-Scott has created new knowledge and shown innovation through her scholarly efforts, such as leading research teams to conduct and publish original research."
A research-center institution, Old Dominion expects assistant professors to publish two or three journal articles each year. Goodman-Scott has already published 20 peer-reviewed, national journal articles, with an estimated rate of 4.5 articles per year. She has published in national academic journals including the Journal for Counseling and Development and Professional School Counseling, both of which have an acceptance rate of 10 percent and 15 percent, respectively. By focusing her research on school counseling, Goodman-Scott understands and has quickly become an expert on the skills and environment needed for counselors to be effective in serving students and schools. Factors and skills include lowering school counseling ratios, implementing data-driven, evidence-based practices, and a greater emphasis on school-based prevention.
Said Goodman-Scott, "While working in the schools, I saw firsthand the importance of school counselors helping K-12 students be successful in their academic, career and social/emotional efforts. I also saw that school counselors are often tasked with unreasonably high student caseloads and inappropriate job duties. Thus, I decided to pursue a doctorate and a faculty position to advocate for the school counseling profession to help counselors better serve students and schools. I'm proud of Virginia's recent efforts to lower the school counseling ratio, enabling school counselors to perform the work they are trained to do: serving students and schools. I am hopeful that my recognition as a 2018 Top 40 Under 40 recipient is another strategy to advocate for the school counseling profession, by highlighting school counselors' crucial work."
The award is not just about how Goodman-Scott positively effects Old Dominion University. Instead, it represents the work she completes in the surrounding community and, in her case, at the national level. Goodman-Scott dedicates hours each month to the Hampton Roads community. Most recently, she has conducted over 20 workshops for local school counselors and teachers to further progress their professional skills. Goodman-Scott is also beginning her ninth year as a board member for the Virginia School Counselor Association where she engages in endeavors to support school counselors and embolden K-12 schools from across the state.
"Dr. Goodman-Scott has been a prolific scholar and her potential for continuing her significant trajectory as a scholar is most promising," said Dean Jane Bray of the Darden College. "Her scholarly work has already impacted our program and in addition, her work is having an impact at the state and national level"
Goodman-Scott said one of the areas she enjoys the most about her job is mentoring graduate students and serving on dissertations. Many of her students - both master's and doctoral level - have assisted in research efforts, even being cited as co-authors. Her dedication to students is reflected in the high scores she receives from students. After the completion of each semester, ODU students are asked to complete an anonymous survey scoring instructor effectiveness from 1.00 - 5.00, with 5.00 being the highest score. Goodman-Scott has an "overall instructor effectiveness" of 4.95, a representation of her leadership and instructional talents in the classroom.
A dedicated mother to three children all under the age of five, Goodman-Scott also volunteers with her spouse at their church.
So, if she does sleep, one might agree the rest is well earned.
And undeniably, her contributions make ODU and the Hampton Roads community a better place.