SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2012 - 2013 : Educational Programs :
Counselor Education PhD
Counselor Education PhD
2 Goals 2 Objectives 2 Indicators 2 Criteria 2 Findings 2 Actions
| GOAL: Knowledge Of Counseling Education Literature |
| Objective |
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| Candidates of the Counselor Education PHD program will demonstrate knowledge of current literature in the field of counseling to conduct their own independent research. |
| Indicator |
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| The Quality Dissertation Checklist will be used to score the introduction, literature review, and methodology of the dissertation proposal. |
| Criterion |
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1. All committee members must approve the proposal before the candidate can begin data collection. 2. 85% on the Quality Dissertation Checklist Last year we realized that perhaps we should start the proposal phase in the first year rather than the second year. We are experimenting with that in 2012-2013. |
| Finding |
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| Students were required to use the Quality Dissertation Checklist in the course in which they wrote the first draft of the dissertation proposal. Thus, students were required to be familiar with the Checklist much earlier in the process. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| Use of the Quality Dissertation Checklist in the course in which students wrote the first draft of the dissertation proposal will be continued. |
| GOAL: Research Competency |
| Objective |
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| Candidates of the Counseling Education PHD program will demonstrate competency in research by planning, implementing, analyzing, and writing a scholarly dissertation based on original research. |
| Indicator |
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Committee Chair scores the Quality Dissertation Checklist |
| Criterion |
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Degree candidates will score at least 95% on the dissertation quality checklist with the understanding that 100% must be achieved before final dissertation approval and graduation. Using last year's results, we are working toward greater facility in choosing an appropriate methodology by students in the proposal process. |
| Finding |
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| Degree candidates achieved 95% on the dissertation quality checklist with the new process in place. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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All committee members are to be familiar with the Quality Dissertation Checklist used by Committee Chairs. In particular, the Methodologist for each dissertation is expected to be familiar with the items addressing Chapter 3 (Methodology) on the Checklist. |
| Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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Doctoral students will be mentored in the skills of locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and writing in correct APA form about current counseling topics related to their literature review. Expectations are that students will select a research area upon entering the doctoral program and develop a research agenda around this area. Faculty introduce the Quality Dissertation Checklist at the beginning of the program with the understanding that it will be the evaluative measure when students begin working on their dissertation proposal. We are rethinking whether this process needs to begin their first or second year.
In all courses of the 12 hour research sequence, faculty will expect students to demonstrate greater facility for selecting appropriate research methodology. Preparing manuscripts for publication using appropriate APA publication style in both format and technical writing is expected in select doctoral courses. Faculty will use the Quality Dissertation Checklist to evaluate dissertations. |
| Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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All faculty have been given copies of the textbook containing the Quality Dissertation Checklist and expected to used the Checklist when serving as Chair or as a committee member on a dissertation. Students are being instructed in their first semester to begin selecting a research topic early in their doctoral studies and refine their selection as they engage in reseach and statistical coursework. We will continue to evaluate the process of using the Quality Dissertation Checklist both for student facility with research methodology selection and faculty mentoring of dissertation students.
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| Plan for Continuous Improvement |
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We will continue to mentor doctoral students in the skills of locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and writing in correct APA form about current counseling topics related to their literature review. We will continue to expect students to select a research area early in their doctoral program and develop a research agenda around this area. We will continue to introduce the Quality Dissertation Checklist at the beginning of the program with the understanding that it will be the evaluative measure when students begin working on their dissertation proposal.
As students take the 12 hour research sequence, faculty will continue to expect students to demonstrate greater facility for selecting appropriate research methodology. Preparing manuscripts for publication using appropriate APA publication style in both format and technical writing will continue to be an expectation for doctoral students. Faculty will continue to use the Quality Dissertation Checklist to evaluate dissertations. |