APACE Action Plan
Department of Counseling and Psychological Services
College of Education
Georgia State University
The Department of Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) is a graduate
department housed in the College of Education at Georgia State University. The
department is comprised of 10 degree programs. All programs in the department are fully
accredited by appropriate accrediting bodies, with the exception of the Professional
Counseling Ed.S. Program, for which there are no accrediting bodies.
The Department has a strong, national reputation and is attracting more doctoral
and master’s students from beyond the metro-Atlanta area. In 2004 the department was
awarded the “Robert Frank Outstanding Program Award” from the Association for
Counselor Education and Supervision. Additionally, our doctoral students have won
numerous awards over the past three years, with two consecutive American Counseling
Association “Outstanding Doctoral Student Awards.”
CPS faculty members have achieved national and international reputations in the
fields of Counselor Education, Counseling Psychology, Rehabilitation Counseling,
School Counseling, and School Psychology. Faculty members are productive in research,
teaching and service, and the number of faculty applications for external funding has
increased significantly. Faculty serve on editorial boards of premier journals related to
their areas of research.
The department began the development of its APACE self study in the winter of
2004. The self study was coordinated by Dr. Fran Mullis with support from the
Department Chair, the Program Coordinators, and the CPS Staff.
The Academic Program Review was conducted January 25 and 26, 2005. The
APRC review, chaired by Dr. Laura Burtle, was completed April 14, 2005. This action
plan will be organized in response to the recommendations of the external review team
and the APRC committee. The CPS faculty and Chair are in agreement with both
review teams’ findings and recommendations.
Relevant Findings from both the External Review Committee and the APRC Committee
1. Faculty were commended for their service and research productivity
2. The department was commended for its national award in 2004.
3. The department was commended for its long history of service to the community
through practica and internships (at the master’s, Ed.S. and Ph.D. levels) in
mental health settings and in public schools.
4. The department was commended for its efforts in meeting the goals of the College
of Education’s Strategic Plan.
5. The department was commended for its choice of peer (and aspirational)
institutions, its standing regarding student’s GRE scores,and the continued
increase in the quality of its doctoral and master’s students.
6. The department was commended for its achievement of goals from the previous,
1995 APACE review.
7. The external review team commended the department for its goal of achieving a
national reputation in multicultural counseling.
8. Both review teams commended the department for its development of CPS 2500,
an undergraduate class titled “Career Development and Life Planning.”
Key Observations and Recommendations from both the External Review Committee and
the APRC Committee
1. The overall size of the student body, especially the Professional Counseling
master’s program, is too large. It goes beyond the ratio recommended by the
department’s accrediting bodies. The reviewers viewed this as a “significant
problem.”
2. The review teams recommended that the 2/3 teaching load for productive,
research faculty be reduced. This was especially recommended for faculty who
are also directing dissertations.
3. The department has made significant progress in attaining its research goals since
the last APACE review. There is an increase in research productivity and efforts
to obtain external funding. The reviewers recommend continued efforts in these
areas.
4. The reviewers commended the department for providing teaching opportunities
for doctoral students and recommended that School Psychology doctoral students
have more opportunities than are currently available.
5. The review teams believe that only one coordinator for the School Counseling
Program and one coordinator for the School Psychology Program is an excessive
burden for a single faculty member. These programs require multiple reviews
from external accreditation bodies (over and above those required of the noncertification programs), The Board of Regents, The Professional Standards
Commission, and internal reviews.
6. The external review team recommended that financial support for doctoral
students be increased.
7. The external review team recommended that the opportunity for regular
sabbaticals be available for research faculty in order to attract and keep productive
faculty.
8. The external review team recommended that the School Psychology Program seek
accreditation through the National Association of School Psychologists.
9. The reviewers commended the Department’s efforts in the undergraduate arena
and recommended that CPS investigate other ways in which it can be involved
such as Residence Hall assistants, etc. This would provide more funding for
doctoral students.
Summary of Department Efforts Since the Review Process
Since the review process the Department has taken the following steps:
1. Secured an agreement with the Dean of the College of Education to begin to
reduce the number of new students in the Professional Counseling Program. We
admitted 75 new students for fall, 2005 as opposed to 90 in fall, 2004.
2. With regard to teaching load, the Dean has instituted a new policy in which
productive, research faculty will be given a 2/2 teaching load. This is reviewed on
a yearly basis by the Dean and the Department Chairs. This policy will be
instituted fall, 2005.
3. The Department Chair and the CPS faculty members are committed to increasing
research productivity. We have made significant progress since our last APACE
review in 1995, and we will continue on the same path. The infusion of new
faculty over the past seven years has had a significant, positive impact in this area.
Also, senior faculty who remain in the Department continue to be extremely
productive researchers and mentors for new faculty.
4. The Department Chair and the CPS faculty members are committed to efforts to
seek external funding, and activity in that area has increased dramatically since
the last APACE review.
5. The Department Chair in collaboration with the Program Chair for School
Psychology has (in the past year) begun to find opportunities for School
Psychology doctoral students to teach Introduction to School Psychology. With
the inclusion of CPS 2500 and three, CPS Freshman Learning Communities there
will be many more opportunities for these students to teach. The Department
Chair will continue to explore ways that School Psychology doctoral students can
be involved in teaching, where appropriate.
6. The Department has had a history of one person coordinating each program, and
the Chair and the Faculty agree with the review teams that coordinating the
school-based programs requires much more than coordinating the community
based programs. The Department Chair will work with the School Counseling and
School Psychology faculty to reorganize the responsibilities so that the
coordinator for each program has assistance. This may require some release from
teaching.
7. The School Psychology Faculty plans to have its NASP accreditation application
completed and submitted during the 2005-06 academic year.
8. Efforts in the undergraduate arena continue to increase. Fall, 2005 the CPS
Department will offer three Freshman Learning Communities along with five
sections of CPS 2500, Career and Life Planning. With the support of the COE
Dean, we are able to offer an increase in CPS sections all taught by our doctoral
students.
Budget and Timeline
1. Increased funding for part-time instructors would help with the need to give
research faculty a 2/2 teaching load and further reduce the teaching load of
Program Coordinators. $15,300 (6 part-time instructors) Timeline: ongoing
2. Increased funding for doctoral students would help the Department recruit quality
students from across the country and internationally. $60,000 (6 $10,000
assistantship to be divided among the 3 doctoral programs) Timeline: ongoing
3. Increased funding to support undergraduate efforts would help the Department to
pay doctoral students to teach CPS 2500 and also the courses in the Freshman
Learning Communities. $42,000 per year is the cost of funding 3 FLCs and five
sections of CPS 2500. This cost includes the cost of hiring 11 doctoral students
and the career and life planning materials needed to teach the course. Timeline:
ongoing.