The Institution
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A. The institutional media accurately describe the academic unit and each program offered, including admissions criteria, accreditation status, delivery systems used for instruction, minimum program requirements, matriculation requirements (e.g., examinations, academic-standing policies), and financial aid information.
RESPONSE:The 2010-2011 Eastern Kentucky University Graduate Catalog, provides descriptions of each program offered through the College Of Education, includingadmissions criteria, accreditation status,program requirements, and matriculationrequirements. The Catalog features a summary of the Mental Health (MHC) and School Counseling (SC) Programs and provides a complete listing of courses, their prerequisites, and matriculation requirements.
The Graduate School’s website, http://gradschool.eku.edu/assistantships-awards, provides extensive links for applications, scholarships, financial aid information, etc. at the university level.
The Counseling Department’s web site, http://www.education.eku.edu/CEP/default.php. and student handbook, http://coecounseling.eku.edu/student-handbook also contain a description of each program offered, program requirements, admissions criteria, financial aid information and delivery systems used for instructions.
As part of our review for self study, we found the 2010-2011 Graduate Catalog had several pieces of incorrect information which has been outlined in Department Minutes dated March 2, 2011. In addition, the Catalog had omitted the Admission Requirements for the Mental Health Counseling Program and incorrectly stated the required score on the MAT graduate exam as 365 instead of 375. The appropriate paperwork to correct these errors was initiated in Spring 2011 and is currently going through the university process for approval.
Graduate Catalogue Proposed Changes:
- Correction to remove COU 814 and substitute COU 849 on MHC degree
- Correct catalogue admission requirements to drop the PLT/Praxis for school counselors
- Change course title and description of EPY 869 to Research and Program Evaluation
- Change course title and description of EPY 839 to Human Growth and Development
- Change course title and add consultation to description of COU 803 to Mental Health Counseling and Consultation
- Change course title and add consultation to description of COU 814 to Administration and Consultation in School Counseling
- Add Department Chair approval as a prerequisite to COU 826 Assessment in Counseling for the IIA cohort
- Drop EPY 816 Tests and Measurement as a prerequisite for COU 822 Career Counseling
- Add prerequisites of COU 813, 840, and 846 to COU 849 Addiction Disorders
Counseling - Add prerequisite of COU 880 to COU 881 Internship class and change description to 600 hour requirement.
B. The academic unit is clearly identified as part of the institution’s graduate degree offerings and has primary responsibility for the preparation of students in the program; the respective areas of responsibility and the relationships among and between them must be clearly documented.
RESPONSE: The Mental Health Counseling Masters of Arts program and the Masters of Arts in Education, School Counseling specialization program are clearly identified within the Counseling and Educational Psychology Department in the Eastern Kentucky University 2010-2011 Graduate Catalog, page 73-75. All required core, specialization and clinical instruction courses for both programs are under the supervision of the Counseling and Educational Psychology Department.
C. The institution is committed to providing the program with sufficient financial support to ensure continuity, quality, and effectiveness in all of the program’s learning environments.
RESPONSE:The Counseling and Educational Psychology Department is one of five departments in the College of Education and is funded on a par with these other academic departments and comparatively with departments throughout the university. The total budget for the department for 2010-2011 was $758,035.00, $29198 for M & O and $728,837 for Personnel, and this budget does not include additional funds available to the department for things such as technology support and professional development support. The College of Education budget is linked here.
D. The institution provides encouragement and support for program faculty to participate in professional organizations and activities (e.g., professional travel, research, and leadership positions).
RESPONSE:In addition to professional development support provided by the department from its budget, additional funds have been provided by the provost ($600 per faculty member), by the grad school (up to $500 per faculty member) (http://gradschool.eku.edu/faculty-travel-support) and by the Dean’s office through direct funding ($500 per faculty member) and other opportunities to earn professional development monies by participation in our Professional Learning Communities ($250 per semester per participant, $500 per semester per leader) or by participating in things like our Professional Education Fellows Program (up to $2500 per year)(http://www.coe.eku.edu/field_services/professional_education_fellows.php).
E. Access to learning resources is appropriate for scholarly inquiry, study, and research by program faculty and students.
RESPONSE:The Eastern Kentucky University Library currently houses 654,000 volumes. The collections include books, journals, reference works, government documents, and pamphlets, newspapers, maps, videos, sound recordings, and microforms. Twenty two library faculty and additional professional and support staff make the collection available to the University community. The library is open 101.5 hours each week, library faculty provide extensive reference service and spend time working individually with students as they complete assignments and prepare papers, speeches, and research reports of all kinds.
The library at EKU is a member of the State-Assisted Academic Library Council of Kentucky (SAALK) and the Federation of Kentucky Academic Libraries (FOKAL) Consortium, which maintains a database linking university libraries in the region. Through these consortiums EKU students and faculty can easily access library materials from other campuses. A delivery system enables timely movement of materials from one campus to another. In addition to its own collection, EKU Library has internet connections with academic and large public libraries throughout the world and with major bibliographic and information databases and makes this information available through the World Wide Web both inside the library and also to the dorms, offices and homes of EKU students and employees. The library currently subscribes to 39 online education related databases providing access to over 2,072 electronic journals.
The library has 126 computers available for student use and includes both wired and wireless networks for patrons with their own laptop computers. Photocopy machines and microform readers/printers are available for student use. Study spaces are available for students and include group study areas, and quiet carrels. Visit the EKU library website at http://www.library.eku.edu/new/index.php
The library maintains an active instructional program to teach students how to take fulladvantage of the wide range of services and resources offered by the library. In the Professional Orientation class (COU 813) specific library database orientations were held in the last year and students were encouraged to attend a general library orientation.
In addition, the Eastern Kentucky University Teaching and Learning Center (http://www.tlc.eku.edu/) provides access to faculty development activities, books, journals and Center-sponsored conference trips.
F. The institution provides technical support to program faculty and students to ensure access to information systems for learning, teaching, and research.
RESPONSE:The Counseling and Educational Psychology Program has a team of administrators, faculty, staff, and students dedicated to supporting the use of technology for communication, instruction, research, and professional development. Resources within the program include smart classrooms, PC desktop and laptop computers, clinical instruction observation and taping rooms, and three student computer labs in our building. One lab and the College Technology Office (http://coe.eku.edu/tech/) are located on the same floor as the Counseling Faculty offices. The Technology Office has a full time Resource Manager, Web Master, and a Web and Desktop Support person available to assist faculty with technological components of course design and delivery and is available to troubleshoot problems that occur during class meetings or during professional events held in the building. Faculty is also able to schedule the lab for semester long classes and for individual sessions to demonstrate software applications such as SPSS for research courses.
EKU also supports Blackboard, a class platform for offering an online component to courses. Most counseling courses utilize blended or 100% online classes using Blackboard. Students can access information and training on blackboard at http://it.eku.edu/ . Additionally, faculty can get training on using different forms of technology for instruction from the Instructional Development Center http://www.idc.eku.edu/. Individual workshops are also provided as part of the services available through the Teaching and Learning Center http://www.tlc.eku.edu/.
G. The institution provides information to students in the program about personal counseling services provided by professionals other than program faculty and students.
RESPONSE:The EKU Counseling Center located on campus in the Student Services Building is staffed by mental health professionals who are not affiliated with the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology. The University Counseling Center (http://www.counseling.eku.edu/) offers a variety of services which are free to EKU students including personal counseling, psychiatric services, group counseling, referral services, career counseling, and substance abuse services. Crisis services as well as a variety of psycho-educational groups are also available. Additionally, the EKU Psychology Clinic (http://www.psychology.eku.edu/), located on campus in the Cammack Building, provides mental health service that is available to students on a sliding fee scale. The students in the Counseling and Educational Psychology programs are made aware of these university-based services as well as other mental health services provided in the community at large.
H. A counseling instruction environment (on or off campus) is conducive to modeling, demonstration, supervision, and training, and is available and used by the program. Administrative control of the counseling instruction environment ensures adequate and appropriate access by faculty and students. The counseling instruction environment included all of the following.
1. Settings for individual counseling, with assured privacy and sufficient space for appropriate equipment.
RESPONSE:The EKU Counseling program does not have an on-campus clinic where clients are served. We do have classroom, seminar rooms and individual and group counseling observation rooms. All on campus rooms utilized for clinical instruction can provide options for videotaping and video playback and are set up to ensure confidentiality. Two rooms are set up with video equipment and one way observations areavailable in the Combs Building. We also share clinic space used for our techniques classes and other advanced skills classes in the Wallace building. Each of these seven rooms in the Wallace building has one way mirror observation, video observation and recording and communication capabilities.
2. Settings for small-group work, with assured privacy and sufficient space for appropriate equipment.
RESPONSE:As stated above,we do have classroom, seminar rooms and individual and group counseling observation rooms. All on campus rooms utilized for clinical instruction can provide options for videotaping and video playback and are set up to ensure confidentiality. Additionally, the observation rooms described above in both Combs and Wallace buildings can be used for group instruction and all are set up to assure privacy.
3. Necessary and appropriate technologies and other observational capabilities that assist learning.
RESPONSE:As described above in 1 and 2, the department faculty and students have access to all forms of technologies in both classroom and experiential use settings.
4. Procedures that ensure that the client’s confidentiality and legal rights are protected.
RESPONSE:As stated earlier, program does not have an on-campus clinic where clients are served. However, as we mention above, we do have classroom, seminar rooms and individual and group counseling observation rooms. All of these rooms utilized for clinical instruction can provide options for videotaping and video playback and are set up to ensure confidentiality
RESPONSE:The EKU Counseling program does not have an on-campus clinic. We have classroom, seminar rooms and individual and group counseling observation rooms. All on campus rooms utilized for clinical instruction can provide options for videotaping and video playback and are set up to ensure confidentiality. The Faculty Coordinator for Clinical Instruction, Dr. Sommer, works with our out site partners to jointly determine the specific placement of students in practicum and internship/fieldwork sites. Before a site is approved, we review the diversity requirement, supervision requirement, procedures for ensuring client confidentiality, videotaping requirement, and assess the willingness of the out site supervisor to provide a comprehensive experience that will support the learning outcomes and the mandatory one hour of clinical supervision for the intern. During the semester before the placement, candidates communicate with the site to schedule a meeting with their direct supervisor, and, once this contact is made, the candidate and the out site supervisor fill out required paperwork to finalize the placement.