Faculty/Staff
Avelino Mills-Novoa
Professor
Office:Education Building A248
Phone: 320.308-6037
Fax: 320.308.3216
E-mail: amillsnovos@stcloudstate.edu
Education
- Ph.D., Counseling, University of Minnesota
Program Areas
- B.S. Community Psychology undergraduate program
Research/Interest Areas
- Educational equity and college access as a social justice tool
- Transition to higher education
- Academic and social support of college students
- The effect of cultural and community narratives on identity development and personal narratives
- Racial identity development
- The development of professional identity and helping skills with undergraduate students
- The relationship of the individuals with their contexts and the reciprocal nature of those relationships
- Buddhist Psychology
- Meditation
- Story telling as a teaching and therapeutic tool
Biography
Avelino Mills-Novoa’s professional career expands over 30 years encompassing community mental health and higher education. In higher education, he has served in college counseling centers in three institutions: University of Minnesota, Northern Arizona University and St. Cloud State University. Over the past several years Dr. Mills-Novoa has gone back and forth between his faculty role as a professor in Community Psychology and administrative affairs as Associate Dean of the General College and Associate Vice President for Multicultural and Academic Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and as Interim Dean of Undergraduate Studies at St. Cloud State University. In these capacities he has worked on improving college access and academic success for students transitioning to higher education and during their initial two years of college.
Travelling and studying internationally has become a source of renewal, understanding of the interconnectedness of people, and self-discovery for Dr. Mills-Novoa. During these travels he has developed a deep appreciation for non-western therapeutic methods and the importance of culturally congruent therapeutic approaches. These experiences have become the foundation of his approach to students in and outside of the classroom; an approach that places students at the center of the higher education enterprise, and self-discovery at the center of the curriculum.
Courses Taught
- CPSY 101
- CPSY 102
- CPSY 323
- CPSY 324
- CPSY 325
- CPSY 384
