Dear Governor McAuliffe,

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed CACREP licensure requirement. I am presently a graduate student in the Counseling and Development program at George Mason University and I echo the sentiments of my professors and fellow classmates. If passed, the proposed CACREP requirement would be detrimental to counselor education and the counseling profession by limiting opportunities for future educators and counselors on the basis of having earned degrees from non-CACREP accredited schools. Universal standards do not cultivate creativity, cultural competence, passion, or diversity in academic and professional backgrounds. Many of my professors possess these qualities despite holding degrees from non-CACREP accredited schools, and I believe that these qualities add tremendous value to our Counseling and Development program and inspire us students to strive toward those qualities as well. CACREP standards would not add but rather potentially remove value from our program and others.  

As a counseling student at GMU, I appreciate having multiculturalism and social justice as foundations of our program mission. This unique mission extends beyond the high-standards of our present educational requirements for licensure and adds value to our program which would likely not continue under the universal CACREP standards. The limitations of the CACREP proposition would restrict innovation and progress in the counseling profession and the ability for counselors to truly meet the needs of individuals in a continuously and rapidly changing sociocultural climate. The potential burdens of this proposition are far-reaching and would not only negatively impact future students, counselors, and educators but would extend to individuals who need help, including our most vulnerable populations across our communities. I urge you to please vote no on this CACREP requirement.

Sincerely,

Fernando Saavedra

George Mason University