Advisor/Student Responsibilities & Program Regulations
Students must be admitted in the College of Education and in the Division of Psychology and Counseling prior to being assigned an advisor. Prior to the first semester, students are required to make an appointment with an advisor to complete a study plan indicating which classes they should enroll in order to complete their graduate degree. Students should be advised prior to registration to determine course selection and to plan for future semesters.
The advisor’s functions will include:
- Student study plan development. The study plan is a guide that must be followed for the degree and/or certification program.
- Initial review and recommendation of transfer credit or the waiving of requirements based upon prior graduate study.
- Pre-registration advisement
- Review of student plan towards degree completion. If it becomes apparent that another skills course or an elective is needed, the advisor will meet with the student in order to modify the study plan. Depending upon the circumstances either the advisor or the student may initiate the request for revision.
Student’s responsibilities include:
- Making contact with the advisor at least once a semester, if needed.
- Checking GSU iMail account frequently (if not daily).
- Updating all pertinent information in your student record, e.g., change of address, name, major, etc.
- Updating the study plan when changes are made.
Program Information
The counseling program is charged with the dual task of nurturing the development of counselors-in-training and ensuring quality client care. In order to fulfill these dual responsibilities faculty must evaluate students based on their academic, professional, and personal qualities.
A student’s progress in the program may be interrupted for failure to comply with academic standards or if a student’s interpersonal or emotional status interferes with being able to provide ethical services to clients. For example, in order to ensure proper training and client care, a counselor-in-training must abide by relevant ethical codes and demonstrate professional knowledge, technical and interpersonal skills, professional attitudes, and professional character.
These factors are evaluated based on one’s academic performance and one’s ability to convey warmth, genuineness, respect, and empathy in interactions with clients, classmates, staff, and faculty. Students should demonstrate the ability to accept and integrate feedback, be aware of their impact on others, accept personal responsibility, and be able to express feelings effectively and appropriately.
Student Progress
The counseling faculty have an ethical responsibility to the counseling profession and to the public to evaluate students' professional suitability. Students in the counseling program are evaluated based on academic achievement and their ability to be effective with clients.
In addition to coursework evaluations, there are five major evaluation points for counseling students:
1. Successful completion of core courses for evaluation. COUN 600-Professional Orientation and Ethical Standards for Counselors, COUN 720-Social and Cultural Foundations, COUN 810-Beginning Counseling and Human Relations skills, COUN 847-Group Dynamics and Intervention. Each course has to be completed with a grade of B or better and a positive recommendation from the Counseling Program Faculty Screening Committee.
2. Candidacy: to determine if the student is ready to work with clients.
3. Practica: to determine how effectively the student works with clients.
4. Internship: to determine if the student is ready to work in an off campus site as a professional under supervision.
5. Internship defense/graduation: to determine if the student is ready to work independently as a professional counselor.
In addition to these evaluation points, the counseling faculty meet each semester to review all students in the counseling program. Students will be notified by their advisor or other counseling faculty of any concerns or recommendations resulting from these meetings.
Violation of the Student Conduct Code (see Student Handbook), ACA Ethical standards, or behavior that indicates to the faculty that the student lacks the emotional maturity, personal stability or sufficient promise as a practicing professional to warrant continuation in the counseling program may result in a recommendation for remediation, dismissal or transfer to a more appropriate major. The advisor will assist in the transition to a new major, when indicated.
Academic Honesty
The following statements are taken directly from the online version of the University Catalog (http://www.govst.edu/catalog/catback.pdf#nameddest=appendix).
The following procedures are appropriate ways to use the ideas and work of others when fulfilling academic requirements:
1. When someone else’s work or scholarship is used to fulfill academic requirements, the source should be given credit. It should not be stated or implied that this work is a person’s own work.
2.a. When using material from a publication (e.g., book, journal, article, film, etc.) that material should be enclosed in quotation marks, or otherwise set off, and the source of the material acknowledged.
b. When paraphrasing published material (e.g., using it almost word-for-word) the source should also be acknowledged unless the information is common knowledge in the field.
c. Unpublished data or ideas of another person should be utilized only with the consent of that person.
d. Material should be prepared jointly with one or more other individuals only with the permission of the instructor. The contributions of all individuals to this material should be clearly acknowledged when it is submitted.
e. Having someone else prepare material that is to be submitted should only be done with the instructor’s permission to do so.
3. The same piece of work should not be submitted for credit in more than one course without the permission of all instructors involved.
4. Hypothetical data should be submitted only with the permission of the instructor to do so and should be clearly labeled as such.
5. One should refuse to make work available to another person who intends to submit part or all of that work as if he/she had written it.
6. Students may neither give, request, nor utilize assistance during an examination without the instructor’s permission.
These ethical guidelines are in no way intended to discourage people from studying together or from engaging in group projects.
