TO: CCSD School Psychologists
FROM: UNLV School Psychology 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 psychology training to a Ph.D. degree. And,
the "stays in Vegas" part is that now this opportunity is
available to you without leaving home.
Using
the model of several outstanding school psychology doctoral programs
throughout the country, our program is a Ph.D. in Educational
Psychology with specialization in School Psychology. It was
built to meet the accreditation standards of both the NASP and APA.
And, we are now ready to admit our second group of students.
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?
Why
do I have to do another internship?
We select only a small number of
especially well qualified applicants each year, but we are especially interested in applications from currently practing school psychologists. 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, including 6 credits for doctoral
internship, is a minimum of a 67 credits beyond the master's degree.
Some credits from the second year of an Ed.S. program may be applied
to this total. For a general guideline, we estimate a minimum total
of four years, including the one-year doctoral internship. 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 psychology
specialty, we also require that an applicant has completed a NASP
approved Ed.S. program 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 during one academic year 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. In addition, although not an
absolute requirement, we are encouraging applicants for the school
psychology specialization to also complete and submit the score on
the GRE subject matter exam in psychology. A low score on the
subject exam will not penalize the applicant.
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 psychology courses,
and you will also select a 12-credit special emphasis area (i.e. mental health, learning disabilities, etc.).
The
doctoral internship is both a NASP and APA accreditation requirement,
and this program is also designed to prepare graduates for state
psychologist licensing requirements. Because all of our students will
have completed a one-year internship in a school setting as a part of
the specialist degree, the doctoral internship can be completed in a
combination of school and mental health settings.
How
hard is it to get into the program?
Continuing
your training beyond the specialist 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
will begin reviewing applications during February for the next
cohort. 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.