TO: CCSD School Counselors
FROM: UNLV School Counselor Education Faculty
RE: "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in
Vegas"
This catch phrase for our city in the
subject of this memo has a special meaning for us. The "what happens"
part is a decision we know many of you have been thinking about,
extending your school counseling training to a Ph.D. degree. And,
the "stays in Vegas" part is that now this opportunity is
available to you without leaving home.
Our program is a Ph.D. in Educational
Psychology with specialization in School Counselor Education. It was
built to meet the accreditation standards of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
Intrigued?
Detail about the program, requirements, admission, courses, and so
forth is on the web at http://cybersp-ace.net/phd_entry.htm Some
of the questions we anticipate that you might have are:
How
long will it take for me to get the degree?
What
are the minimum requirements for admission to the program?
Can
I keep my current job while studying for the Ph.D.?
What
about the GRE?
How
hard is it to get into the program?
We select only a small number of
especially well qualified applicants each year, but we are especially interested in applications from currently practing school counselors. Can I begin taking some of
the required courses before I am admitted?
I'm
interested. What should I do next?
_________________________________________________
For
more information, please contact the coordinator of our doctoral
program, Dr. Paul Jones (jones@unlv.nevada.edu)or 702.895.3937).
This
is an important question and probably the most difficult to answer.
The required coursework is a minimum of a 67 credits beyond the master's degree.
For a general guideline, we estimate a minimum total
of four years. This, by
the way, is typical for Ph.D. programs in our specialty.
The
minimum GPA for admission to all Ph.D. strands is 3.0 for both
undergraduate and graduate degrees. For the school counselor education specialty, we also require that an applicant has completed a CACREP accredited master's degree in school counseling or its equivalent.
This
is also an important question that is not easy to answer. The time
estimate above assumes full-time enrollment during the academic year
(9 credits per semester), and full-time enrollment for two
consecutive semesters is a minimum residence requirement. Taking
three courses per semester while working full-time is possible and is being done by current students.
But, it's a decision you want to think carefully about. Except for the residence requirement and the internship, part-time enrollment in the program is permitted.
Recent
(within five years) GRE verbal and quantitative scores are required
for all Ph.D.
strands. There is not a minimum cutoff, but preference may be given
to applicants with higher scores.
What
kinds of courses will I be taking?
All
Ph.D. students are required to complete a 9-credit sequence in
learning/development, and 15 credits in research/statistics. There
is a common core of 18-credits in advanced school counselor education courses,
and you will also select a 12-credit special emphasis area.
Continuing
your training beyond the master's level is always a good idea, and
we are happy to provide advanced coursework. But, no assurance could
be offered that those courses could be later applied to the Ph.D.
We
begin reviewing applications during February for the next
fall's admission. The department and graduate college application forms with
instructions for submission are available at this link. . If you
need to take, or re-take, the GRE, you should make arrangements to do
so as soon as possible. You should go ahead and submit the
department and graduate college application forms even if the GRE
scores will not be available until later.