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DEPARTMENT OF COUNSELING, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, AND ADULT AND HIGHER EDUCATION

Master of Arts Degree in Counseling

The Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Counseling offers the opportunity for advanced study and professional development in the fields of Community, School, Addictions, Multicultural, Marriage and Family, and Sports Psychology Counseling. Students may earn credit toward a state-level counseling license to practice in community settings (Licensed Professional Counselor). Credit may also be earned toward a School Counselor endorsement on a Teacher’s Certificate. A thesis option emphasizes the development of research competencies critical to continued graduate-level study.

Program Admission Requirements. Applicants must hold a 3.0 GPA during the last 60 hours of their undergraduate studies to be eligible for clear admission to the counseling program. Applicants with a GPA between 2.70 and 2.99 may be accepted into the program on a probationary basis. Applicants without adequate background for counseling will be required to take

COU 3103 Helping Skills and, at the discretion of the admission committee, to complete up to 15 additional hours of preparatory courses as a condition of admission. Applicants must also take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE; with the writing sample). Letters of recommendation, a written statement of goals, and a personal interview may be required. Interested persons should contact the Student Development Specialist for the Counseling program or check the web site for more information. The number of students admitted to this program may be limited.

Degree Requirements. Candidates for the Master of Arts degree in Counseling must earn a minimum of 48 semester credit hours. Students must pass a comprehensive written examination toward the end of their formal coursework. The comprehensive examination may be repeated, but students who fail the examination two times must have permission from their supervisory committee to take the examination additional times. Students who fail to pass the examination should take coursework or other work to remedy deficiencies before they retake the examination.

  1. 36–42 semester credit hours of required courses:

    COU 5103 Introduction to School Counseling (for students specializing in School Counseling)
    or
    COU 5203 Introduction to Community Counseling (for students specializing in Community Counseling)

    COU 5213 Counseling Theories
    COU 5223 Psychological Assessment for Counselors
    COU 5233 Group Theory and Process
    COU 5243 Counseling Individuals with Behavioral and Emotional Disorders
    COU 5253 Child and Adolescent Counseling in a Systemic Context (for students specializing in School Counseling)
    COU 5283 Counseling in a Multicultural Setting
    COU 5393 Development of Counseling Skills
    COU 5683 Practicum in Counseling
    COU 5713 Community Counseling Internship (for students specializing in Community Counseling)
    COU 5793 School Counseling Internship (for students specializing in School Counseling)
    COU 6003 Consultation and Program Evaluation (for students specializing in School Counseling)
    COU 6153 Career Development and Choice
    EDP 5033 Human Development Across the Life Span
    EDU 5003 Research Methods

  2. 12 semester credit hours of elective courses:

    Option 1. Thesis Option: 6 hours of thesis, a 3-hour elective, plus a 3-hour research methods or statistics course to be approved by Thesis Committee Chair (total of 48 semester credit hours).

    Option 2. Nonthesis Option: 12 hours of electives (total of 48 semester credit hours).

Standards and Procedures

In order to complete counselor preparation programs and to be eligible to take certification or licensing examinations, students must:

  • maintain scholastic performance meeting or exceeding department standards
  • demonstrate the acquisition of and ability to apply counseling skills necessary to work effectively with persons having diverse needs, as generally accepted by practitioners in counseling
  • demonstrate emotional and mental fitness in their interactions with others, and
  • conform with the codes of ethics of professional associations in counseling and of the State of Texas (Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Part 7, Chapter 247, Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators).

It is the duty of faculty members in the counseling program to evaluate all students according to these standards in all settings in which faculty members and students interact, in classes, in advising and counseling settings, and in personal conversations.

It is expected that students will respond to evaluations, formal or informal, in appropriate ways and in all cases, attempting to conform to standards as explained to them. Conformance with standards must be demonstrated by students throughout the period of time spent in the program; events of nonconformance must be followed by faculty judgments that satisfactory adjustments have been made.

Admission to the program does not guarantee fitness to remain in the program to completion. Only those students who meet program standards will be allowed to continue in the program. If and when a student is judged not to meet program standards sufficiently to be allowed to engage in counseling others, that student will be removed from continuation in the program. Refer to the Graduate Counseling Handbook for a detailed outline of the due process procedures related to this policy.

Only two courses with the grade of “C” will be accepted toward this degree. A minimum of a 3.0 grade point average will be required for graduation. Those who obtain more than two grades of “C” will be put on probation and may be required to do appropriate remedial work.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Counselor Education and Supervision

The Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision is intended to prepare professionals for future careers in academic, clinical, research, and consultation settings. Program graduates will have been afforded the opportunity to acquire both the theoretical knowledge and clinical and research practical skills necessary to work in academic counselor education departments, and clinically supervise the next generation of counselor educators and school and community agency counselors. Students will be expected to formulate their own philosophy and approach to the counselor education field. Multicultural competencies will be emphasized throughout the program.

The Doctoral program objectives include:

  • providing students with opportunities to initiate and contribute to existing research projects
  • supervised clinical internships
  • opportunities for providing counseling services to members of underrepresented populations in surrounding communities
  • opportunities for students to focus on specialty areas such as multicultural, agency, school, marriage and family, addictions, student affairs, and sports psychology and advanced theoretical knowledge and applied clinical supervision training
  • creating new knowledge through the dissertation research process
  • providing students with opportunities for classroom teaching experiences, including course development.

Program Admission Requirements. Admission to the program is limited and competitive. Meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee acceptance into the program. Competitive applicants often exceed minimum requirements.

  1. A master’s degree in counseling or in a related mental health field requiring a minimum of 48 semester credit hours equivalent to the master’s degree requirements of the UTSA Counseling program and/or Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Students with fewer than 48 semester credit hours may be considered for admission to the program with conditional status pending completion of the deficient hours and satisfactory completion of courses fulfilling CACREP core course requirements.

  2. A minimum grade point average of 3.0 in master’s level courses in counseling or in a related mental health field.

  3. A portfolio consisting of the following items, which will be evaluated by the Doctoral Program Committee:

    1. A 48-hour (or greater) master’s degree transcript documenting a grade point average of 3.0 or better in counseling or an approved related mental health field;
    2. For applicants whose native language is not English, a score of at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL paper version);
    3. Three letters of recommendation attesting to the student’s academic and personal attributes for success in the program and potential for contributing substantially to a field of study related to the degree;
    4. A written personal statement/essay describing research interests and purpose for pursuing the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision;
    5. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) test scores not older than five years;
    6. Documented experience in a work environment (formal positions or internships) where counseling was the primary professional emphasis (may include but not limited to one-on-one counseling, counseling for couples, psychological assessment and testing, group or community counseling);
    7. Professional résumé listing prior experiences in the field of Counseling.

  4. Successful completion of a finalist interview with the admissions committee.

Degree Requirements. Students pursuing the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision will be required to pass a qualifying examination prior to admission to candidacy. All candidates will be required to submit a scholarly contribution in the form of a dissertation as partial fulfillment of requirements for this Doctorate (see Dissertation handbook). All students will be evaluated by the fitness to practice policy of the department (see Doctoral handbook).

  1. Foundation courses:

    48-semester-credit-hour Master’s degree or equivalent

  2. General core courses (40 semester credit hours):

    BBL 6223 Anthropology and Education in Multicultural Contexts
    COU 6003 Consultation and Program Evaluation
    COU 6323 Advanced Psychological Assessment
    COU 7121 College and University Teaching Seminar
    COU 7133 Seminar in Professional Development
    COU 7213 Advanced Theories of Counseling
    COU 7283 Advanced Multicultural Counseling
    COU 7313 Practicum in Counseling (must be taken twice for a total of 6 hours)
    COU 7413 Internship I
    COU 7513 Internship II
    COU 7583 Supervision of Counseling
    COU 7593 Practicum in Counseling Supervision
    COU 7893 Research in Counseling

  3. Research courses (9 semester credit hours):

    COU 6893 Foundations of Research in Counseling and Development
    EDU 7043 Educational Research Statistics: Descriptive and Comparative
    EDU 7103 Qualitative Research Traditions

  4. Approved emphasis curriculum area courses (9 semester credit hours)

  5. Dissertation (9 semester credit hours):
    COU 7993 Dissertation
    COU 7996 Dissertation

Standards and Procedures

In order to complete counselor preparation programs and be eligible to take certification or licensing examinations, students must:

  • maintain scholastic performance meeting or exceeding department standards
  • demonstrate the acquisition of and ability to apply counseling skills necessary to work effectively with persons having diverse needs, as generally accepted by practitioners in counseling
  • demonstrate emotional and mental fitness in their interactions with others
  • conform with the codes of ethics of professional associations in counseling and of the State of Texas (Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Part 7, Chapter 247, Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators).

It is the duty of faculty members in the counseling program to evaluate all students according to these standards in all settings in which faculty members and students interact, in classes, in advising and counseling settings, and in personal conversations.

It is expected that students will respond to evaluations, formal or informal, in appropriate ways and in all cases, attempting to conform to standards as explained to them. Conformance with standards must be demonstrated by students throughout the period of time spent in the program; events of nonconformance must be followed by faculty judgments that satisfactory adjustments have been made.

Admission to the program does not guarantee fitness to remain in the program for completion. Only those students who meet program standards will be allowed to continue in the program. If and when a student is judged not to meet program standards sufficiently to be allowed to engage in counseling others, that student will be removed from continuation in the program. Refer to the Graduate Counseling Handbook for a detailed outline of the due process procedures related to this policy.

Courses in which the student has earned a “C” will not be accepted toward this degree. A minimum of a 3.0 grade point average and a successful defense of a dissertation will be required for graduation.

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