Oakley named director of counseling and consultation services

Danielle Oakley has been selected as the new UHS director of counseling and consultation services at University Health Services (UHS), according to UHS executive director Sarah Van Orman. UHS is the student health center of UW–Madison.

Oakley comes to UHS from Fort Collins, Colo., where she served as director of counseling services and strategic initiatives for Colorado State University (CSU).

“Dr. Oakley is a demonstrated leader with extensive experience in college mental health,” says Van Orman. “She is passionate and committed to providing students with the highest quality of mental health care to support student growth and well-being.”

UHS Counseling and Consultation Services provides more than 17,000 outpatient visits per year to approximately 10 percent of the UW student population. In addition to individual counseling, UHS has 24-crisis intervention services, group counseling, relationship counseling, multicultural counseling, psychiatry, and medication management. UHS staff also offer a number of wellness services, such as yoga classes, meditation classes, stress management, and smoking cessation.

“I am deeply honored to be selected as counseling director for UHS,” says Oakley. “I look forward to building on past accomplishments and progress to ensure UHS continues to meet the mental health needs of UW students and contributes to making the Madison campus a healthy and welcoming environment.”

“I’m also very excited to move to Madison and call myself a Badger,” adds Oakley, whose undergraduate degree is from the University of Iowa. “It will be great to be back in the heart of the Big Ten.”

In addition to her clinical and administrative duties as director at CSU, Oakley was tapped to be a pioneer member of a suicide prevention task force; she served on the student and employee consultation teams and implemented an integrated behavioral health program.

Her efforts toward helping students make connections on campus — a major factor in student retention — established CSU’s group therapy program as one of the largest in the country.

Oakley earned a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Kentucky, a master’s in community counseling from Loyola University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Iowa.

Oakley’s duties will begin on July 15. She will earn an annual salary of $120,000.