Sam Houston State University | SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report

Assessment : 2013 - 2014 : Educational Programs :
Counselor Education PhD

2 Goals 2 Objectives 2 Indicators 2 Criteria 2 Findings 2 Actions

GOAL: Knowledge Of Counseling Education Literature

Objective

PHD Candidates Will Demonstrate Knowledge Of The Literature

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

Quality Dissertation Checklist

The Quality Dissertation Checklist will be used to score the introduction, literature review, and methodology of the dissertation proposal.

Criterion

Committee Approval And 85% Rating On Checklist

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

Dissertation Proposal Results

All doctoral students who held dissertation proposal meetings scored 90% or higher on the Quality Dissertation Checklist and, consequently, received approval from their committees to seach IRB approval in order to begin data collection.

Actions for Objective:

Action

Literature Review Competency

As per the most recent CACREP requirements (Doctoral Standards IV.F.1 & 2), we now not only track students' progress regarding Literature Review Competency but categorize their progress in terms of Novice, Proficient, and Master. The student outcomes for the recent assessment are as follows:

Novice (70-79 points):         0 Students
Proficient (80-89 points):     4 Students       86 point average
Master (90-100 points):       6 Students       93 point average

GOAL: Research Competency

Objective

Demonstrate Competency In Research

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

Dissertation Checklist

Committee Chair scores the Quality Dissertation Checklist

Criterion

Checklist Score

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

Dissertation Defense Results

All doctoral students who held dissertation defense meetings scored 95 or higher on the Quality Dissertation Checklist. They subsequently approximated 100% in working with their committee chair, reviewers from the Office of Graduate Studies, and the SHSU Library representative, and thus completed the requirements for graduation.

Actions for Objective:

Action

Evaluating Students Dissertation Competency

In order to continually evaluate students' competency in planning, implementing, analyzing and writing their dissertation, we will have a meeting each semester that will include a discussion of each dissertation completed the previous semester. All persons who may teach research classes or direct dissertations will be expected to attend and the data gathered from each meeting will used by all faculty who teach research classes and chair dissertations.

Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement"

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.

Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement"

1. We mentor doctoral students in the aforemention competencies in all of our doctoral classes.
2. In their first semster in the doctoral program, students are introduced to the skills in orientation and APA writing classes. The are informed of the expectation that they select a research agenda early in the program and encouraged to do so.
3, Their progress in developing research and writing skills and selection of a research agenda is monitored throughout the required block of research courses.

Plan for Continuous Improvement

Although the plan for continuous improvement is working, we believe it will be strengthened by increased faculy communication/discussion. Therefore, beginning with the falll 2014 semester, we will have a meeting every semester in which faculty who teach doctoral classes will (a) evaluate our progress in attending to the continuous improvement plan, (b) evaluate each doctoral student's progress in regard to the various research and writing skills, and (c) discuss ways to improve our effectiveness/make make modificaions to the improvement plan.

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