Dr. Smith teaches courses centered around social justice advocacy in educational counseling. His clinical experiences include over (18) eighteen years of counseling in collegiate, high school, and private practice settings. In addition, he has leadership experiences in student affairs having served as the Director of Counseling and Health Services and the Director of Housing and Residential Life.

Dr. Smith’s research centers around empowering young Black males. He has presented scholarly papers at international, national, state and local conferences on topics such as: Parent involvement factors from the perspectives of academically successful Black male college students; Exploring best practices for effectively serving and retaining African American college students impacted by trauma; Student retention; Family influence on student development; and the Impact of cultural trauma on African Americans. His other research plans include the training and development of counseling professionals, exploring the impact of Autism on Families of color, and the evaluation of counseling and supervision programs.

His professional projects include the “Empowering Young Black Males Summit” and the “Empowering Young Black Males Leadership Mentoring Program”. In addition, he provides mentorship and personal development workshops for Black male student athletes. Dr. Smith currently serves on the School of Education Social Justice, and International Committees.

Education

Ph.D., Counselor Education and Supervision, University of South Florida

M.S., Family and Child Studies, Specialization: Marriage and Family Therapy, Northern Illinois University

B.A., Psychology, Judson College

Scholarly Articles

• Smith, V.L.S.; Smith, S.M., Bethell, D.S., & Lapa, A. (2021). Parent involvement factors during high school from the perspectives of academically successful black male college students: Implications for school counselors. Professional School Counseling 25(1c), 1-10.
• Davis, E. S., Smith, V. L. S., Smith, S. M., Haberlin, S., Wolgemuth, J. (2020). Being a stay-at-home dad: Implications for mental health profession. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 1-9, DOI: 10.1177/1066480720906121
• Davis, E. S., Wolgemuth, J., Haberlin, S., Smith, V. L. S., & Smith, S. M. (2019). Stay-at-home dads’ experiences with their children’s elementary schools. Journal of School Counseling, 17:15, 1-35
• Xing, T., Smith, V. L. S., & Norton, A.L. (2017). Adoption of Black children by White parents in heterosexual and homosexual relationships: Exploring mental health trainees’ explicit and implicit attitudes.  Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services,  29( 3 ), 233-251.

Presentations/Invited Talks

• Ford, D.J., Branch, J., & Smith, V. (2020-Summer). The privilege of being blind: Dealing with cultural Blindspots, New Jersey Counseling Association Conference (NJCA), Online, NJ, USA

• Smith, V. L. S., (2019-Fall). Parent involvement factors from the perspective of academically successful Black male college students: Enhancing counselor’s competencies, American Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), Seattle, Washington, USA

• Davis, E. S., Smith, V. L. S., Smith, S. M., Haberlin, S., & Wolgemuth, J. (2019). Being a stay-at-home dad: Implications for mental health profession, American Counseling Association Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

• Pulliam, N., & Smith, V. L. S. (2019). Enhancing Inclusive Counseling Interventions: Understanding the Role of Parents in the Success of Black Male College Students, American College Counseling Association Conference, San Diego, California, USA

• Smith, V. L. S., & Pulliam, N. (2018). Parent involvement factors from the perspective of academically successful Black male college students: Enhancing counselor’s competencies, North Atlantic Region for Counselor Education and Supervision (NARACES), Burlington, Vermont, USA

• Smith, V. L. S. (2018). Enhancing student affairs personnel competencies: Parent involvement factors that mattered, from the perspective of academically successful Black male college students, NASPA Closing the Achievement Gap: Student Success in Higher Education Conference, Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Haberlin, S., Wolgemuth, J., Davis, E., Smith, V. L. S., & Smith, S. (2018). Liminalities of fatherhood: Critically analyzing power, privilege, and marginalization of /and stay-at-home dads, Interdisciplinary Symposium for Qualitative Methodologies, Florida, USA

Forthcoming

• Smith, V. L. S., Smith, S.M., & O’Brien. L. Monmouth’s Empowering Young Black Males Leadership Mentoring Program: A Catalyst for Retention, Access & Student Success (Accepted)

• Smith, V. L. S., Smith, S. M., Bethell, D.S., & Lapa, A. Parent involvement factors during high school from the perspective of academically successful Black male college students: Implications for School Counselors (Accepted)

• Smith, V. L. S., Rodriquez-Campos, L., Smith, S.M., & O’Brien. L. Using A Collaborative Approach for Evaluating Parent Involvement Programs to Support Black Males Academic Achievement. International Journal of Advanced Research (Accepted)

• Greason, W. D., Pulliam, N., & Smith, V. David Roediger, Critical Whiteness Encyclopedia, Brill (Accepted) • Greason, W. D., Pulliam, N., & Smith, V.

• Racial Consciousness, Critical Whiteness Encyclopedia, Brill (Accepted) (In Progress)

• Smith, S.M., & Smith, V. L. S. (2020-Fall). Experiences of Parents Seeking Services for Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Bahamas. International Conference on Urban Education, Nassau, Bahamas (Publish Proceedings proposal submitted)

• Pulliam, N., & Smith, V. (2020). Impacts of the Impostor Phenomenon on the Mental Health of First-Generation College Students of Color (Manuscript in progress)

Professional Associations

• American Counselors Association (ACA)
• Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES)
• North Atlantic Region Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (NARACES)
• National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
• Founder and Director, Empowering Young Black Males Leadership Mentoring Program at Monmouth University
• Faculty Athlete Mentor at Monmouth University

Awards

• North Atlantic Region for Counselor Education
  & Supervision (NARACES) Emerging Leaders Fellowship (2018-2019)

Grant Support/Academic Funding

Smith, V. L. S., Branch, J. (2020) Empowering Young Black Males Leadership Mentoring Program Evaluation. Monmouth University School of Education Transformative Learning Grant.