Student Development in Higher Education
Master's Degree Program

Program Philosophy

With learning at the heart of our professional work environment, our fundamental responsibility is to empower students to attain the highest standards of academic achievement, public service and personal development. We value quality, intellectual integrity, openness to debate, participation by all members of the community in governance and respect for the dignity, rights and aspirations of each member of the community. Preparing students for enlightened and productive participation in a global society is our obligation The mission for the master's degree program in student development flows from this philosophical perspective. Graduates are prepared to function effectively as student development specialists in rapidly changing institutions of higher education. Students are trained to understand and to meet the developmental needs of college students taking into account worldviews and expectations which are influenced by age, ethnic background, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability status and other "non-traditional" perspectives.

Program Objectives - Students in this program will:

• Learn the basic skills of individual counseling
• Learn the basic processes and skills of group facilitation
• Learn the connections between emotional and intellectual development among college students
• Learn about the interaction between personal development and cultural context
• Learn how to work effectively with students across a wide range of ages, cultural, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds
• Demonstrate proficiency in assessment of student needs and design of educational programs that support student intellectual, and social development
• Learn about the role which student development education has historically played in students' overall college education
• Develop a personal code of ethics that includes an awareness of Western and non-Western ethical perspectives
• Develop competence as consumers of research and program evaluators
• Develop a personal sense of mission regarding their work with college students

Curriculum

The program requires 42-45 hours of study in counseling, student development and higher education including 9 credits of field experience. The practicum, (CNSL 503) occurs early in the student's program and involves 100 hours of work at a local college or university during one semester as well as individual and group supervision. The internship (CNSL 592) occurs at the end of the program and involves a total of 300 hours over the course of two semesters. The program combines a counseling and a student development orientation. It is designed to integrate counseling, awareness of personal and cultural development and life planning skills into a professional approach to student affairs in higher education.

Core Counseling Courses
CNSL 500	Dynamics of Group Behavior	3 Credits
CNSL 501	Theories and Techniques of Counseling	6 credits
CNSL 503	Supervised Counseling Practicum	3 Credits
Directed Electives
CNSL 530	Student Development in Higher Education	3 credits
CNSL 531	Student Services in Higher Education	3 credits
CNSL 532	Program Design in Student Services	3 credits
CNSL 525	Multicultural Counseling	3 credits
CSNL 521	Career Counseling and Development	3 credits
CSNL 521	Career Counseling and Development	3 credits
CSNL 533	Legal, Financial and Policy Issues in Student Affairs	3 credits
Professional Education Requirement
ED 598	Research in Education*	3 credits
Capstone Requirements
CNSL 595	Applied Research in Counseling (or)	3 credits
ED 599	Thesis	3 credits
CNSL 592	Supervised internship in Higher Education	6 credits

Please note- The student must apply in advance for the practicum and internship. Applications are due to the department on or before March 15 for the fall semester and October 15 for the spring semester. Applications must be approved before the student registers for these courses.
A sample full-time program sequence is found on the following page.

* may be waived by advisor

To assist you in your planning we have shown the semester when the courses are usually offered, the course prerequisites and some general rules of thumb to keep in mind. You can use the blank planning sheet attached to this packet to begin to draft your course schedule

Prerequisite

Core Counseling Courses

Professional Education Requirements

Specialized Courses

In planning your program you should keep the following "rules of thumb" in mind:

1.      Take CNSL 500, 501 and 530 first.  Although 500 is a prerequisite to 501, the courses can be taken concurrently.  (The prerequisites and 500 and 501 are required to apply for candidacy into the program.)

2.      The minimum number of credits is 42.  Professional licensure in Connecticut requires 60 credits. You may take the additional credits after graduation if you wish to become licensed.

3.      Keep in mind that CNSL 503 is a Field-Based practicum that will require approximately 7-8 hours per week in a college setting and a weekly seminar on campus.

4.      You will need to decide whether to do a Thesis (Plan A) or an Applied Research Project (Plan C) as a culminating research experience.  Your advisor will help you decide which plan to select.

5.      The internship is scheduled during the last year.

rev 10/01/02