Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy

Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy is Dean and Professor of Education in the School of Education at American University in Washington, DC.Previously, she was Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), and a Professor of Counseling and Human Development at the JHU School of Education. She was an affiliate faculty member in the Center for Africana Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

Before her tenure in the JHU Provost's Office, Holcomb-McCoy was Vice Dean of Academic Affairs and Chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Services at the JHU School of Education. Previously she was Associate Professor of Counselor Education at the University of Maryland, College Park and Assistant Professor and Director of the School Counseling Program at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.She has a Ph.D. in Counseling and Educational Development from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (1996), an M.Ed. in School Counseling from University of Virginia, School Counseling (1989) and a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from University of Virginia (1986).

While at Johns Hopkins University, she developed and initiated the Faculty Diversity Initiative, a $25 million university-wide initiative.

Holcomb-McCoy specializes in the measurement of multicultural self-efficacy and cultural competence in school counseling, evaluation of urban school counselor training and preparation, and counselor influence on low-income students’ college readiness. She is an American Counseling Association (ACA) Fellow.

Holcomb-McCoy is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Counseling and Development.She has served on numerous journal editorial boards, including the Professional School Counseling Journal, Journal for Specialists in Group Work, and Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology.

Holcomb-McCoy is the author of the book, "School Counseling to Close the Achievement Gap:A Social Justice Framework" (2007, Corwin Press).

Holcomb-McCoy is married to Alvin McCoy, III and has two children, Niles and Nia McCoy.

Holcomb-McCoy served as a Faculty Lilly Fellow at the University of Maryland.In 2009, she was awarded the Mary Smith Arnold Anti-Oppression Award at the American Counseling Association conference. Because of her expertise in college counseling, Holcomb-McCoy was selected to participate as a consultant to the Obama Administration's Reach Higher Initiative. In July 2014, she was one of the plenary speakers at the White House's Summit on Higher Education held at Harvard University.

• Holcomb-McCoy, C.(2005).An examination of urban and suburban school counselors’ familiarity with and usage of computer technology.Journal of Technology in Counseling, 4.
• Holcomb-McCoy, C.(2005). Ethnic identity in early adolescence: Implications and recommendations for middle school counselors.Professional School Counseling, 9, 120-127.
• Holcomb-McCoy, C.(2005).Social skills instruction with African American students: Implications for school counselors.Counseling Interviewer, 37, 10-17.
• Holcomb-McCoy, C.(in press).Transitioning to high school: Issues and challenges for African American students.Professional School Counseling.
• Holcomb-McCoy, C. & Lucas, A.(2006).The underachievement of African American students: Why can’t we close the gap?The Counseling Interviewer.
• Holcomb-McCoy, C., & Adkinson-Bradley, C.(2005). African American counselors educators’ job satisfaction and perceptions of departmental racial climate.Counselor Education & Supervision, 45, 2-15.
• Holcomb-McCoy, C.(2005).Investigating school counselors’ perceived multicultural counseling competence.Professional School Counseling, 8, 414-423.
• Holcomb-McCoy, C.(2005).Empowerment of African American girls:A response. Professional School Counseling, 8, 390-391.