Berglund, Brooks earn professional recognition
Two Mississippi University for Women professors in the Department of Psychology & Family Science recently earned professional recognition.
Dr. Dorothy Berglund, who is the department chair, was honored for distinguished service as chair of the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) Advisory Board at the annual conference of the National Council on Family Relations, the professional home of CFLE.
Dr. Cecy Brooks, an assistant professor of Family Science, completed the national, standardized exam to become a CFLE.
Berglund served as chair of the board from January 2021 to December 2022. She had served on the CFLE Advisory Board since January 2017. The CFLE Advisory Board provides leadership for the ongoing development of the CFLE program.
“As I told Dawn Cassidy (the director of family life education for NCFR), I was touched and honored by the recognition,” Berglund said. “NCFR is my professional home, and CFLE not only guides how we build our curriculum and prepare our students for work with individuals and families, it guides how and what I teach and study (for research).”
Berglund has been involved in numerous initiatives with the NCFR, but she said she is especially proud of her contributions to the development of an annual CFLE Summit. She also served as the host for the annual CFLE reception at the NCFR conference in 2021 and 2022, and has maintained her CFLE certification for more than 25 years.
Brooks said she first became interested in CFLE distinction when she was working on her Ph.D. and she attended her first National Council on Family Relations meeting and learned about the benefits of the certification, which reflect an individual’s knowledge and expertise in applying Family Life Education (FLE) concepts in the real world.
Brooks said her doctoral program was not CFLE approved, so she had to take additional coursework and audit classes to prepare. To become certified, she completed 1,600 hours of field work experience and passed the timed examination that covered all 10 FLE content areas.
“The CFLE status means I can share my experience so students in our department can take advantage of the opportunity to enter the workforce as a provisional CFLE upon graduation,” Brooks said. “I am also more confident in my ability to identify, develop and introduce special topics courses that can continue to prepare our students for their professional future. As a department, it also builds upon our commitment to our campus and students as the CFLE certification is awarded by our accreditation body.”