Graduation Requirements
Grade Point Average
Maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) throughout the M.Ed.. program. The state requires a minimum 3.0 GPA for M.Ed.. certification.
Application for Graduation
A student must apply for graduation according to the schedule stated under the “Graduation” section of the FSU graduate catalog. Interns complete the online applications during the Fall Orientation Meeting or the first SCCO 693 class meeting of the intern’s final semester prior to graduation. Applications are submitted by the Candidate Intern to the Office of Graduate Services.
Personal Growth Component
Because the work of any professional counselor involves a high level of self-awareness, congruence, and ongoing personal growth, the program requires students to participate in some type of professional growth experience. This experience will typically occur prior to the Practicum semester and may be either individual or group in nature. The growth experience is to be a minimum of 12 hours in length. Students may choose to fulfill this requirement with individual counseling at the Frostburg State University Counseling Center on the main campus where the services are free of charge or through another helping professional. The student assumes the responsibility to set up a personal growth component. Appropriate documentation required from the provider verifies the candidate's completed personal growth experience. The form is available from the Program Coordinator.
In the past, students who successfully completed a course of personal counseling or other type of personal awareness experience report a greater grasp of the positive effects of counseling as well as enhanced confidence in beginning work with their own clients. The experience of being a client also enhances the students’ understanding of the helping relationship and helping process. Many students elect to remain in counseling beyond the required 12-hour minimum.
Professional Behavior and Experiential Lab Courses
SCCO 600, 609, 612 & 693: Experiential lab courses provide an opportunity for the student to apply and develop skills and techniques in a classroom setting. Successful participation and completion of the required courses using these techniques for skill development, relationship building, professional behavior and knowledge are significant elements throughout the program. The practice as student-clients addressing fictional or real issues are beneficial as the student counselors adapt to the moment like professional counselors do daily in their role as school counselors. Experiential labs provide valuable learning opportunities emphasizing the importance of ethical guidelines and confidentiality except in situations where safety of the client or of others is in jeopardy, confidentiality may be broken according to the ASCA Ethical Guidelines.
During these practice sessions, the instructor or assistant, as well as another student observes and provides feedback on strengths and areas of possible improvement in the techniques and style of the counselor. The goal is for students to learn to respond positively to supervision and accept feedback non-defensively.
Personal logs or journals are frequently required in experiential courses. Self-assessments are often required in the lab courses. The content is exclusively between you and your instructor. Any issues written in the log narrative will not be shared with other SCCO faculty unless otherwise indicated beforehand by the instructor. Information may be shared with other SCCO faculty if the counseling skills demonstrated or issues discussed affect your development as a helping professional. Failure to abide by the ASCA Ethical Guidelines may result in dismissal from the School Counseling Program.
All School Counseling candidates are required to complete and provide evidence of fingerprinting. background checks, and Tuberculosis (TB) test results to the Department of Education before participating in any field work (practicum or internship) in the schools. A Tuberculosis Test must be administered within the year prior to your Practicum field placement. The proof of negative TB results must be submitted along with evidence of fingerprinting to Jennifer Delaney, Framptom 217, and as required by the county school system where field placements are scheduled.
Successful completion of the Practicum, a clinically based component for counselor education programs that specifically includes a 100 clock-hour school-based experience prior to the Internship. The three-credit SCCO 612 Practicum is an academic and experiential class intentionally designed to put training into practice and provide candidates with supervised school-based learning experiences focused on understanding and practicing the professional school counselor’s role in the K-12 setting. The Practicum experience is at one level (elementary, middle or high school) throughout a full academic semester with the required hours translating into a one-day per week experience.
The Capstone experience within the School Counseling Program is SCCO 693, School Counseling Internship. Students must successfully complete six (6) credit hours of supervised field experience and document the 500 clock-hours during the Internship. This academic and experiential course provides an opportunity through two 250-hour experiences in supervised educational settings, for students to integrate their learning from all previous course work and put into practice. Assignments will provide the framework and opportunity to demonstrate proficiency of the various skills required. The assignments must also be completed successfully. The candidate earns a course grade for the total practical application supervised placements and the academic performance.
The school Supervisor evaluates the candidate's performance at the mid-point and the end of the experience in each placement. If an intern’s work is deemed unsatisfactory by the University supervisor in conjunction with feedback from the on-site supervisor, a Plan for Improvement is developed with expectations for improved performance with added scheduled observations. Additional actions may follow if the identified skills, behaviors, and/or performance do not improve. For example, students may be required to do additional internship hours.
Licensure
Any student who is seeking certification beyond the school counseling certification is strongly encouraged to complete hours beyond the total 500 hours required for internship. This extended internship is advised because the state certification board looks at total clock hours, not credit hours in their licensure/certification process. Questions concerning this matter may be directed to the Program Coordinator. Additionally, candidates wishing to secure a practicum or internship in Frederick or Washington County Public Schools must complete an application to the individual county one semester prior to the internship field experience. Information is available through the Office of Clinical and Field Experiences Coordinator.
Portfolio and Permanent File Artifacts
Each student is required to develop a professional portfolio. The list of items included in the Portfolio is provided and will be checked during the exit interview. The Permanent File artifacts list is also provided to the candidate and will require submitting the original signature signed forms to the Program Coordinator. These items include: time logs from each placement, supervisors evaluations, units created, capstone research project, and other assignments as noted. The candidate is strongly encouraged to keep copies of these uniques documents with dates and signatures. The originals will be kept on file at Frostburg State University.
Each student is required to attend an exit interview with the School Counseling Coordinator and program faculty, if available, prior to graduating from the program. This is an opportunity for the student to give special feedback regarding his or her experience during the program. The School Counseling program welcomes and encourages student feedback at all stages of the Master’s program.
Graduation
Graduation is held after the fall and spring semesters on the Frostburg State University Campus. All candidate-interns having completed all School Counseling Program and University requirements, are encouraged to participate in their respective Graduation Ceremony.
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