News

Cato College’s Sejal Foxx honored with de Silva Graduate Mentor Award

Sejal Parikh Foxx ’08 Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Counseling in the Cato College of Education, is one of this year’s recipients of the Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor Award. 

Considered a cornerstone of mentorship in the Ph.D. Program in Counselor Education and Supervision, Foxx was honored for supporting students both academically and personally during the Spring Faculty Awards ceremony, Thursday, May 1, in the Popp Martin Student Union.

Malcolm Butler, dean of Cato College of Education, said, “In the last 11 years, Dr. Foxx has emerged as the go-to mentor for Ph.D. students in counselor education and supervision. When a doctoral student lacks direction and cannot find their niche, they almost always end up in Dr. Foxx’s office, with her vast support behind them. She has chaired 14 dissertations and has been a contributing dissertation committee member on an additional 25 dissertations.”

“My decision to attend UNC Charlotte for my doctoral program was guided by my excitement to work with Dr. Foxx,” said Rachel Saunders ’14 M.A., ’20 Ph.D., adjunct professor at UNC Charlotte and school counselor at Southside High School in Greenville, South Carolina. “Students, including myself, would flock to Dr. Foxx for informal and formal support because of her warmth and her understanding and her unique ability to balance compassion with challenge that she provided to each student.”

Foxx has published 24 peer-reviewed articles with student co-authors, mentored students toward securing significant funding, and co-edited a book in 2023 with one of her former doctoral students. Her dedication to student success has had a profound impact on students’ careers, helping them secure positions at prestigious institutions across the country.

In 2016, Foxx founded the Urban School Counseling Collaborative, which has grown into a vital community for doctoral students and school counselor educators. Under her leadership, members of the collaborative have secured more than $5.2 million in grant funding, published 31 research papers, delivered 52 presentations, and won 11 distinguished awards.

Committed to enhancing research and academic achievement, Foxx has published 24 peer-reviewed articles with student co-authors, mentored students toward securing significant funding, and co-edited a book in 2023 with one of her former doctoral students. Her dedication to student success has had a profound impact on students’ careers, helping them secure positions at prestigious institutions across the country.

“From the first day I met Sejal, I knew she was exceptional, but I did not realize she would be someone who was greatly invested in my success, goals and dreams. It was not until I was seeking a chair for my dissertation that I began to realize the impact she would have on my life,” said Missy Moore, a Ph.D. program graduate and assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia. “With her support, wisdom and guidance, I was awarded the national 2020 Outstanding Dissertation Award in our field by the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.”

Foxx, who completed a Ph.D. in counseling from UNC Charlotte in 2008, earned a Master of Education in School Counseling and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of North Florida.

The Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor Award honors its namesake, an exceptional teacher, brilliant scholar and researcher and devoted servant of her profession and community. The award is given annually to the faculty member whose commitment to students, research and scholarly inquiry most closely exemplifies the spirit of de Silva.