SUNY Oneonta

Master of Science in Education (M.S. Ed.) – School Counselor (K-12)

Division of Education
Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Special Education

Department phone number: (607) 436-3554

Website: http://www.oneonta.edu/academics/ed/edpsych2

Faculty: Brian Beitzel, Chair of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Special Education, Joanne M. Curran, Nathan Gonyea, Dawn Hamlin, Nithya Iyer, Ronald LaFrance, Daqi Li, Anuradhaa Shastri, Ying Tang

Program purposes and philosophy: The Department offers a Master of Science in Education degree, School Counselor "K-12," which leads to New York State Provisional Certification in School Counseling.

A Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) program is available for School Counselor students pursuing graduate work beyond the Masters degree toward permanent school counselor certification.

Degree Students: In general, any graduate student who wishes to transfer credit from another institution following admission must have written prior approval from the faculty advisor. Courses must be relevant to the field of school counseling, must be from an accredited college, must appear on a college transcript, must include a minimum of 37.5 semester hours and must result in a grade of "B" or better. No more than 9 s.h. may be transferred into this program. Transfer credits must meet specific guidelines. Check with your advisor or department chair. All degree students are required to take CNED 500 Introduction to School Counseling in their first fall semester.

Note: All education programs are under review to meet the needs of students and the requirements of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). In addition, the New York State Regents are making some policy changes that are likely to affect the requirements for certificate applicants. Students should check with their advisor concerning course or programmatic changes before matriculating into or registering for courses in these programs.

We can neither endorse for certification, nor write letters of recommendation for those students seeking independent certification through the State Education Department.

Admission Requirements

All students applying for admission to degree status are required to:

Submit a completed application and the non-refundable fee by February 1.
Submit an official transcript of an earned Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college, consisting of a minimum of 18 s.h. of behavioral and social science courses, including at least 12 s.h. in psychology and/or educational psychology and 6 s.h. in anthropology, sociology, or related studies.
Have an undergraduate grade point average of 2.80 overall.
Submit two professional letters of recommendation.
For those who meet the above, have a personal interview with members of the Counselor Education faculty.
Submit an essay outlining your specific academic areas of interest and your career goals. See application for details.

Our program has been designed for students matriculating full time in the fall semester. Part-time students will need to plan for additional time to complete the program as most courses are fall and spring only. CNED 596 School Counseling Practicum will be offered only in the spring semester. All application materials must be filed with the Graduate Office by February 1st.

Note: Students will be asked on the application form for admission as well as when applying for New York State School Counseling Certification, whether they have any prior or current felony or misdemeanor charges (other than a minor traffic violation). A yes answer to this question is not an automatic bar to admission or to placement in practicum.

An affirmative response will require that you provide official court documents regarding past or current felonies and/or misdemeanors and that you attend a review meeting of the graduate committee. See the Department Chair for guidelines. Any information that is falsified or omitted will result in denial. State regulations now require students to be fingerprinted before obtaining placement in schools.

Decisions on admission to the program are made based on all of the above information plus the admissions committee’s judgement about the applicant’s potential for success in the profession. Admission is competitive and meeting the minimum admission criteria does not guarantee acceptance.

Disclosure Statement

SUNY Oneonta’s School Counseling Program complies with the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics 2005 (F.5,a,b,c,d).

Applicants to the school counseling program are assessed for interpersonal competence in the admission process. We will nominate for admission, only those candidates we believe demonstrate the personal/social qualities, as well as the academic qualities needed to be an outstanding counselor and who we believe have the best opportunity for impacting K-12 student success.

Beyond admission, the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Special Education is ethically obligated to safeguard the school counseling profession by continuously monitoring students’ performance. Students are assessed for academic and nonacademic fitness throughout their coursework, including practical experiential courses in which performance is an essential part of a grade.

Completion of the program is dependent not only upon academic performance but also on the demonstration of appropriate professional dispositions, interpersonal skills, professional demeanor, and social and ethical judgment. Courses are designed for self-reflection and self-evaluation. Self-reflection is a continuous requirement for counseling professionals.

Students who do not demonstrate professional competencies in the aforementioned areas will be required to complete a plan of remediation. For more details see the disclosure contract and the professional competencies for counselor education program.

Degree Requirements: M.S. in Education – School Counselor (K-12)

1. Core Requirements

*CNED 500 Introduction to School Counseling	3 s.h.
*CNED 502 Career Development	3 s.h.
*CNED 516 Statistics and Research Methods for Counselors	3 s.h.
*CNED 525 Measurement and Appraisal for Counselors	3 s.h.
*EPSY 530 Human Development Across the Life Span	3 s.h.
*CNED 540 Counseling Theories	3 s.h.
*CNED 541 Counseling Techniques	3 s.h.
CNED 545 Counseling Services for Students with Special Needs	3 s.h.
*CNED 560 Group Counseling	3 s.h.
CNED 561 Counseling Services for Children and Adolescents	3 s.h.
CNED 565 Self, Culture and Society in Counseling	3 s.h.

2. Additional Requirements


CNED Approved Elective		3 s.h.
CNED 596 School Counseling Practicum*		3 s.h.
	Total 39 s.h.

Notes:

A minimum grade of "B" in CNED 500, Introduction to School Counseling, CNED 541, Counseling Techniques, and CNED 560, Group Counseling, are required prior to placement in CNED 596, School Counseling Practicum.*

CNED 596, Practicum, must be passed with a grade of "B" or better.
CNED 596, Practicum, has all 33 hours of core courses as prerequisites.

The Comprehensive Examination must be taken after or during the completion of the courses marked by the asterisk.

Students must attend a pre-practicum orientation meeting during the semester before they expect to enroll in this course. The Department reserves the right to determine the student’s preparation and readiness to undertake the Practicum. A student may not be permitted to enroll in CNED 596 if the Department is unable to recommend that student without reservation. Placement decisions are based on numerous factors, including both academic and person/environmental match.
Refer to the Practicum Guidelines handout available through your advisor and in the Graduate and departmental offices for specific practicum information. This handout elaborates upon time and placement issues. No one may do a practicum in the district in which they went to school or where they work or have worked in the past five years.
A Comprehensive Examination (See department for guidelines). The Comprehensive Examination may be taken only when all courses with an asterisk have been completed. Students need an overall score of 70% and 70% on each subsection as well in order to pass. Students may take the Comprehensive Exam no more than two times. Students who do not pass the Comprehensive Exam after the second try will not be able to finish the degree.
Minimum GPA of 3.0.
Students must complete all degree requirements within six years and complete a minimum of 33 s.h. in residence.

All College policies and procedures found in this Graduate Catalog will apply to students enrolled in this program.

*CNED 500, CNED 541, CNED 560 cannot be repeated more than once. Students may repeat no more than 6 credit hours of the required courses. Repeated required courses may not be used toward the degree.