COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM STUDENT HANDBOOK OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Transcription

1 COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM STUDENT HANDBOOK OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES School of Letters and Sciences Arizona State University June 2014

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Accreditation, 3 Professional Associations, 3 Training Values, 3 Advising, 4 Assistantships and Financial Aid, 5 Master s Equivalency Research, 5 M.A. Pass-through Degree, 6 Practicum and Fieldwork, 6 Program of Study and Petitioning, 7 Comprehensive Exam/Portfolio, 8 Dissertation Procedures and Doctoral Candidacy, 10 Internship, 12 Evaluation and Dismissal Policies, 13 Academic Integrity, 16 Grievance and Appeal Procedures, 16 Research Involvement, 16 Student-Faculty Relations, 17 Professional Behaviors and Social Network, 17 Forms, 18 Appendices 33

3 ACCREDITATION The Counseling Psychology Program at ASU (called CPY in the Handbook) is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association. For further information about accreditation, students may contact the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC, ; phone (202) ; fax (202) ; website PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS Becoming a member of a professional association related to counseling psychology is strongly encouraged. Membership entitles students to attend local and national conferences that serve as forums for exchanging the most current information in the field and provide an opportunity for meeting and interacting with other professionals. Membership usually includes subscription to the newsletters and flagship journals of the association and provides an opportunity to subscribe to specialty journals. Both conferences and publications provide information for further enhancing professional development, such as through specialty conferences and workshops. Conferences and newsletters are also invaluable in the job-seeking process. Membership is thus in many ways an index of professional identity and a means of professional socialization. Students in the program are especially encouraged to become affiliate members of APA and Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology). APA membership includes subscription to the APA Monitor, a monthly magazine, and an optional subscription to the journal American Psychologist. Membership in the Student Affiliate Group of Division 17 includes a subscription to the Student Affiliate Group Newsletter and Division 17 Newsletter, with an optional subscription to the journal The Counseling Psychologist. TRAINING VALUES The Counseling Psychology Program at Arizona State University subscribe, and expect all students to subscribe, to the current ethical standards of the psychology professions APA, 2010, see Appendix A). These standards apply to all aspects of professional behavior, including (but not limited to) the practice of counseling and psychotherapy, supervision, teaching, research, consultation, and collegial relations. In addition, the Programs are committed to creating and maintaining a positive training climate that (a) allows for open inquiry, free expression, and effective conflict resolution, and (b) promotes the understanding and affirmation of all aspects of human diversity. The specific implications of this position are elaborated as follows: Freedom of expression is protected and encouraged. Students are expected to express themselves in a professionally responsible manner that demonstrates respect for others. Certainly, people may differ regarding whether particular communications are respectful. Students are urged to work through such difficult situations by maintaining an open mind, respect and empathy for others, and a commitment to continuing the dialogue. When necessary, faculty may play a facilitative role in these difficult dialogues. An essential part of training is understanding and appreciating all aspects of human diversity, including sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, spirituality, economic status, ability, and age. Students are expected to use their training to free themselves, as much as possible, from prejudice related to any of these aspects of diversity. Again, people may differ regarding what constitutes prejudice, and students are encouraged to work through these issues in the manner described in Point 1 above. Unprotected forms of expression threats, verbal abuse, and harassment are not tolerated, and will be considered grounds for disciplinary action within the Programs. There are no acceptable excuses for such behavior; therefore, students

4 are cautioned about what they may say as a joke or in the heat of the moment. Throughout their training, students should expect to work with colleagues and clients who are different from themselves. Learning to work with different kinds of people is a central goal of professional training. Students who have difficulty in working with particular kinds of clients must address and resolve these difficulties in supervision. It is not acceptable for students to refuse to work with clients simply because the clients belong to a particular category of people (see Point 2 above). Nor is it acceptable for students to cite their own values as grounds for refusing to work with clients who are different for example, As a separatist, I refuse to work with men, Students who might find themselves taking such positions do not belong in the Counseling and Counseling Psychology Programs at ASU. ADVISING Students are assigned an advisor at admission to the program.. At the end of the first year, there will be a formal review conducted by the advisor and advisee to determine the appropriateness of the match (with respect to similarity of interests and styles). If both agree the advisor relationship will continue. If either thinks that the match is not best, then alternatives will be explored in consultation with the training director. An outcome of these meetings is that the Program Advisor Form should be signed and submitted to the faculty head. who places it in the student s permanent file. The program advisor guides the student in selecting coursework and practicum experiences, may serve as the student's advocate with the faculty, and represents the student in annual reviews (i.e., evaluations) of student progress. Students may change advisors at any time, if they wish, and if they find a new advisor willing to take them on. Any change in advisor must be communicated to (a) the current advisor, (b) the new advisor, and (c) the faculty head or director of training, using the Program Advisor Form, a copy of which is placed in the student s permanent file. Generally the program advisor will serve as the thesis and dissertation chair. But the dissertation chair is not a CPY faculty member, the student retains the CPY program advisor, whether or not the advisor is on the committee. The dissertation supervisory committee has a minimum of three members, two of whom (though not necessarily the chair) are CPY faculty members. Students choose committee members in consultation with the dissertation chair. The composition of the committee must be communicated to the committee members and faculty head or director of training, using the Committee Approval Form, which is placed in the student s permanent file. If this committee has different members than the committee that signed the Program of Study (see the Program of Study and Petitioning section of the Handbook), the student is also responsible to submit the Committee Approval Form to be placed in their permanent student file AND electronically enter their dissertation supervisory committee in their ipos. Other CPY faculty members who play important advising roles are the field work coordinator and internship coordinator. The field work coordinator has the following responsibilities: (a) to teach the field work course, (b) to serve as the program's liaison with field work sites and supervisors; (c) to assist students in seeking and choosing sites, through individual meetings, group meetings, and visits to practicum; (d) to work with the faculty in formulating field work requirements and responsibilities; (e) to work with the faculty in site development, and (f) to provide university-based clinical oversight of client work. [the coordinator is legally responsible, and viewed as the legally responsible by ASU, for the clinical work even though students have a site supervisor, so we need to add a statement like this]. The internship coordinator serves as the program's liaison with the internship sites where students are placed in a given year. The internship coordinator in close

5 communication with program advisors thus maintains contact with training directors at those sites, communicating the program's expectations about training and evaluation, receiving periodic evaluations of the interns, and responding to any concerns that arise about an intern or a site. The internship coordinator, director of training, and program advisors also assist students in applying for internship, through individual and group meetings in the fall of each year. ASSISTANTSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID Students wanting financial aid information should contact the Graduate Financial Assistance Office ( These are general guides to the various types of funding and applications available through that office. Students should also complete the Application for Graduate Research/Teaching Assistantship (available from the Graduate College website, graduate.asu.edu/forms). In addition to the Graduate Financial Assistance Office, information on financial assistance, including scholarships and fellowships, is summarized in the Graduate Catalog. Graduate assistantships may be obtained within the program and from other academic departments, administrative offices, and student services throughout the university. Assistantships variously involve teaching, teaching assistance, research, student services, and administration. As a consequence, they can provide important professional development experiences. Each assistantship has its own application procedure, including deadline, and its own job requirements and stipend. Assistantships range between quarter-time (10 hours per week) and half-time (20 hours per week), with stipends and benefits varying accordingly. All assistantships include a waiver of non-resident tuition for the period of the assistantship; in addition, assistantships of at least quarter time but below half time have a waiver of.50 of resident tuition, while halftime assistantships have a full waiver of resident tuition and inclusion in a health benefit plan. MASTER S EQUIVALENCY RESEARCH (students entering with a Master s degree) By the end of their second year in the program, students must participate substantively in at least one research project, which is called the master s equivalency. If the student has entered the program with a master s degree and completed a thesis as part of that degree, the thesis will be reviewed by the advisor and one other faculty member to see if it meets the equivalency requirement. The equivalency project is viewed as identical to a master s thesis completed at the university, except that it does not involve filing of any paperwork or the finished project itself with the Graduate College. If students are completing their master s equivalency within the program, they must enroll in 6 credits of CPY 792, Research. They may enroll for these credits any time prior to the completion of the project and may spread the credits over several semesters. The student is expected to work with an advisor in developing a master s equivalency proposal, consisting of a literature review, research questions, and methodology, to which materials to be used in the study are appended. The proposal is presented for approval to the student s master s equivalency supervisory committee, consisting of the advisor and at least two other faculty. The study is then conducted and the results written up, again under the advisor s supervision. Then, the master s equivalency is defended before the same committee, who determine whether it is approved. Evidence of completion of the master s equivalency is submitted to the faculty head, using the Master s Equivalency Research Form, which is then placed in the student s permanent file. Students must be done (i.e., successfully defended) with the thesis/thesis equivalency by May 15 of their second year in the program. Failure to complete this will result in the student being allowed to enroll only in practicum or fieldwork (if already committed) and thesis credit until the thesis is done. Also students who do not complete the thesis within this time span will not be supported on any program assistant lines (e.g., RA or TA lines) until

6 the thesis is completed. All students are required to submit an electronic copy of the FINAL form of their thesis equivalency on a CD to the Faculty Head. The file should be in PDF format. The CD file needs to be labeled: Lastname_Firstname_degree_yearofdegree (e.g., Tracey_Terence_PhD_1981). These electronic files will be loaded on the Program web pages. M.A. PASS-THROUGH DEGREE (direct admits) Students entering the program without a master s degree will work to receive the M.A. as part of the program. The degree may be useful in obtaining a fieldwork, as some sites prefer or require students to have master s degrees. Thirty credit hours are required for the M.A.; these are detailed in M.A. Pass-through Degree Requirements (Appendix E) and include 6 hours of thesis (CPY 599). These requirements may be completed while students are progressing toward the Ph.D. The program of study that must be submitted by the program for the M.A. is the Master s in Passing Request Form (available from the Graduate College website, graduate.asu.edu/forms). This Master s in Passing (MIP) request is to be submitted after student has completed credits to inform the Graduate College that the individual plans to complete the MIP. The student is then informed by the Graduate College to submit their MIP Program of Study form (see your ipos on your MyASU page). This ipos will not be approved by the Graduate College until your Ph.D. ipos has been approved. Students will also need to petition to include CPY 599 (thesis) credit as it is not part of the PhD program. Forms and manuals with specific information regarding thesis format and graduation deadlines are available from the Graduate College and should be consulted as soon as students begin to work on their thesis. Upon completion of the thesis, the student files a thesis defense form with the Graduate College and then files for graduation for the semester that they complete all M.A. pass-thorugh requirements. The procedures for the thesis oral and defense are identical to the dissertation and are specified in the dissertation section below. PRACTICUM AND FIELDWORK Students entering the program without prior practicum experience must take practicum prerequisite coursework and one semester of CED 680, a 6-credit practicum in the Counselor Training Center. All students in the program take two semesters of CPY 780, a 3-credit (per semester) practicum in the Counselor Training Center or alternative site. Students register for CED 680 through the Counselor Training Center and for CPY 780 through the program office. The faculty are responsible for placing students in practicum sections, which includes assignment to supervisors. In doing so, however, the faculty make every effort to accommodate students schedules. Concerns about supervisory assignments at any time during the course of practicum should be communicated to the faculty head and the director of the Counselor Training Center. They may, if it seems appropriate, forward these concerns to the faculty as a whole for a response. Students in the program are also required to take two semesters of CPY 783, a 3-credit (per semester) fieldwork experience in a campus or community agency, with on-site supervision. Students are responsible for determining their training needs for fieldwork and for applying to sites. Faculty, particularly the field work coordinator and students advisors, are responsible for working with students throughout the application process and for insuring the placement of students in appropriate sites (see the Advising section of the Handbook). Students must have completed their thesis (or thesis equivalency) by May 1 of their second year to be allowed to apply for field work. This involves completing the CPY Fieldwork Application Approval form that is reviewed by the faculty. If students are deemed to not be making adequate progress on their thesis, in the program, or have inadequate clinical skills, they will not be allowed to apply for fieldwork

7 Students who want to accrue more supervised practicum hours after completing two semesters of CPY 783 must continue to enroll in CPY 783 in subsequent semesters. Students who are enrolled in CPY 783 during the spring semester have the option of continuing through the summer without having to re-enroll in CPY 783 for the summer. In this instance, they would receive a grade of Z (continuing) for the spring semester, which would be changed to Y (pass) upon receipt of a letter of evaluation from the site supervisor indicating that the field experience has been satisfactorily completed. A faculty member must be designated as the contact for students continuing CPY 783 in the summer; the contact faculty member is available to respond should problems arise with a student or a site, and is the recipient of the final evaluations of students. For each practicum and field work experience, students should expect to receive written evaluations at least once per semester; copies of these evaluations are shared with students program advisors and placed in the students permanent files. These evaluations will use the Clinical Competency Evaluations form (Appendix F). Students should also insure that activity logs, signed by their supervisors, are placed in their permanent files. Students themselves should keep copies of all evaluations and activity logs, as well, since they are indispensable in applying for internship. Program policy for starting field work early is that (a) the student must be enrolled in the course, (b) the student must have paid tuition for that future semester, and (c) there must be a signed Affiliation Agreement between the program and the site. The CPY783 instructor is responsible for getting the Agreement signed by the site supervisor. Some field placement sites will require background checks, so all students should expect to undergo such background checks. PROGRAM OF STUDY AND PETITIONING Students are expected to complete all required coursework specified in the program guide, Doctoral Study in Counseling Psychology (Appendix C; also on the Counseling Psychology Program website, In particular, they are held accountable to the curriculum that was current when they entered the program. Course requirements are also listed on the Program of Study Checklist (Appendix C; also on the Counseling Psychology Program website). When enrolling for courses, students may want to follow the suggested CPY Program Sequence Map (Appendix D). Students have three responsibilities with respect to the Program of Study. 1. Very early in the program, students work with their program advisors to develop a semester-by-semester curriculum plan that includes all the required coursework of the program. It is at this time that they decide which previous coursework taken at other universities they might want to use in petitioning the faculty to waive required ASU coursework (see below). 2. Students complete the Doctoral Program of Study (ipos) online via their myasu link. However the ipos must be formally approved by the advisor and faculty head. This approval requires that the student print the ipos and get signatures from these two individuals before the ipos can be approved. The student should print out the ipos along with a completed course checklist and submit both together to the advisor and then the faculty head for signatures. These signatures are required before the ipos can be approved by the Graduate College.

8 3. Students complete all coursework on the ipos; however, to make changes to the ipos, a formal application must be submitted to the Graduate College, using the MyASU link. Changes to the ipos require approval from the student s advisor before they can be processed. Students are not permitted to graduate until all courses on their ipos have been completed. Students who have taken graduate coursework at other universities that may satisfy a program requirement at ASU may petition the faculty to waive the ASU requirement in favor of the previous coursework. A separate petition must be filed for each course. A petition consists of a cover sheet, the Petition for Course Substitution, the syllabus of the previously taken course, and any other materials (e.g., bibliographies, exams) that speak to the nature of the course. The student presents the petition to the advisor, who makes a determination of course equivalence. If the advisor is in doubt about equivalence, he or she consults with instructors of the relevant courses. If the petition is approved, the faculty head signs the form, gives a copy to the student, and places a copy in the student s file. Students may occasionally test out of a course, rather than petition, if they feel that prior coursework or experience has given them the knowledge covered in the course. This might be done, for example, in the case of basic counseling prerequisite coursework. In order to test out of a course, a student needs to meet with the current instructor of the course to determine (a) whether the instructor will allow the student to attempt to test out and (b) what tasks must be completed and at what level of performance. The program requires that the level of performance not be lower than a B. The student then submits the Testing Out of a Course form to the course instructor and advisor for approval and then proceeds with the tasks for testing out. Once the tasks have been successfully completed, the student submits the Testing Out of a Course form to the course instructor and advisor for final signatures. This form is then given to the Faculty Head. Students do not receive grades for courses they have tested out of, nor do the courses appear on the ipos. COMPREHENSIVE EXAM PORTFOLIO The Graduate College requires that all students complete a written comprehensive examination prior to being admitted to candidacy. The program has elected to use a portfolio in addition to the written exam as its comprehensive assessment. The comprehensive portfolio is designed to establish essential tasks for students to demonstrate professional competencies outside the area of clinical practice. Practice is excluded from the portfolio because the practicum, fieldwork, and internship experiences required of all students allow for the systematic development of clinical skills and the thorough evaluation of those skills. (See the separate clinical competencies document in Appendix E). The portfolio establishes a comparable set of tasks and accompanying evaluations with which students can demonstrate competency in research and scientific writing, professional presentation, teaching, grant development, clinical supervision, consultation, and professional leadership. The portfolio itself consists of the documentation relevant to the completion of five tasks, as well as a Comprehensive Portfolio Checklist, which summarizes the documentation, and a copy of the Program of Study (ipos) as filed with the Graduate College prior to the submission of the completed portfolio (see the Program of Study and Petitioning section of the Handbook). The required documentation is indicated below, along with the description of the tasks. The student should submit to the advisor comps materials, with the checklist, as requirements are met. This submission should be in the form of electronic files. It is the student s responsibility to ensure that the advisor has current electronic copies of all comps materials. Once the portfolio is complete (in that the advisor has a final pdf file of the portfolio checklist and all supporting documents), a copy of the Comprehensive Portfolio Checklist, signed by the student s advisor then submitted to the Director of Clinical Training, who places the signed Comprehensive Portfolio Checklist in the student s permanent file. In addition, the Report of Doctoral Comprehensive Examination is completed and signed by the student s committee and Faculty Head who will give this form to the administrative assistant to

9 enter it into your MyASU. Using MyASU will allow the student to track that the Comprehensive Examination is properly recorded. The tasks and documentation requirements for the Comprehensive Examination Portfolio are as follows (the first two of which comprise the written component): Three Required Tasks Task 1. The student must serve as lead or sole author on a paper presented at a regional, national, or international professional conference. 2. The student must serve as lead or sole author on a research manuscript submitted to a national refereed journal; the manuscript must be deemed publishable by the student s advisor. 3. The student must serve as a teaching assistant for one semester. (Note that the student must actually assume a teaching role, not the role of an aide. Also this teaching must be face-to-face) Documentation Acceptance letter from the conference; page from conference program listing the presentation; copy of the paper. Written acknowledgement of receipt of the manuscript from the journal editor; memo from the student s advisor attesting that the manuscript is publishable; copy of the manuscript. (Note. It is not necessary that the manuscript be accepted for publication.) Course evaluations specifically attesting to the student s adequacy as a teacher; written feedback from a faculty member who has observed one class session, again attesting to the student s adequacy as a teacher (this evaluation must include the Teaching Competency Rating Form) ; copy of the course syllabus. Two of the Following Five Tasks Required (Student must complete either option B or C) Task Documentation A. The student must serve as lead or sole author on Written acknowledgement of receipt of the grant a research or program grant (not a travel grant) from the agency to which it is submitted; memo submitted to an internal (university) or a principal from the student s advisor attesting that the grant in an application to an external agency. The grant meets the RFP stipulations; copy of the grant. must include a proposal and a budget. B. The student must supervise a master s-level counseling student for one semester of practicum, under the rubric of the supervision practicum in Counseling Psychology. Written feedback from the supervision course instructor attesting to the student s satisfactory supervision; satisfactory grade in the supervision course. C. Student must serve as a case consultant in the internship class where focus in placed on assisting students conceptualize their cases. D. The student must serve as an organizational consultant, or co-consultant, with a faculty member, to an organization. This organization may be academic, professional, commercial, industrial, governmental, not-for-profit or the like. The consultation may include (but is not limited to) such strategies as needs assessment, training, conflict resolution and group facilitation. Written feedback from the internship course instructor attesting to the student s satisfactory case conceptualization. In addition student must complete a 5-8 page paper detailing how the experience fit with case consultation theory. The adequacy of this paper is assessed by the advisor. Written feedback from the student s consultation supervisor attesting to the student s satisfactory work as a consultant; copies of any reports or materials developed (if these are not confidential).

10 E. The student must serve in a professional leadership or advocacy role within the psychological profession for one academic year, as committee member of volunteer. Letter from the student s supervisor in the association describing the student s activities; time log signed by supervisor. DISSERTATION PROCEDURES AND DOCTORAL CANDIDACY The Graduate College establishes standards and procedural guidelines for fulfilling doctoral candidacy and dissertation requirements. These are described in the Graduate Catalog. In addition, forms and manuals with specific information regarding dissertation format and graduation deadlines are available from the Graduate College and should be consulted as soon as students begin to work on their dissertation. Dissertation Proposal and Doctoral Candidacy The dissertation proposal process has essentially four steps and culminates in the student's admission to doctoral candidacy. First, the student chooses a dissertation chair and other members of the dissertation supervisory committee, as described in the Advising section of the Handbook. Second, the student works closely with the chair and, as appropriate, committee members to develop a dissertation proposal, or prospectus. The form of the proposal varies somewhat according to faculty preference, so it is important for the student to learn what the particular chair's expectations are for the proposal. Generally, however, the proposal provides a statement of problem, rationale for the research, research questions or hypotheses, literature review, methodology (including the projected data analysis), and references, with ancillary materials appended. It should also be prepared in current APA style. Third and only after completing the comprehensive portfolio the student schedules a proposal meeting with the chair and committee to receive formal feedback on the proposal and approval to proceed with the dissertation research. At least one week prior to the meeting, the student gives the committee copies of the proposal. Fourth, after the proposal has been approved by the committee, the student gives the completed and signed Report of the Doctoral Dissertation Proposal form to the Faculty Head. Once this form has been approved by the Graduate College, the student is considered to have been admitted to doctoral candidacy. The dissertation proposal must be completed and approved by the supervisory committee no later than of the calendar year in which students intend to apply for internship. Completing the Dissertation Unless a different arrangement is made at the proposal meeting, the student's chair has the primary role of overseeing implementation of the dissertation research. Any substantial changes in the approved project, however, are communicated in writing to the committee. Once the research has been conducted and the data have been analyzed, the other committee members once again become more actively involved in supervising the write-up. The Graduate College provides workshops on various phases of the dissertation process throughout the academic year, and these can be very helpful. Students should also obtain from the Graduate College a Format Manual, which provides very useful guidance in writing the dissertation. Of course, students should use current APA style in the write-up, as well. The Graduate College s Formatting Tool generates a template into which you can inset your document s text. The formatting tool is designed to help students with the basic format requirements such as margins and spacing, and greatly improves the format review process for students. Finally, the Graduate