OATdb Archive

2014 - 2015

Counseling, Department Of

Goal
Decrease Student Enrollment In The Master's Programs.
Decrease student enrollment by refraining from recruiting candidates for the Master of Arts and Master of Education.

Objective
Decrease Enrollment In The Master's Programs.
Enrollment in the Master of Arts and Master of Education programs will decrease in order to meet CACREP faculty student ratio.

Indicator
Enrollment Numbers Will Decrease
Faculty/student ratio will be 1 to 10 to meet CACREP requirements.


Criterion
CACREP Faculty Student Ratio
Faculty/Student ratio in the master's programs will be no more than 1 to 10 in order to meet CACREP standards. 

Finding
Faculty/Student Ratio
For school year 2014-2015 more students graduated from the counseling program than new students admitted to the program. Therefore, the enrollment decreased and the department met the 1 to 10 faculty/student ratio as required by CACREP.

Action
Recruitment Efforts
The counseling faculty did not actively seek new students this year as our faculty/student ratio exceeded CACREP guidelines of 1 to 10 for accredited programs.

Objective
Decrease Faculty/student Ratio By Hiring Additional Faculty.
Hire two or three additional faculty to reduce faculty/student ratio.

Indicator
Increase The Number Of Counseling Faculty.
Increase the number of counseling faculty from 9 to 12.


Criterion
Faculty/Student Ratio
The faculty/student ratio will be 1 to 10 as required by CACREP with the addition of three new faculty in the counseling programs.

Finding
1 To 10 Faculty/student Ratio
By adding three new faculty and limited the number of students admitted to the program for fall 2014 and spring 2015 the Counseling Department met the CACREP guideline of 1 faculty to 10 students.

Action
Hire New Faculty
Two new faculty positions were added and filled for the master's counseling program. In addition, one faculty from other department transferred into the counseling program resulting in three new faculty members added in fall 2014.

Goal
CACREP Accreditation
The Clinical Mental Heath Program (M.A.), School Counseling (M.Ed.), and Doctoral (Ph.D.) programs will be accredited by CACREP.


Objective
All Programs Accreditated
All of the current counseling programs are CACREP accredited.

KPI
Current Programs CACREP Accredited
Currently, all Counseling programs are accredited. However, we have created a Marriage Couple Family Counseling track under the M.A. degree and are preparing course and program alignment for CACREP accreditation for this new track.

Result
Two Accreditation For Counseling Programs
CACREP granted the counseling program two years accreditation rather than the entire eight years. We were not granted the full eight years accreditation because we did not have graduates from the M.Ed. 48 hour program and our faculty/student ratio was 1/11 rather than 1/10 as required by CACREP. We have succewssfuly made efforts to meet these two standards by hiring new faculty, limiting enrollment of students to the programs, and now have graduates from the M.Ed. 48 hour program for school counselors.

Action
Outcome Of Accreditation Visit
The Ph.D. and MA in clinical mental health counseling were reaccredited for two years rather than eight years. Two standards were unmet for the M.Ed. and prevented securing the full eight years accreditation. The unmet stardards are:
no graduates from the 48 hour M.Ed. program and faculty/student ratio exceeded the 1 to 10 required by CACREP.

Goal
Stakeholders Satisfaction
Stakeholders as represented by the advisory committee for the Ph.D., M.A., and M.Ed. are satisfied with the counseling programs.

Objective
Stakeholders Will Approve Of The Counseling Programs.
Stakeholders will be members of the advisory committees for the counseling programs and will approve of the courses and learning experiences for students in the programs. 

Indicator
Members Of The Advisory Committee Will Be Satisfied With The Programs
Members of the advisory committee will respond favorably to the courses and learning experienes designed for students in the counseling program. Members will offer feedback to improve to improve the programs and student learning experiences.

Criterion
Advisory Committee Feedback
Feedback from the Advisory Committee members will be included in student learning experiences and program requirements as faculty efforts for continuous improvement. 

Finding
Feedback From The Advisory Committee
Members of the advisory committee expressed support for the counseling programs at the master's and doctoral levels. The advisory commitee encouraged the counseling faculty to incorporate more assessments and opportunities for students to utilize assessments in clinical work. The department purchased two assessments and ipads to use with clients seeking counseling services in the Woodlands Counseling Clinic and the Jack Staggs Clinic.

Action
Stakeholders (Advisory Committee Members) Will Offer Feedback
Stakeholders as members of the Advisory Committee for each master's and doctoral program will offer feedback regarding the satisfaction with the program and provide specific suggestions to help improve the learning experiences of students to ensure they are prepared for the field of counseling upon graduation.



Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement No "Plan for Continuous Improvement" was entered for the previous period because the Department of Counselor Education was not a separate department. The department was established as a new department in September 2014. Previously, the counseling programs were part of the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling.

Plan for continuous improvement 1) During this school year (2014-2015) it was important for the program to reduce the student faculty ratio to be in compliance with CACREP student/faculty ratio of 1 to 10. This goal was accomplished and our current ratio is between 9 and 10 students to 1 faculty. We will continue to monitor our graduation rate as a guideline for the number of students we can admit to the program in order to be in compliance with CACREP Standard for student/faculty ratio.
2) Continue to work toward completion of self-study for the Marriage, Couples, and Family Counseling track as part of the Master of Counseling degree. Currrently, MCFC faculty are preparing the self-study and plan to submit the study to CACREP in spring 2016.
3) Practicum faculty will continue using the two new assessments for clients. Currently, faculty at the Woodlands Counseling Clinic are utilizing both assessments for clients receiving services at their clinic. This year, some of the practicum faculty at the Jack Staggs Clinic will begin utilizing the two assessment intruments to assess clients current state when entering counseling and then use the instruments to monitor clients progress throughout the time receiving counseling services in the two SHSU clinics.