Professional Practice
SECTION III. Professional Practice
Standard III.A.1-3
Although it appears this standard is met, it would be useful to identify for this standard which faculty are assigned as supervisors. Evidence provided for the standard is the same faculty table as was provided for Section I, and the table does not include information on supervision training and experience (Standard A.3) of faculty who serve in this role.
Response: Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology faculty who teach practicum and internship courses include faculty members Dr. Ken Engebretson, Dr. Bianca Puglia, Dr. Larry Sexton, Dr. Carol Sommer, Dr. Kim Naugle and Dr. Muriel Stockburger. Tim Robertson serves in this capacity as adjunct faculty when needed. Each of the above noted faculty or adjunct faculty completed a supervision course during their doctoral training or is currently a state or national approved clinical supervisor.
Standard III.C.1-3
The visiting team may wish to review the contract or position description used by the department that delineates requirements for supervisors. Sample vitae do not provide assurance that all supervisors meet criteria specified by the standard. It is recommended that the program develop a chart detailing the specified qualifications for current site supervisors.
Response: The requirements for site supervisors are reviewed in the Practicum and Internship Handbook, in the Frequently Asked Questions section as well as in two components of the practicum/internship application materials including the Agreement (page 24) between the University, the Site, and the Student as well as the Site Supervisor Information page.
The completion of the CACREP Self-Study and addendum has been helpful as we looked at the Site Supervisor Training requirement. There is no information available regarding site supervisor training prior to fall of 2010. Since that time, the EKU Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology has offered the Site Supervisor Training in September, 2010; February, 2011; and October, 2011. Below is a list of site supervisors who have attended the most recent trainings. In the next paragraph, an elaboration for how we will further enhance, and require, this training is thoroughly discussed.
Site Supervisor Record of Attendance at Department Site Supervisor Training
Fall 2010 – Spring 2011
October 6, 2011 (Training conducted by Carol Sommer and Bianca Puglia)
Lydia Akin Specialized Alternatives for Family and Youth
Lexington, KY
Melissa Midkiff Martha Lane Collins High School
Shelbyville, KY
Patti Abney Scott County Schools
Georgetown, KY
Aaron Dowdell IMPACT East
Lexington, KY
Sharon Martin Hospice of the Bluegrass
Lexington, KY
Shawn Luchtefeld Hope Center
Lexington, KY
Gillian Ditts River Ridge Elementary
Villa Hills, KY
February 11, 2011 (Training conducted by Tim Robertson.)On this date there were 12 site supervisors registered to attend and the training was conducted; however, a sign-up sheet was not distributed to confirm registration.)
September 30, 2010 (Training conducted by Carol Sommer and Tim Robertston)
Donna Butler Clinton County High School
Albany, KY
Rhonda Abner Knox County Middle School
Barbourville, KY
Carol Johnson Wyan-Pine Grove Elementary School
London, KY
Steve Johnson University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Lexington, KY
Sarah Hurt Mercer County Senior High School
Harrodsburg, KY
April Cain Henry Clay Elementary School
Lexington, KY
Anne Hoffman Cumberland River Comprehensive Care
McKee, KY
Debbie Laboone Jessie Clark Middle School
Lexington, KY
Libby Kenney Morton Middle School
Lexington, KY
The CACREP Self Study and the addendum have been a helpful, evaluative process for our faculty to review and revise the format in which site supervisor training is offered.
As noted, no records were available for site supervisor training which occurred before the fall of 2010. Since then, three trainings have been offered. When students complete the application process, all parties (site, student, and department) indicate and expect the site supervisor to attend the department’s site supervisor training if he or she has not previously done so. Although during the application process, site supervisors agree to attend, in actuality, some follow through and others do not. In these instances, as this is a rural area with limited access to sites, it was a challenging question to determine the best, and most just, course of action. Would it be best to remove the student from any site in which the site supervisor fails to attend the training or to allow the student to continue, as sites are limited and the Site Supervisor Training has been held within the first (approximate) month of classes?
In response to the question above, faculty collaboratively designed a pilot plan in which our goal is to have 100% compliance with the required attendance of the Department’s Site Supervisor Training. Our ultimate goal is to have the training offered completely on-line by the summer of 2012 to facilitate attendance as our sites are oftentimes located some distance from campus. An on-line supervision training program is currently in development and a pilot of the program will be offered in the spring of 2012.
An important element of the on-line training for supervisors is that it will be fine-tuned to focus on either school counseling students or clinical mental health counseling students in accordance with our determination this fall (2011) to have separate clinical practice courses for specialization to allow for greater conformity to the 2009 CACREP Standards. Additionally, in the spring 2012, we will still offer the on-the-ground training for a final semester as the required on-line training is phased in which, as noted, is to be the only official means of site supervisor training in the future. Of course, site supervisors will still have access to any faculty teaching the practicum and internship classes for any additional questions or concerns. Once this on-line training is fully functioning, we will require site supervisors to complete the training once every three (3) years or students will not be allowed to both serve and learn at the related site. We believe that as we move toward the on-line only site supervisor training, which is to be piloted this spring 2012 and fully implemented by the summer of 2012, we will benefit site supervisors as well as the students with whom they work.
Standard III.C.4
It is not clear that the supervision training is required. Please provide clarification of how the program ensures that all current site supervisors have relevant training in counseling supervision.
Response: The Application for Practicum and Internshipasks site supervisors to identify if they have had previous training in supervision. Additionally, site supervisors sign an agreement indicating they will take the training our department offers. As noted in the above response to Items C. 1-3, the completion of the CACREP Self-Study and the related addendum have been very helpful for our program review in terms of how site supervisor training is to be offered. Beginning in the summer of 2012, the training will be fully on-line and we will require 100% compliance with all site supervisors. During the spring of 2012, the on-the-ground training will be offered as well as the transition is made while the on-line training is piloted. Site supervisors will be required to complete the training once every three (3) years or students will not be allowed to complete their clinical practice at the site in question. We believe this approach will enhance the availability of the training as some of our sites are located far from our campus. The on-line version of the training is being piloted this spring and will be available for review by the CACREP team during their visit March 18 – 21, 2012.
Standard III.D
The Self Study does not address whether professional development opportunities are provided for site supervisors.
Response: The Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, since the fall of 2010, has offered a Site Supervisor Training relatively early in each fall and spring semester. Site supervisors receive CEUs for this training. At this time, no other training or professional development opportunities are offered to site supervisors other than the Site Supervisor Training.
Standards III.F.5 and III.G.6
It is unclear whether the new PCPE final evaluation will be used for the final evaluation in both the practicum and the internship. It is also not clear whether the new PCPE is intended to replace the site supervisor evaluation as well (or if the PCPE will only be completed by the course instructor). It should be noted that the midterm and final evaluations provided as evidence for Standard F.5 (practicum) are both titled as internship evaluations. In term of serving as one means for documenting student learning outcomes, it may be helpful to cross reference the items on the PCPE with related program area standards.
Response:In the spring of 2011, department faculty agreed to use the Professional Counselor Performance Evaluation (PCPE)to evaluate students in the clinical sequence of practicum and internship as well as other courses which have a practical component such as counseling techniques (COU 846) and group counseling (COU 820). The development of the PCPE and its use are described in an article appearing in the Journal of Counselor Education and Supervision, in June 2002, entitled “Systematic Evaluation of Professional Performance: Legally Supported Procedure and Process” by Kerr, Garcia, McCullough, and Maxwell. This form will be completed for each student in practicum and internship as a final evaluation by a faculty supervisor. In addition to the PCPE completed by faculty, students receive a mid-term and end of the semester evaluation from their site supervisors. The mid-term and final evaluations completed by site supervisors are the same form and the title of these forms has been changed to Practicum/Internship Mid-Term Evaluationand Practicum/Internship End of Semester Evaluation.
Our department and programs are continually being evaluated and improved as our goal is to provide the best training possible to our students. The above noted suggestion concerning cross referencing the items on the PCPE with related program area standards is one that will be helpful for the department to consider as we continuously engage in program evaluation and improvement. As the above noted instrument (PCPE) was developed as a comprehensive assessment to evaluate both content and disposition of students, faculty will carefully consider how best to meet this suggestion.