Overview
Mission Statement
The mission of the University of Jamestown Master of Science in Clinical Counseling Program is to integrate education, research, and clinical practice to provide sound professional preparation in order to graduate counselors who are competent, compassionate, and ethical and who will serve their patients/clients and communities through the practice of quality, evidence-based counseling.
Program Philosophy
Counseling is a dynamic profession with an established theoretical and scientific base and widespread clinical applications in the restoration, maintenance, and promotion of optimal mental health functioning. Our graduates will be able to demonstrate these characteristics at an entry level. Our mission is to graduate knowledgeable, service-oriented, self-assured, adaptable, reflective practitioners who, by virtue of critical and integrative thinking, lifelong learning, and ethical values, render independent judgments concerning patient/client needs that are supported by evidence; promote the health of the client; and enhance the professional, contextual, and collaborative foundations for practice.
Our program will graduate entry-level counselors that will be able to provide a variety of services to patients/clients who have impairments, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in mental health function and health status resulting from injury, disease, or other causes. Our curriculum integrates the five elements of patient/client management (examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention) in a manner designed to optimize outcomes. We will graduate entry level counselors that will be able to practice in a broad range of inpatient, outpatient, and community-based settings.
Our program will graduate entry-level counselors who will be prepared to continue with doctoral level education programs. Our graduates will also be able to incorporate the professional practice expectations of accountability, altruism, compassion/caring, integrity, professional duty, communication, cultural competence, clinical reasoning, evidenced-based practice and education into the classroom and clinical education. We believe the University of Jamestown Master of Science in Clinical Counseling Program will successfully prepare students to practice in an ever-changing healthcare environment.
We believe that sound professional preparation with a curriculum grounded in the Counseling Code of Ethics and Guide to Counseling Practice will provide the foundation for students to become competent, ethical, and compassionate counselors.
Accreditation and Licensure
As of the time of this posting, the University of Jamestown Master’s in Clinical Counseling program curriculum has been reviewed by the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners and is deemed to meet educational requirements for licensure in the state of North Dakota at the level of licensed associate professional counselor (LAPC).
The requirements for the LAPC designation include three main components:
- Completion of program curriculum: This program’s 60-credit-hour curriculum meets the criteria set forth by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC).
- Practical experience and training: This program includes both practicum (100 hrs) and internship experiences (600 hrs) totaling the required number of hours (700).
- This program will provide information on study resources and testing registration process that will help students successfully prepare themselves for taking the National Counselor Examination (NCE).
The MCC program covers the above requirements, and students will need more training beyond the MCC program in order to meet requirements for the second (LPC) and third (LPCC) levels of licensure in the state. Please see the North Dakota Board of Counselor Examiners web site for more information on the levels of licensure and their requirements.
At the time of posting, it is undetermined if UJ’s MCC program meets requirements in any other U.S. states. Please email the program director, Dr. Melissa Schultz (Melissa.Schultz@uj.edu) if you have questions about licensure in another state.
Practicum and Internship
Practicum and internship are considered among the most important elements in the program. The appropriateness of the internship site and site supervisor should be determined between the graduate student and the advisor and based upon the individual needs of the graduate student and CACREP standards. The practicum supervisor must approve all off-campus practicum sites and the faculty must approve all internship sites. Students must show proof of professional liability insurance while in these clinical experiences. Students are responsible to find their own practicum and internship sites. Practicum requires a minimum of 100 hours of supervised experience and is usually completed in one semester. Of these hours, 40 must be in direct service to clients including individual counseling and group work. Practicum also requires one hour of weekly individual or triadic supervision with a faculty supervisor or a supervisor under the supervision of a program faculty member and 1 hour of group supervision each week with the faculty supervisor or a supervisor under the supervision of a program faculty member. All hours must be documented. The clinical mental health counseling internship is generally completed at a single mental health center, social service agency, or counseling service center; however, the University of Jamestown is working with several agencies that will allow the internship to be divided among sites to allow for a broader spectrum of treatment levels. Students should be well aware of the requirements of the site before it is selected.
Admission and Costs
Admission Criteria
- A bachelor's degree from an approved institution with at least 18 psychology credits
- A college GPA of 3.0 or higher
- We do not require GRE or GMAT test scores
How to Apply
- Complete an application
- Submit a brief personal essay
- Provide two recommendations
- Fill out a Student Records Release form
- Submit a writing sample (this sample should be a paper from a previous undergraduate or master's level course, at lease three pages long, and written in APA style. Please email your writing sample to OnlineAdmissions@uj.edu)
- Interview: in person or via Zoom
- Mail official transcript(s) to
OnlineAdmissions@uj.edu
or
College of Graduate and Professional Studies Admissions
4143 26th Ave. S, Suite 100
Fargo, ND 58104
Transfer Credit Policy
The University of Jamestown Counseling Program can accept up to 9 program credits. A graduate transfer course accepted for credit must correspond to courses described in this publication and must come from institutions which meet the criteria listed below. Whether a course corresponds to one of the courses described in this publication will be determined by the Registrar in conversation with the Program Director.
- The institution must be accredited by a CHEA approved regional accrediting association of schools and colleges.
- The institution must offer a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or Master’s Degree and must be approved to offer graduate level courses by its regional accrediting association. University of Jamestown will consider for credit only courses which satisfy the requirements for these degrees.
Only courses in which students have earned a B or better are eligible for graduate transfer credit. Courses graded only on a pass/fail basis will be transferred only if students can provide documented evidence that they performed at a B or better level in the course. University of Jamestown standards will be applied in determining the transferred courses and grades that will satisfy requirements.
University of Jamestown accepts credit from foreign institutions. The required official academic transcript should be translated into English. In the event that a transcript cannot be translated into English, the chair of the Foreign Language Department at University of Jamestown will interpret the transcript or locate another faculty member who can interpret the transcript. If the transcript cannot be interpreted by someone at University of Jamestown, the transcript will be evaluated by World Education Services or a similar professional service. The fee for the service will be paid by students.
Requirements
Students in the Master of Science in Clinical Counseling program are expected to complete 60 credit hours over the course of 6 semesters in order to graduate from the program.
Required Courses
Note 1: COUN 510 and COUN 520: 1 week in person.
Note 2. Three credits required for COUN 581. Typically two credits are taken during a 16-week semester, and one credit is taken during the following 16-week semester.
Total Credit Hours: 60
Essential Function Requirements
Participation in the Master of Science in Clinical Counseling (MCC) Program requires that a candidate possess the ability to meet the Essential Function requirements of the program. Candidates who may not meet the Essential Functions must inform the Director of the Counseling Program, who will consult with the Vice President for Academic Affairs to identify and determine what accommodations, if any, the University (Program) would need to make that would allow the candidate to complete the curriculum. The University (Program) is not able to grant accommodations that alter the educational standards of the curriculum. Essential functions required for the duration of enrollment are as follows:
1. Observation
- The student must be able to participate actively in all demonstrations and video role play exercises throughout the curriculum.
- The student must be able to accurately make observations, which include both verbal and nonverbal communication.
- Observation and information acquisition require the functional use of vision and are enhanced by the ability to integrate all other senses.
2. Communication
- The student must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity and posture, and assess nonverbal communication.
- The student must be able to effectively and efficiently transmit information to patients, peers, faculty, staff, and all members of the healthcare team.
- The student must possess required communication skills include speaking, reading, and writing, as well as the observation skills described above
3. Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Abilities
- The student must possess the critical skill of problem solving, which requires the ability to reason, analyze, and synthesize in a meaningful way.
- The student must have the ability to perform the problem-solving skills in a timely fashion.
4. Behavioral and Social Attributes
- The student must be able to fully utilize their intellectual abilities and exercise good judgment.
- Prompt completion of all responsibilities related to the diagnosis and care of patients is required.
- Fitness for the profession, including self-awareness and emotional stability, will be assessed throughout the program.
- The student must be capable of developing mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients, peers, and others.
- The student must also be able to tolerate taxing workloads, function effectively under stress, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical profession.
- The student must have compassion, integrity, concern for others, effective interpersonal skills, willingness and ability to function as an effective team player, and interest and motivation to learn.
- The student must practice counseling safely, ethically, and legally.
Importance of Professional Disposition
Being an effective counselor requires more than what can be learned in a classroom setting. In addition to meeting the academic standards, students are expected conduct themselves in an ethical, responsible, and professional manner. They must be knowledgeable about the Code of Ethics for both the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW). These codes serve as guidelines for students and professionals in the field of counseling and shall be adhered to at all times. The transition policy is outlined below.
As counselor educators, the faculty members expect prospective counselors to be emotionally stable and well-adjusted (personally and professionally) in order to both maintain effective interpersonal relationships and to be able to give and receive constructive feedback. Further, students are expected to behave in a manner that demonstrates fitness for a role in the counseling profession. Finally, we expect students to be committed to continued personal growth and professional development and to demonstrate that commitment through self-reflection and responsiveness to supervision in all activities related to their degree program.
For the reasons cited above, the faculty will regularly monitor not only students’ academic progress but also those personal characteristics which will affect their performance as a student and future counselor. The purpose of this professional performance monitoring process is to ensure that all graduates of the MCC program possess those characteristics sufficiently so that they do not interfere with their professionalism or helping capacity.
Students are monitored during each course by the course instructor. At the end of each semester students will be reviewed by all Counseling Program faculty members according to their compliance with the Professional Performance Standards Evaluation (PPSE). Concerns about a student’s personal characteristics or professional performance may be addressed at any time during the student’s tenure in the counseling program. The Professional Performance Standards are as follows:
- Openness to new ideas
- Flexibility
- Cooperativeness with others
- Willingness to accept and use feedback
- Awareness of own impact on others
- Ability to deal with conflict
- Ability to accept personal responsibility
- Ability to express feelings effectively and appropriately
- Attention to ethical and legal considerations
- Initiative and motivation
- Attention and sensitivity to diversity issues
- Professionalism and professional identity
Outcomes
Program Goals and Outcomes
1. The Program will graduate entry-level counselors who are prepared to practice in a broad range of clinical settings.
- The Program will will provide a curriculum consistent with The Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) 2016 standards.
- The Program will provide adequate resources for its operation.
2. The Program will support faculty member teaching, service, and scholarship plans according to the University of Jamestown Faculty Manual.
- The Program will support faculty in maintaining contemporary expertise in teaching and knowledge of counseling.
- The Program will support faculty participation in clinically related service.
- The Program will provide for faculty to participate in scholarship.
3. The Program will promote strong ties with the community.
- The Program will promote working relationships with local higher education institutions.
- The Program will promote long-term relationships with the community.
- The Program will promote relationships with clinicians in the community.
Student Goals and Outcomes
1. Students will demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary for competent, ethical counseling practice, including evidence-based practices in clinical Program courses.
- Students will demonstrate satisfactory knowledge and performance in all Program courses, excluding clinical experiences.
- Students will demonstrate satisfactory knowledge and performance in all clinical training experiences.
- Students will demonstrate evidence-based practices and sound clinical reasoning.
2. Students will develop professional behaviors.
- Students will demonstrate appropriate professional behaviors at their expected performance level.
3. Students must meet criteria outlined above in “Essential Functions” and “Professional Disposition.”
- Students not meeting these criteria will develop a remediation plan in conjunction with the Program Director.
- Students unable to meet essential functions of the program are subject to dismissal.
Faculty Goals and Outcomes
1. Faculty will educate students to become entry-level counselors who are prepared to work as professionals in the work force.
- Faculty and associated faculty will participate in curriculum development and share the curricular and assessment information during the Curriculum and Assessment Review Meeting.
- Faculty will maintain or develop contemporary expertise in their assigned teaching areas.
- Faculty will use auditory, visual, and other technology in teaching methods and learning experiences.
2. Faculty will participate in scholarly activities.
- Faculty will fulfill their University of Jamestown Annual Evaluation/Development Plan according to the University of Jamestown Faculty Manual.
3. Faculty will participate in service in the community and the Counseling profession.
- Faculty will practice professional behaviors.
Graduate Goals and Outcomes
1. Graduates will have the knowledge and skills necessary for competent counseling practice.
2. Graduates will practice ethical professional behaviors consistent with an autonomous practitioner.
3. Graduates will demonstrate leadership in professional and community organizations that promote societal wellness.
4. The Program will provide a curriculum consistent with The Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) 2016 standards.
5. The Program will provide adequate resources for its operation.