Note: The Graduate Handbook
is currently being revised. This edition is still posted for informational purposes,
but may be outdated (e.g., program admission dates and requirements have
changed). Please contact the Department of Psychology regarding up-to-date
policies and procedures.
Graduate Handbook
In
Psychology
Stanislaus
Revised 12/99
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Objectives of the Graduate Handbook
Use of this Manual
Statement of Non-Discrimination
Master of Arts Degree in Psychology
(M.A.)
Master of Science Degree in
Psychology (M.S.)
Behavior Analysis Concentration
Counseling Concentration
Preparation for the CSUS Master’s Program in
Psychology
Required Prerequisite Courses for
all Programs
Recommended Courses for all Programs
Required Prerequisite Courses for
the Concentration
Application Procedures and Admission Requirements
Master of Science Degree in
Psychology
Procedure for Application
Minimum Requirements for Admission 2
Enrolling in Master’s Thesis Units
Thesis Committee
Preliminary Drafts of the Document
Conducting the Work
Procedures for Completing a Master’s Thesis
in the Department of
Thesis Proposal
Preliminary Orals (Proposal)
Writing the Thesis
Scheduling the Oral Defense
The Thesis Oral Defense
Revising the Document of Defense
Copies
1. To orient interested students to the opportunity of graduate education in general.
2. To present the various Master’s level programs offered in Psychology by CSUS.
3. To serve as a contract of “fair rules fairly applied” regarding admission, disqualification, and degree requirements. This document comprises “informed consent.”
4. To serve as an advising guide to students accepted into the program.
You should read this manual carefully and have a comprehensive working knowledge of the policies and procedures before:
1. Applying for admission to any CSUS Psychology Graduate Program.
2. Making advising appointments.
3. Seeking faculty sponsors for Fieldwork, Independent Study, Thesis, and Practicum.
4. Seeking faculty consultation on exception to program requirements.
The Department of Psychology at Stanislaus is strongly committed to following all legal and ethical guidelines applicable to the professions of the teaching, training, and practice of Psychology. The Department of Psychology adheres to the current American Psychological Association’s Code of Ethics. Students who feel they have been treated unfairly or unprofessionally by any member of our Department should first seek a consultation with our department chairperson who will resolve the issue. If the issue in question involves a specific faculty member, the American Psychological Association code of ethics suggests you first bring the matter to his/her attention for resolution. If the matter cannot be resolved and you continue to feel that your rights as a student are being violated, consult with the Department Chairperson or an unbiased member of the Psychology Department.
In psychology, career options and opportunities generally exist in direct proportion to the amount of graduate education students have received. Jobs are available in: large corporations; public entity agencies; at the federal, state, county, and city levels; private consulting; private practice; and to a limited extent, higher education.
Those wishing to pursue a career in psychology may apply to one of two graduate programs: Master’s (M.A., M.S.), and Doctoral (Ph.D.) programs. It is not necessary to obtain a Master’s in order to enter a Ph.D. program. CSUS offers only the Master’s degree.
Students possessing excellent academic skills, “strong” academic credentials, and the necessary motivation should seriously consider obtaining graduate training. Master’s programs can provide career-oriented specialty training in such fields as counseling, behavior analysis, industrial psychology, and quantitative analysis. Master’s programs can also prepare students for doctoral programs if a strong academic track is followed. Students whose academic records do not qualify for immediate admission into a doctoral program or who are geographically bound for the moment but intend to pursue doctoral studies might benefit from earning a master’s degree first. Ph.D. programs limit the number of graduate transfer units, but you may have a number of the required courses waived, including the Master’s thesis. This allows you to take elective courses your non-master’s degree colleagues will not have the freedom to pursue.
Doctoral programs provide specialty training in a variety of areas within Psychology, such as Clinical, Experimental, Behavior Analysis, Organizational-Industrial, Social-Personality, Developmental, Counseling (usually housed in the School of Education), and so on. Students apply to a department to enter a specific program, and to a greater or lesser extent commit themselves to that program. For doctoral level programs, students are strongly advised to apply to several schools. These schools are expected to cover a wider geographic range, and should be selected on the basis of the nature of the program, the strengths of the faculty, and the admission requirements. An excellent source for this sort of information, and the place to begin this very important research is the Graduate Studies Guide (located in the campus library) published and updated every year by the American Psychological Association (APA). Another source for such information is psychology faculty members. Faculty is familiar with graduate programs, both from their professional involvement with others in the field and their experiences with previous students who have gone on to doctoral studies. Additionally, virtually all programs have information packets available upon request for prospective applicants.
Information about graduate programs nationwide can be obtained by a computer printout system called GIS (Graduate Information Service) housed in the Counseling/Career Development Center (C/CDC) on the CSUS campus. If you are presently enrolled in any class at CSUS, your Associated Students Fees entitle you to the full range of counseling and career development counseling services offered through C/CDC. Many psychology undergraduates consider Ph.D. programs (in Clinical Psychology, for example) without information regarding such vital facts as fees, number of openings, admission criteria, or theoretical emphasis of the program. Ph.D. programs in APA approved Departments of Psychology are highly competitive, requiring unusual commitment and competence for both the undergraduate and 5-year graduate program.
The
psychology graduate programs at
The M.A. program in Experimental Psychology is designed (1) to prepare students for advanced graduate work, and (2) for those students who desire a research-oriented program. Admission to the program is competitive. This is a one year, 30 unit program.
The M.S. program is a two-year, program designed to train masters level professional psychologists who can apply the techniques and knowledge of psychology to the solution of human problems. The M.S. program has two concentrations, counseling and behavior analysis; both of which meet the educational requirements for the Marriage Family Therapist (MFT) license, formerly known as the Marriage, Family Child Counselor (MFCC) license. There is emphasis on basic, theoretical psychology as well as training in applied skills. The program is rigorous and requires serious commitment and efficient time-management to progress in a timely manner and earn the degree.
The basic studies in the program are designed to give the student a solid background in the fundamentals of psychology such as communication theory, developmental psychology, social psychology, professional ethics, human sexuality, learning theory, and research methodology. The student will thus be trained to a level of sophistication appropriate for a professional psychologist. In addition, the student will prepare to work professionally in one of the following areas: counseling or behavior analysis. Each of these concentrations includes theoretical and technique training as well as substantial practicum experience appropriate to the area.
The M.S. concentration in Behavior Analysis trains the student in both the theoretical and applied skills needed to provide consultative and direct services to a wide variety of populations including exceptional children and adults, preschool children, teachers and parents. The M.S. concentration in Behavior Analysis (49 units) can be completed in two years of full-time study. However, students may participate on a part-time basis.
The
Behavior Analysis concentration has BBS accreditation making graduates eligible
for the MFT exam. Graduates may also qualify for registration as a behavior
analyst. The Behavior Analysis concentration is unique in that it provides
extensive training in behavioral theory, experimentation and application. There
are very few such behavioral concentrations in the western half of the
The M.S. concentration in Counseling psychology (51 units) requires the equivalent of two years of full-time study. However, students may participate on a part-time basis. Students should realize that many graduate courses are offered only once per year. The Counseling Psychology concentration prepares the student to do individual (adult and child), relationship, and group counseling in a wide variety of settings. Among other areas, attention is given to the problems of marriage and family living. The student gains practicum experience by working with clients in one or more of the many community mental health agencies in the area. The Counseling Concentration prepares the student to be examined for the Marriage and Family Therapist License (MFT).
The Counseling Concentration enjoys an excellent reputation regionally partly due to the number of well trained MFT counselors graduating from our program who are well placed in counseling careers. The Counseling Concentration has been accredited by the BBS for over a decade. Nearly all graduates pass the written MFT exam. The Counseling Concentration maintains excellent practicum placements in the public sector. (See Appendix A for Program Course Requirements)
Students applying for the Psychology Master’s program at CSUS are not required to have majored in psychology during their undergraduate studies. At the same time, students are required to have completed certain courses before they are eligible to enroll in the program, and are strongly encouraged to have completed other courses in order to be prepared for our graduate courses.
To apply to any CSUS Graduate Program in Psychology you must have a minimum of 16 upper division undergraduate units of psychology courses approved by the Graduate Committee.
1. Introductory Psychology
2. An upper division course in Statistics covering such topics as central tendency, variance and standard deviation, standard error, correlation, regression, t-tests, analysis of variance, and non-parametric methods.
3. An upper division course in Experimental Psychology covering such topics as measurement, research design, experimental control, subject assignment to groups, and experience in data collection and the writing of experimental reports in current APA format.
Note: At CSUS, the Statistics and Experimental Psychology
requirement is combined in our course Psych 3000 (experimental methods) with
laboratory. You must have a grade “B” or better in your Statistics/Design
Course to apply.
All graduate students are strongly encouraged to have some preparation in the following areas of psychology:
Developmental
Abnormal
History and Systems
Learning
Perception
Social
Psychological Testing
Students applying to the M.A. program in research psychology are required to have BS or BA in Psychology or the equivalent of two laboratory courses and courses in each of the first three breath areas (including either advanced general psychology or history of psychology) from the CSUS undergraduate psychology major degree.
Students applying to the Behavior Analysis concentration (M.S.) are REQUIRED to have the following courses IN ADDITION TO those courses required for all programs.
1. An introductory course in learning theory, with a minimum grade of B.
2. An upper division introduction to abnormal psychology course with a minimum grade of B (CSUS 3350, Abnormal Psychology)
3. An upper division introduction to counseling theory course with a minimum grade of B (CSUS 3790, Counseling Theory)
4. An upper division counseling techniques course, with a minimum grade of B (CSUS 4770, Introduction to Counseling Techniques) emphasizing basic communication skill training.
Students applying to the Counseling concentration (M.S.) are REQUIRED to have the following courses IN ADDITION TO those required for all programs.
1. An upper division introduction to psychological testing with a minimum grade of B (CSUS 3160, Introduction to Psychological Testing)
2. An upper division introduction to abnormal psychology course with a minimum grade of B (CSUS 3350, Abnormal Psychology)
3. An upper division introduction to counseling theory course with a minimum grade of B (CSUS 3790, Counseling Theory)
4. An upper division counseling techniques course, with a minimum grade of B (CSUS 4770, Introduction to Counseling Techniques) emphasizing basic communication skill training.
A. Admission Office/Graduate Office:
All students who wish to enroll in any post baccalaureate course work must:
1) Submit a general
2) Submit transcripts of all college work to the Admissions Office.
3) Please note that any qualified post baccalaureate student wishing to pursue continuing education by taking courses of interest need only apply for Unclassified status through the Graduate Office.
4) Department and University policy permits some graduate coursework taken while students were unclassified to be applied toward their Master’s degrees once the students have earned classified standing in the department. Specifically, students may apply a maximum of nine (9) required graduate units taken during unclassified status. Units in excess of nine cannot be applied to the Master’s degree. Further, courses in which students have earned a grade of less than “B” (i.e., a grade of “C” or less) would not be transferable to the degree program.
B. Psychology Department
All students wishing to gain Classified standing in any psychology graduate program must simultaneously:
1) Submit a Graduate Application (obtained from the Psychology Department office secretary) to the Psychology Department. (See Appendix B)
2) Submit a record of performance on both the Graduate Record Exam Psychology Subject test and Graduate Record Exam General Test. Testing arrangements can generally be made through the testing center of the applicant’s institution or through the Graduate Office of California State University, Stanislaus.
3) Submit transcripts of all college work. (NOTE: Students at Stanislaus must notify Admissions and Records Office to send their transcripts to the Psychology Department upon applying to the Graduate Program. Do not assume that the transcripts you sent to admissions will be forwarded.)
4) Obtain three letters of recommendation (using the forms provided in the application packet). These will usually be from past professors and instructors who are in a position to evaluate an applicant’s qualifications for graduate study. Refer any questions about obtaining these letters to the Department’s graduate secretary. It is suggested that you make a formal appointment with each of your supporters to discuss the strength of the letter he/she feels capable of writing.
5) All applications materials for the M.S. and M.A. programs must be received in the Psychology Department no later than October 15 for admission to the program beginning in the Spring semester and no later than February 1 for admission to the program beginning in the Fall semester. The graduate secretary will try to contact you regarding incomplete applications before the listed deadlines. However, it is your responsibility to verify that your application materials area in order.
6) Students must file application materials with both the University Admissions Office and the Psychology Department. Failure to submit the necessary materials to either unit by the deadline will delay admission consideration.
A. A bachelor’s degree with at least 16 approved upper division semester units in psychology including a background in experimental and research skills. These courses must be acceptable to the Psychology Graduate Committee in terms of course content and student performance.
B. Above average performance in the undergraduate major or in all psychology units taken.
C. Completion of all prerequisite courses.
D. Satisfactory completion and performance on the GRE General and Psychology Subject Test. Exam scores must be received by the Psychology Department by the program application deadline.
E. Approval by the Psychology Faculty.
F. Upon notification of acceptance into Classified Graduate Standing in any of the department’s programs, the applicant should send an acceptance letter indicating the semester they plan to begin classes and that he/she understands the departmental policies on periodic reviews and the procedures for Academic-Administrative Probation and Disqualification.
Once accepted to Classified Status, students must eventually file an Advancement to Candidacy petition with the psychology department. The petition cannot be filed until students have completed all of the following:
A. Removed any deficiencies in admission requirements or conditions placed on the Classified Status.
B. Completed at least 12 units of psychology graduate course work with a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.0 including Psychology 5010 (Advanced Research Methods).
C. Satisfactory completion of the writing requirement. (See Appendix D)
D. Specified a fixed set of courses for degree completion.
E. Identified a Master’s Thesis topic, selected a Chair for the thesis and gathered together a thesis committee. (But not yet required to have had a formal thesis proposal committee meeting.)
Advancing to Candidacy means that the University permits students to register for thesis and practicum units. Unless students are advanced to Candidacy, they cannot enroll for such units. The petition asks for confirmation of the courses students have taken, are taking, and plan to take to fulfill University graduation requirements, as well as the title of the thesis. It must be signed by the student’s advisor, thesis chair, Psychology Graduate Director, and Psychology Department Chair.
In completing the petition, only the minimum units required for the degree are reported. Many students may have taken more units than are listed in the Advancement to Candidacy petition.
The approved program and advancement to Candidacy constitutes a contractual relationship between the student and the University. All features of the contract must be met before the degree is granted. The student is responsible for filing the appropriate forms with the Department. These forms are available from the psychology department.
It is expected by the University that graduate students will register for academic units each semester until they graduate. The University provides a one semester “grace period” for an enrollment break. If students do not register for course work during a particular semester, nothing of any consequence happens. At the start of the following semester, the University will expect to find the student once again registered for units. If the student is not registered, the University automatically drops the student from the program. Once dropped, the student is required to reapply to the University and to the Department; if readmitted, the student must meet all catalog requirements in effect at the time of readmittance. Students should inform the Psychology Department in writing if they will not be enrolled in courses for more than one semester.
It is not unusual for students to complete all of their classroom course work, register for thesis units, and find at the end of the semester that they have not finished the thesis. This work, therefore, must be carried into the next semester. Students in this position must still maintain continuous enrollment, despite the fact that they do not intend to register for additional units. Once a student completes 3 units of academic thesis units (PSYC 5990) they must be continuously enrolled in Continuing Thesis or Project (MDIS 7000) through the office of Extended Education.
To obtain their Master’s degrees, students must complete a thesis written in American Psychological Association publication style within the time limits set by the University.
Generally, a thesis is an empirical study, the writing of which is organized around chapters titled Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. It is anticipated by the University that students working in more traditional scientific fields will engage in thesis work involving experimentation.
The Department has broadened its conception of the thesis to include such related scholarly activities as: program evaluation, major theoretical analysis and community needs assessment (if done in the APA style). Other graduate projects (as described in the CSUS catalog) cannot be substituted for the thesis requirement.
Once advanced to candidacy, you are eligible to register in the following semesters for between one and three units of Master’s thesis work. To enroll in thesis units you must complete the small amount of paperwork required by our department at the start of the semester you plan to begin the work. The number of units taken should reflect the proportion of thesis work you are committed to completing(1/3, 2/3, or all =1, 2, or 3 units). Generally, thesis units are not taken during summer terms. If the student plans to complete a major part of his/her thesis work requiring faculty supervision during the summer, they must enroll for thesis units before faculty supervision can be provided. Once a student completes 3 units of academic thesis units (PSYC 5990) they must be continuously enrolled in Continuing Thesis or Project (MDIS 7000) through the office of Extended Education.
In conjunction with the chair (from your Advancement to Candidacy form) you organize a committee to supervise your work (if there are committee member changes from those indicated on the candidacy form you need to update your records with the Department). If you are enrolled in thesis, your committee must consist of at least two other members (for a total of three counting the chair). One of these, if it is appropriate and agreed upon by your chair and the department, may be from outside the department or University. An optional additional member may be from outside the department or University. Since scheduling busy faculty into meeting times can be difficult, consider a three member committee for most situations.
The role of the chair is central to the student’s work. The chair is expected to direct, supervise, and otherwise monitor the student’s work closely. All matters pertaining to the content of the work and matters involving thesis writing should be frequently discussed by the student with his/her chair. Other committee members (called “readers”) serve as resource people for the student. The “readers” are often asked to play some active role in the work, but never as a active role as the chair. The chair is NOT expected to be responsible for correcting student skill deficits or motivational problems. Your chair IS expected to provide constructive, timely, written feedback to each written product you submit. It is the responsibility of the student to organize their ideas on paper for critique and revision.
Producing the final form of the thesis document (the one that will be shelved in the CSUS Library) is a lengthy process. You should by this time have a copy of the current American Psychological Association Publication Manual. Before writing the thesis, pick up the thesis writing guidelines from the Office of Graduate Studies.
The process starts by writing preliminary drafts of the material (perhaps a chapter or section at a time), editing, rewriting, and so on. When you have narrative of sufficient quality that you are not embarrassed by it, you then show it to your chair. The manuscript will probably pass between you and your chair many times, depending on the extent of the needed revisions. At some point, the test will be presentable to the other committee members for feedback. This manuscript becomes your proposal. Depending on its quality the final form of your thesis may contain most of the proposal content.
This involves reviewing the literature, designing the procedures for data collection and analysis, data gathering, and so on as appropriate to the particular thesis plan. It could take anywhere from half a semester to several semesters to conduct the proposed work.
1. Obtain a committee of no fewer than
three individuals, the majority of whom must be
2. In consultation with the chair and members of your committee, develop a proposal for the thesis. Write the proposal in journal-article format following the current Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) in every respect, except that:
a. The first page should be a Proposal Title Page and the second page should be a Proposal Approval Page; both follow the format specified by the department and the University. (See Appendix G)
b. Do not include an Abstract.
c. All descriptions of what is expected to happen or what will be done should be written in future tense.
d. An Analysis section should be substituted for the Results section and Discussion section. The Analyses section should describe in detail the data analyses to be done. If hypotheses or specific research questions are stated in the Introduction (which is usually the case), the Analysis section should explain in detail the statistical analyses (or data display) necessary to evaluate the truth or falsehood of each hypothesis (or question).
In submitting drafts of the proposal to your chair or
committee, please do not expect these
Individuals to serve as proof readers. In fact, according
to Department of Psychology policy, if a committee member encounters a total of
15 typographical, grammatical, or APA-Publication-Manual errors, she/he should
return the thesis immediately to the student without reading further.
The proposal must describe clearly what you propose to do for your research study and why, so that you and the committee can discuss the details and arrive at definite decisions and agreement. See the proposal outline for guidance in organizing the proposal. Proposals are written in the future tense (“was”). If there are some details or procedures you are uncertain about, include a discussion of the various ways you might proceed, indicating the pros and cons of each possible way. Then you can discuss these and decide at preliminary orals.
You are not permitted to begin the research itself until your proposal has been approved at (or after) preliminary orals. You may do pilot work with your committee chairperson’s approval. After committee approval, you must follow the plans agreed to in the proposal. If minor changes are needed as you progress, clear them with your chairperson. If major changes are needed, a new proposal (or revision) and new preliminary orals are required.
The approved proposal is a contract between you and the department, saying, in effect, that we will accept a satisfactory thesis based on the proposed research and cannot change our mind, even if the results of the study were not as exciting as you had hoped, and even if, as happens rarely, you had to replace a committee member.
This meeting is to discuss your proposed study in detail and is scheduled as soon as you and your committee are satisfied with your written proposal. Usually preliminary orals last an hour, but two hours may be necessary in some cases. Any faculty member or graduate student may attend your preliminary orals (and you should feel free to attend those of other students). Your committee will attempt to help you resolve any methodological problems. If the proposal meeting is successful, your committee members will sign a proposal approval form trusting the chair to enforce any needed changes specified in your written proposal. (See Appendix H)
Submit the appropriate forms and a copy of the proposal to the CSUS Human Subjects Institutional Review Board (if the study involves human beings) or the Animal Welfare Committee (if the study involves animals) and the Psychology Graduate Director. (See Appendix I) This review may take as long as one month. If it takes longer, contact the Chairperson of the Department.
After the proposal and use of subjects are approved, submit evidence of the approval to the Chairperson of your thesis committee. Include signed copies of these two approval forms as Appendix A in the final thesis. You may now collect data. Collecting data beforehand is unethical and unprofessional conduct.
Write the thesis in the format of a journal article according to the current APA Publication Manual. Note that unlike the proposal, the thesis should be written in present and /or past tense. The Analysis section of the proposal should be replaced by a Results section and a Discussion section (as indicated in the APA Publication Manual). Although journal articles are typically short (roughly 20 typewritten, double-spaced pages), you are not necessarily bound to that length. It is up to you, your thesis chairperson, and your committee to resolve the issue of length. In some cases, you or your committee may prefer, for example, a more expanded introduction or discussion section or a separate Review of the Literature section. If you write a separate Review of the Literature, you may include it as Appendix B of your thesis or immediately following the introduction. If you do the latter, begin the section with the centered heading, Review of the Literature and do not start a new page. Regardless of whether you include a separate Review of the Literature section, you must always do a thorough literature review. In integrated form, relevant material from this review always forms the introduction and provides the basis for hypotheses or research questions stated in the introduction.
Follow
the APA Publication Manual in every respect. Please realize that it is not
the responsibility of your chairperson or committee to write your thesis, nor
should the committee be expected to serve as proof readers at any stage of the
process. To make this clear, the Department of Psychology has adopted the
policy that if a committee member encounters a total of 15 typographical,
grammatical, or APA-Publication-Manual errors, she or he should return the
thesis immediately to the student, without reading further.
The preliminary draft process ends with a product and a goal. The product is a “document of defense.” It should be a highly polished draft of the thesis, typed in the proper University form. It is the document you will defend in your Oral Defense. The goal is to schedule your Oral Defense. It is the student’s responsibility to coordinate a date and time that is acceptable to the members of the thesis committee. With date and time in hand, you then schedule your defense.
The Oral Defense must be scheduled no sooner than one week in advance. It cannot be scheduled for the last week of classes or finals week (unless special permission is granted by all committee members). All oral defenses must occur during Fall, Winter, or Spring semesters. To schedule the defense, go to the Psychology Department office and talk with the Graduate Secretary. You are required to deposit a copy of the “document of defense” with the department office. In return, you will be assigned a room at your requested date and time. You should then confirm the arrangement with your committee, being sure that each has a copy of the “document of defense” (one full week in advance). Your orals announcement must be distributed five (5) school days (or 1 week) before the date of the meeting. Students are to ask the graduate secretary to have this announcement typed and distributed to all graduate students and department faculty.
The purpose of the defense is threefold:
1) to insure that students completely understand the content area as well as the implications of their work for the larger discipline,
2) to detect (and correct to the extent possible) any errors in the thesis, and
3) to shape the written document into the strongest possible form.
The student’s goal during the oral defense is to find out what corrections are necessary to obtain the approval of the faculty committee on the content of the thesis. The meeting is scheduled after all members are satisfied that your thesis draft (including a 150-word Abstract) is ready. You are encouraged to have orals on a “final draft” (not the, perfect professionally typed end product), but the decision on this is the committee’s. We encourage the use of computer word processing programs for the thesis writing. These programs allow for easy editing and updating of thesis drafts. Information related to computer systems and programs is provided in Psychology 4000. Your final draft should be error free.
Usually the defense meeting begins with a presentation by the student on the main points of the study, with emphasis on results and interpretation. This is followed by discussion with the committee on the finer points of the thesis. Committee members will probably make specific suggestions for change in your thesis. Be sure you agree with and understand these suggestions, because you will have to make them before final approval is granted. However, do not hesitate to fully discuss any changes you don’t understand.
The Oral Defense is a formal procedure. The committee chair is the chairperson of the meeting. It is an open meeting in that anyone may attend. In practice however, only the candidate and the committee are usually present. A typical oral takes between one and two hours and basically follows the following sequence:
1. The candidate orally presents a brief (e.g. 20 minute) summary of the work.
2. The committee questions and converses with the candidate.
3. Observers (should there be any) are invited to question or interact with the candidate.
4. When the above is completed, the candidate and any observers are asked to leave the room to permit the committee an opportunity to discuss the candidate’s performance and consolidate its recommendations.
5. After committee deliberation, the chair brings the candidate alone (no observers) back to the room. The candidate is then informed of the outcome of the defense (e.g. pass or fail) and told what changes are needed in the “document of defense” to make its content satisfactory to the committee.
The student is expected to make any changes requested by the committee, and then to show these changes to the member requesting the change and to the committee chair. These changes should still be in “draft” form, since additional work on them may be needed. When all changes have been approved by the committee members and the chair, the document is ready to be typed in final form.
Computer generated, letter quality print is acceptable and students are strongly advised to show the draft document to the graduate coordinator to insure that proper form is being used throughout.
After the thesis committee approves the thesis, as indicated by signing the Thesis Approval page, the thesis may be submitted to the Graduate Studies Office. Please note that the Graduate Studies Office also has the policy that if they encounter a total of 15 typographical, grammatical, or APA-Publication-Manual errors, they will return the thesis to the chair for correction, without reading further. Obviously this may result in delays that could prevent graduation that semester. It appears unprofessional to all concerned. Remember, your chair is not responsible for your errors.
You are required to provide four hard-bound copies of your document, two for library shelving, one for the Psychology Department and one for yourself. It is also considered “proper etiquette” to present a copy of the document to each committee member. This document may be soft-bound (e.g., spiral) for the reader(s), but some students do give the chair a hard-bound copy.
1. A) Find a topic and a committee chair.
B) Report both to the Graduate Director on Advancement to Candidacy Form
(Minimum of one (1) month before semester ends.)
C) Enroll in 5990 for (X) units (depending on how many semesters you expect to take before graduating).
When: approximately 2 semesters before you plan to graduate.
2. Write a proposal (see page 19) and get at least two other committee members.
3. Rewrite proposal to satisfy committee that it is ready for preliminary proposal orals. Start saving money for typing, supplies, binding, etc. (Usually about $200; more if your thesis is lengthy.)
4. Schedule preliminary proposal orals with committee.
When: Five (5) school days before date of meeting. Must be submitted before
5. Preliminary Orals (proposal) (See page 19)
A) Approval of proposal signed by committee (meeting adjourned if necessary for satisfactory rewrites).
B) Have committee endorse Human Ethics or Animal Research Form and then submit to proper Committee for approval.
6. Assemble your materials, subjects and other equipment in preparation for the data collection stage of the thesis.
7. Conduct study and analyze and interpret data.
8. Write first thesis draft to be given to committee chair. (Consult prior thesis in Departmental Chairperson’s office or libraryÑand APA Publication Manual for basic format and reference style).
9. Rewrite thesis draft as required by committee chair and submit to other committee members when your chair so indicates.
10. Rewrite again as needed until you have a draft your entire committee is willing to go to Final Orals with.
11. Give each committee member a copy of the Final Orals draft, including 150-word abstract.
When: Before announcing Final Orals.
12. Announce Thesis Orals to department and give the Psychology Department a copy of the thesis draft.
When: Five (5) school days before meeting.
13. Final Thesis Orals
14. Fix up thesis as required by your committee. Show it to chair and other committee members. Now you and your chair should check the thesis very carefully for grammatical and format errors. Polish and correct it for final typing.
15. Thesis typed in final form (use high quality paper, ribbons, printer, etc.).
When: At least 10 days before thesis deadline date.
16. Proofread the typed thesis using your draft. Fix all errors.
When: At least 3 days before deadline.
17. Give to committee chair for approval and signature. Have each committee members sign the approval form with a black or blue pen.
When: Before thesis deadline date. (Three days before deadline date, in case you cannot find one of them.)
18. Pay microfilming and binding fees.
19. Submit signed thesis to Graduate Studies Office with all copies of signed Thesis Approval Sheet.
I. Challenge Exam
Students may satisfy any course requirement (except thesis and practicum) by demonstrating proficiency in the subject matter taught in the required course. This will be done through the normal challenge procedure (exam) or by petition for acceptable transfer credit. NO automatic provision for challenges exist. All challenge procedures must be arranged with the full-time member of the faculty responsible for the course in question. (See Appendix J)
II. MFT information
Our M.S. programs in Counseling and Behavior Analysis meet the educational requirements for the Marriage Family Therapist (MFT) License. The specific requirements for the MFT License are complex and will be detailed in several of your upcoming graduate classes. The following is an outline of several important MFT requirements.
1. To be eligible to sit for the MFT License you must:
A. Graduate from an approved Master’s program
B. Have 3000 supervised hours of experience, 1300 of which can be earned as an MFT trainee.
2. To earn supervised hours as an MFT trainee you must:
A. Complete 12 semester units in your MFT Master’s degree program and remove any conditions on your admittance to the program.
B. Register with the Psychology Department as an MFT Trainee. (See Psychology Graduate Secretary for forms.)
C. Be enrolled in a Psychology Fieldwork class or in the Psychology Practicum class. You must enroll in fieldwork or Practicum for EVERY semester in which you wish to work as a trainee, including Winter and Summer sessions.
D. Earn hours only at a site pre approved by the Psychology Graduate Director.
E. Each pre approved site will have a letter of agreement with the Psychology department which outlines the responsibilities of the site, supervisor, and trainee. In addition, all experience will have regular written evaluations and progress reports.
F. Have student liability/malpractice insurance. (Please contact APA or CAMFT for applications.)
G. Complete the Weekly Summary of Hours of Experience Form for each week you earn hours. These forms are required by the licensing board, Board of Behavioral Science (BBS). You are to retain these forms as the BSE may ask for them when you apply for licensure. You will also be required to submit copies of these forms to the Psychology Department when you submit your end of the semester evaluation forms.
H. Have your MFT supervisor complete the Supervisor Responsibility Statement within thirty days of commencing supervision. You must submit a copy of tis form to the BSE and the Psychology Department.
I. Complete the Employment Notification form within thirty days of commencing work as a MFT trainee. You must submit a copy of this form to the Psychology Department.
J. Must have 1 hour direct supervision for each week of experience. Your supervision must average 1 hour of direct supervision for every 5 hours of experience. One hour direct supervision means one hour of individual supervision or 2 hours of group supervision with no more than 8 individuals in the group. These ratios can be averaged on a semi-annual basis.
3. To be eligible to enroll in Practicum you must:
A. Complete the Practicum Application Form
B. Be a second year student
C. Have Advanced to Candidacy
D. Completed the following courses:
-Counseling concentration: Psychodiagnostics, Legal and Ethical Issues, and Advanced Counseling
-Behavior Analysis concentration: Approval from Psychology Graduate Director
*Please note that you must complete 75 hours of face-to-face experience in each of your two semesters of practicum.
III. Academic and Administrative Probation and Disqualification.
Student Review Procedure
Student Appeals Procedure
Executive Order (393) provides broad guidelines for informed consent of students at orientation, academic-administrative probation and disqualification, and a student appeals procedure. Section III of the Executive Order states that probation and disqualification of graduate students are subject to criteria established by the campus. The following is an attempt to define such criteria:
Criteria for
Evaluating Psychology Graduate Students
1. Assessment. The knowledge and skills to select, collect, and interpret (analyze) assessment data.
2. Intervention Strategies. Based on assessment of clients history and current functioning, to design, implement, and evaluate intervention strategies with clients; knowledge and prescriptive use of currently accepted strategies.
3. Human and Animal Behavior. Knowledge of the areas of personality, learning, interpersonal, and group functioning.
4. Research. Knowledge of the rationale, methodology, techniques, and tools of scientific investigation, ability to read, analyze and interpret research literature in the student’s specialty area; the skills of conducting a master’s thesis.
5. Legal and Ethical. The student must have a knowledge of laws and ethics that are relevant to his/her field of practice. Also must follow and abide by these laws and ethical guidelines in all course, fieldwork, and practicum settings.
6. Special Groups. Knowledge of particular needs and characteristics of groups including veterans, women, racial minorities, handicapped, youth, and older persons.
7. Personal Characteristics. Accepting of feedback, ability to integrate and change based on feedback, emotional stability, ability to function with fellow students, faculty, and clients.
8. Thesis and Program Requirements. Satisfactory rate of progress on thesis and program requirements as determined by faculty and take courses in sequence as prescribed by the Psychology Department and satisfy prerequisite requirements. All exceptions must be granted by Psychology Graduate Committee.
Failure to meet any of the above criteria and/or criteria under the college-wide Graduate Probation/Disqualification may result in probation or disqualification.
Graduate Student Review Procedure. All students will be reviewed by respective committee from each student’s program (clinical, counseling), at least once during each academic year.
The committee’s data will be presented to the Psychology Department for additional input. The faculty will then provide a written letter (written by program head) to the student regarding: 1) his/her progress in the program; 2) success or failure in meeting program goals. If deficiencies are noted, a statement must be provided specifying in detail the nature of the deficit and the type of remediation if possible, which should be undertaken, and a deadline for completing the remediation. If a student is placed on Academic-Administrative Probation or Disqualification, it must be stated explicitly in the letter. In addition, he/she shall be provided with the conditions for removal from probation and the circumstances which would lead to disqualification, should probation not be removed. This letter must be delivered to the student no later than 20 working days following the faculty meeting, or the 2nd week of June, whichever is sooner.
Administrative-Academic Probation. The following is excerpted from Executive Order 393 (July 1, 1982). The Psychology Department is under the jurisdiction of this order and all Psychology Graduate Students are therefore subject to this order. The order reads as follows: “Administrative-Academic Probation: An undergraduate or graduate student may be placed on administrative-academic probation by action of appropriate campus officials for any of the following reasons:
A. Withdrawal from all or a substantial portion of a program of studies in two successive terms or in any three terms. (Note: A student whose withdrawal is directly associated with a chronic or recurring disability or its treatment is not to be subject to a Administrative-Academic Probation for such withdrawal.)
B. Repeated failure to progress toward the stated degree objective or other program objective, including that resulting from assignment of 15 units of NC, when such failure appears to be due to circumstances within the control of the student.
C. Failure to comply, after due notice, with an academic requirement or regulation which is routine for all students or a defined group of students. (For example: failure to complete English Placement Test, failure to complete a required practicum, failure to complete a specified number of units as a condition for receiving student financial aid.)
Administrative-Academic Disqualification: A student who has been placed on Administrative-Academic Probation may be disqualified from further attendance if:
A. The conditions for removal of Administrative-Academic Probation are not met within the period specified.
B. The student becomes subject to academic probation while on Administrative-Academic Probation.
C. The student becomes subject to Administrative-Academic Probation for the same or similar reason for which he/she has been placed on Administrative-Academic Probation previously, although not currently in such status.
When such action is taken, the student shall receive written notification including an explanation of the basis for the action.
Students who are disqualified at the end of an enrollment period under any of the provisions of the Executive Order shall be notified before the beginning of the next consecutive regular enrollment period. Students disqualified at the beginning of the summer enrollment break shall be notified at least one month before the start of the fall term. In cases where a student ordinarily would be disqualified at the end of a term, save for the fact that it is not possible to make timely notification, the student may be advised that the disqualification is to be effective at the end of the next term. Such notification should include any conditions which, it met, would result in permission to continue in enrollment.
Probation and Disqualification of graduate students are subject to criteria established by the campus. Such criteria may not be less than those established for undergraduate students.
Notice: The foregoing provisions for probation and disqualification shall be summarized in each campus bulletin together with information on local policies and procedures related to their implementation. Procedures for orientation of new students shall include distribution of written materials concerning all aspects of probation and disqualification as well as provisions for review and reinstatement.
Student Grievance Procedure. If the student believes that his/her rights are abridged, the following steps are to be followed:
1) The Psychology Department Chair is to be notified in writing within four weeks of the termination action that grievance procedures are desired.
2) Within two weeks, the appeals committee must be selected. The “Post-Baccalaureate Standing: Unclassified” student shall appeal to the College Petitions Committee through the Director of academic advising; students admitted to Graduate Standing shall appeal through the appropriate Department Chair. the appeals committee shall consist of a faculty member from the department selected by the Department Chair, a faculty member from the department selected by the student, and a faculty member, who will chair the appeals committee, selected from outside the department by the Graduate Dean.
3) Within two weeks of the appointment of the Committee, the student is to submit a written statement of appeal detailing and documenting the compelling reason(s) which form the basis for the student’s contention that the department’s decision is arbitrary and capricious and/or departmental/university procedure was not followed. Also, the remedy sought should be stated.
4) Two weeks following receipt of the statement of appeal, the Grievance Committee shall meet to hear the grievance. Both the grievant and the faculty may present evidence and/or witness.
5) Following the conclusion of the hearing, the Grievance Committee shall consider the evidence, reach its decision and prepare its report. The report shall consist of the Committee’s detailed findings of fact, any conclusions regarding those findings, a finding for or against the grievant, its recommendations for resolving or terminating the matter, and the rationale for its findings, conclusion and recommendations. If the finding is against the grievant, no remedy is to be recommended. In order to find for the grievant, the committee must find that the grievant’s rights were abridged by a procedural violation substantially harmful to the grievant’s rights were abridged by a procedural violation substantially harmful to the grievant, a failure to take into account substantial evidence favorable to the grievant, action which was arbitrary, unreasonable or capricious or not supported by evidence or not consistent with appropriate criteria or reasonable standards.
The committee may recommend whatever is deemed necessary and appropriate to remedy the wrong found to exist. The Committee’s recommendation need not be limited to the remedy sought by the grievant.
The findings of the Committee are binding to both the grievant and the Psychology Department.
If the grievant or Psychology Department is not satisfied with the decision, recourse may be taken in the courts.