Doctoral Program Structure and Expectations
The doctoral program in counselor education is designed to prepared graduates to assume academic position in which they will function as “scholar-practitioners” who are committed to teaching and to creating knowledge about counseling practice and preparation through their research. All entrants to our doctoral program are expected to have earned a masters degree in counseling or a related field. Students are expected to complete our doctoral program in a four-year period and to be continuously enrolled during those four years.
Students are expected to select their doctoral chairperson and supervisory committee members and to formulate their doctoral planned program and submit their planned program for their supervisory committee approval by the end of their first year in the program. During the first two years of the program students typically enroll in a sequence of 5 doctoral level seminars in counselor education required of all counselor education doctoral students, 12 credits of research methodology courses required by their College of Education, and an array of specialization courses. In their third year students are expected to: (a) complete a semester-long counselor education internship focused on teaching and supervision , (b) complete a semester-long clinical internship* and (c) successfully complete their written and oral doctoral qualifying examinations. The fourth year of the program is typically devoted to the student preparing their dissertation research proposal, formally presenting this proposal to their committee for approval, and then implementing their dissertation research study. In addition to these formal course commitments, students are expected throughout their time in the program: (a) to hone their research and scholarly writing skills by submitting papers for possible publication in refereed journals, (b) to deliver at least two presentations at state and national conferences, and (c) to provide clinical supervision to masters level students.
Students typically enter and participate as a cohort in the 5 required counselor education seminars that they take the first 2 years. Students are enrolled for an average 9-12 credits during the fall and spring semesters and 6 credits during the summer semester. During the third and fourth years of the program students are typically enrolled in 9 credits per semester.
*Note: Due to the preference of clinical sites of having student remain for 2 semesters, many students often decide to “split” their doctoral clinical internship and complete it over two semesters