Northwestern College names new director of graduate counseling programs

Northwestern College has hired Dr. James Ruby to serve as the director of its graduate counseling programs. 

Ruby comes to Northwestern with extensive clinical practice and teaching experience. He most recently was the department chair and professor of human services at California State University, Fullerton. Since 2000, he has also provided individual, couple and family counseling as a private practice clinician. 

Ruby’s other experience includes serving as a hospital chaplain, school counselor, and coordinator of youth services for a mental health center. He has also been a professor or adjunct instructor for Northeastern Illinois University, National University, Azusa Pacific University, Capella University and Northwestern University.

A graduate of Western Kentucky University, Ruby earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a master’s degree in community and family counseling from Northeastern Illinois University, and a doctorate in research methods and human development from Loyola University Chicago. At the start of his career, he served as a youth minister and associate pastor for churches in Kentucky and Illinois.

Ruby is a member of the American Counseling Association, the Association for Specialists in Group Work, the Association for Creativity in Counseling, the Association of Counselor Education and Supervision, the National Association for Human Services, and the American School Counseling Association. He is a frequent presenter at professional conferences and has been published in the Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy, the Journal of Human Services, the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, and the Counseling and Clinical Psychology Journal.

Northwestern’s graduate counseling programs enable students to earn a master’s degree in either clinical mental health counseling or school counseling entirely online. The clinical mental health counseling program is designed to be completed in two years by taking two eight-week courses at a time. The school counseling program is set up to be completed by working professionals in three years.

Northwestern’s Graduate School & Adult Learning division offers flexible, affordable programs designed to help adult learners meet their professional goals. Many programs have 100% online coursework, including master's degrees in education (eight tracks); school and clinical mental health counseling; graduate-level education endorsements and certificates; undergraduate degree-completion programs in early childhood education and nursing; and certificates in medical and legal interpreting. The division also offers an on-campus master's degree in physician assistant studies, which is accredited by the ARC-PA.