Membership Criteria

ARTICLE III: Membership
OCCDHE is composed of counseling center directors from eligible higher education counseling centers in California.

Section 1. Membership Criteria

a. Membership is attached to the institution rather than to an individual. Each eligible counseling center may designate only one director as its representative member.
b. The annual dues, payable at the beginning of each fiscal year, shall be determined and collected in a manner approved by the Governing Board.
c. To be eligible for membership, the Director will be:

1. recognized by their campus as holding a position commensurate with the role of Director (though given the range of campus structures some variability in language may be considered);
2. ultimately responsible for clinical decision making within their campus counseling center;
3. and a licensed or licensed eligible mental health professional in California.

d. The Director will oversee a counseling center that:

1. functions as a counseling and psychological services unit at an accredited four-year college or university in California;
2. is staffed by employee(s) of the university and is subject to university regulations and standards;
3. provides, within available resources, a range of counseling and psychological services; and
4. complies with legal and ethical standards of the profession.

Section 2. Eligibility for membership will be reviewed and determined by the Governing Board and exceptions to the membership criteria outlined above will be considered at the discretion of the Governing Board.

Section 3. Listserv membership is limited to dues paying institutions and only one person per institution is allowed on the listserv at any given time.

Section 4. Members leaving the organization are eligible to join the OCCDHE Former Directors Group. This group is separate from OCCDHE and functions to provide mentorship and support outside of the primary organization. Former Directors are non-voting and do not pay membership dues or attend the conferences. Former Directors have a separate listserv and are not on the main OCCDHE listserv. However, there is a section of the website dedicated to Former Directors who wish to mentor and support new members so that new members know who is available for them to reach out to at any given time. Former Directors do not attend conferences unless invited as guests by the Governing Board after discussion with the current Director and Caucus members that the Former Director represented.

Apply for membership online