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Tameka O. Grimes

Tameka O. Grimes, Assistant Professor

Tameka Grimes portrait
Tameka O. Grimes, Assistant Professor

School of Education
1750 Kraft Drive
Room 2064 (0302)
Blacksburg, VA 24060
540-231-3323  |  togrimes@vt.edu

Tameka O. Grimes is an assistant professor of Counselor Education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She received her Ph.D. from the CACREP-accredited Counseling and Student Personnel Services, P-16 program at The University of Georgia. She completed her M.A. in Counseling from Wake Forest University and her B.A. in Psychology and Communication Studies from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Prior to completing her doctoral degree, Dr. Grimes worked as a middle school English teacher and as a high school counselor. She also served as Co-Director of Student Support Services at Foothills Charter School in Athens, GA. Her experiences in education fueled her current research interests, which include school counselor professional identity construction, development of comprehensive school counseling programs, the experiences of school counselors in rural communities, and school counselor self-efficacy for supporting students with emotional and behavioral differences. Dr. Grimes has had the opportunity to present on these topics at state, regional, and national conferences. Areas of Expertise School counseling School counseling in rural communities School counselor professional identity

  • School counseling
  • School counseling in rural communities
  • School counselor professional identity
  • PhD, The University of Georgia
  • MA, Wake Forest University
  • BA, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • American Counseling Association
  • National Rural Education Association
  • Association of Counselor Education & Supervision
  • American Educational Research Association
  • Editoral Boards / Activities
    • Virginia Counselors Journal, Editorial / Curatorial Board Member, 06-01-2019 -- present
    • Theory & Practice in Rural Education, Editorial / Curatorial Board Member, 06-01-2019 -- present
    • Teaching and Supervision in Counseling, Editorial / Curatorial Board Member, 07-01-2021 -- present
  • Outstanding Pre-Tenure Award, 2021
  • Association of Counselor Education and Supervision Research Grant, 2017
  • The University of Georgia’s J.W. Fanning Graduate Fellowship, 2016, 2017
  • National Board of Certified Counselors Minority Fellow, 2015

Book Chapter

Ziomek-Daigle, J., & Oliphant, T. "Strategies, approaches, and evidence-based practices in counseling children and adolescents." Counseling children and adolescents: Working in schools and clinical mental health settings. Routledge, 2017.

Research Grant, 4-VA Collaborative Grant,  Spring 2019

  • Co-PI for $5,000 project titled: Improving Student Outcomes through Data-Driven Practices among School Counselors
  • Collaborative project with University of Virginia, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, and Virginia Department of Education

New Faculty Mentoring Grant, Virginia Tech,  Spring 2019

  • $1,500 grant for mentorship program focused on increasing knowledge of comprehensive school counseling programs, as well as training and preparation of school counselors

Research Grant, Association of Counselor Education and Supervision, Fall 2017

  • PI for $800 project titled: Professional Identity Construction of School Counselors in Rural Communities: A Phenomenological Study
  • Grimes, T. O. (2020, October). The impact of racial trauma on our Black students. Guest lecture for Montgomery County Dialogue on Race Webinar Series, Christiansburg, VA.  
  • Grimes, T. O. (2020, June). School counselors supporting diverse student populations. Guest lecture for University of Denver’s Counseling Children, Adolescents, and Families online course. 
  • Presentation entitled, “The Impact of Racial Trauma on our Black Children” for Montgomery County’s Dialogue on Race group on Oct. 22, 2020. More than 300 people registered for the event, and over 200 people attended. The recording of the event has 168 views to date.  
  • Implemented Virginia Department of Education’s AdVAntage program in Roanoke City Schools. A collaboration between the Director of School Counseling and Equity (originally Taisha Steele, now Hayley Poland) and Virginia Tech’s Counselor Education Program, AdVAntage supports school counselors in developing and implementing comprehensive school counseling programs to impact student outcomes. Currently we are working with 8 school counselors. Mrs. Steele agreed to start a second cohort in Summer 2020, but this action has been delayed due to COVID and a change of leadership. Ms. Poland has agreed to adding another cohort in Summer 2021; our goal is to establish another cohort of 8-10 school counselors.

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