Gregory Eells currently serves as Cornell's executive director of CAPS. (Photo from Leo Charney)
After more than nine months of searching for a permanent director of Counseling and Psychological Services, Gregory Eells has been named its next executive director, the University announced Jan. 11.
Eells, who is currently the executive director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Cornell University, will assume the position in March. Penn's CAPS has been operating without a director since former Executive Director Bill Alexander retired after nine years in the role. Eells will replace Deputy Executive Director Meeta Kumar, who has been leading CAPS since September.
“I have dedicated over 15 years of my professional career to providing mental health care to thousands of Cornell students through my work in CAPS,” Eells told the Cornell Daily Sun. “It is with a mix of sadness and excitement that I leave to take the Executive Director of CAPS position at the University of Pennsylvania.”
Eells will work closely with newly appointed Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé to "oversee the next generation of enhancements to CAPS that emerged from last year’s operational review," Provost Wendell Pritchett wrote in a press release.
Pritchett added that the University aims to "increase capacity" and "decrease the time between a first consultation and a first counseling appointment."
Before joining Cornell, Eells also served as director of the University Counseling Center at the University of Southern Mississippi for five years.
Eells earned a master's degree in psychology from Eastern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Oklahoma State University. He has taught several graduate and undergraduate courses on counseling, social psychology, and developmental psychology.
The incoming director also served as president of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors and as chair of the mental health section of the American College Health Association in 2014.
“Greg Eells will be a vital collaborator in our campus-wide initiatives to sustain wellness across the university,” Pritchett wrote in the press release. “In particular, his vision and experience will be invaluable as we continue to improve and integrate our services dedicated to student wellness."
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