2.
Equivalent program. Applicants who graduated from a non-CACREP approved program
must establish educational equivalency through one of the following pathways:
a. Graduation from a program deemed by the
Board, on an annual, to meet CACREP educational equivalency; OR
b. Candidates who graduated from a non-CACREP
approved program or a program that has not been deemed educationally equivalent
by the Board must submit their educational credentials to a Board approved
credentialing agency for evaluation and determination of whether the program
satisfies the requirements of this Rule.
(1)
All of the following requirements shall be considered in order to establish
equivalency:
(a.) The required master's or
doctoral level study and masters or doctoral degree were obtained from a
regionally-accredited institution of higher learning;
(b.) The program stood as a coherent and
recognizable entity within the institution, offering an integrated and
organized sequence of study planned to provide appropriate training for the
practice of professional counseling;
(c.) There was an identifiable full-time
faculty, with an individual responsible for the program who was a full-time
faculty member and who met the requirements for approval as a supervisor or a
person who presents proof satisfactory to the Board, that at the time of
serving as the faculty member, s/he possessed essentially the same education,
experience, and training as that necessary to qualify for licensure under the
Act.
(d.) The program had an
identifiable body of students who were matriculated in that program for a
degree;
(e.) The master's or
doctoral program included examination and grading procedures designed to
evaluate the degree of mastery of the subject matter by the students:
(i) Except as provided in Subsection (2)
below, for a master's or doctoral degree, the curriculum must include a minimum
of forty-eight semester hours or seventy-two quarter hours of graduate study
(for the master's degree) or a minimum of ninety-six semester hours or 144
quarter hours of graduate study (for the doctoral degree) and supervised field
experience of not fewer than 700 hours that was counseling in nature, if
enrolled prior to August 31, 2014.
(ii) If enrolled prior to August 31, 2014, an
individual whose qualifying master degree upon which licensure is to be based
included less than forty-eight semester hours or seventy-two quarter hours for
a master's degree or ninety-six semester hours or 144 quarter hours for a
doctoral degree, who did not complete 700 hours of supervised professional
practice as a part of the degree program, or who did not complete course work
in all of the content areas required by Rule 1.14 may complete these
requirements post-degree in order to obtain licensure, if:
(aa) All course work, field, and post-degree
coursework for licensure experiences are completed through an institution of
higher education that is accredited by a regional accrediting organization
accepted by the Board through Rule 1.14 or through a counseling program
recognized by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education
Programs (CACREP);
(bb) All course
work and field experiences are taken and passed for credit; and
(cc) All individuals who did not complete 700
hours of supervised professional practice as part of the original degree
program may submit evidence of post-degree work experience for consideration
and credit at the discretion of the Board.
(2) If enrolled after August 31,
2014, an individual whose qualifying master degree upon which licensure is to
be based included less than sixty semester hours for a master's degree, who did
not complete 700 hours of supervised professional practice as a part of the
degree program, or who did not complete course work in all of the content areas
required by Rule 1.14 may complete these requirements post-degree in order to
obtain licensure, if:
(a) All course work,
field experiences and post-degree coursework for licensure are completed
through an institution of higher education that is accredited by a regional
accrediting organization accepted by the Board through Rule 1.14 or through a
counseling program recognized by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling
and Related Education Programs (CACREP);
(b) All course work and field experiences are
taken and passed for credit; and
(c) No more than six semester credits or nine
quarter credits are completed post-degree for purposes of licensure.
(3) The core program required each
student to demonstrate knowledge and skill competence in each of the following
substantive content areas. Competence is demonstrated by passing suitable
comprehensive examinations in each of the eight areas, successful completion of
two or more graduate semester hours (three or more graduate quarter hours) in
each of the eight areas, or by other suitable means as determined by the Board:
(a) Human growth and development- includes
studies that provide a broad understanding of the nature and needs of
individuals at any developmental level, normal and abnormal human behavior,
personality theory, and learning theory within cultural contexts.
(b) Social and cultural foundations- includes
studies that provide a broad understanding of societal changes and trends,
human roles, societal subgroups, social mores and interaction patterns, and
differing lifestyles.
(c) Helping
relationships- includes studies that provide a broad understanding of
philosophic bases of helping processes, counseling theories and their
applications, basic and advanced helping skills, consultation theories and
their applications, client and helper self-understanding and self-development,
and facilitation of client or consultee change.
(4) Groups- includes studies that provide a
broad understanding of group development, dynamics, and counseling theories;
group leadership styles; basic and advanced group counseling methods and
skills; and other group approaches.
(5) Lifestyles and career development-
includes studies that provide a broad understanding of career development
theories; occupational and educational information sources and systems; career
and leisure counseling, guidance, and education; lifestyle and career
decision-making; career development program planning and resources; and
effectiveness evaluation.
(6)
Appraisal- includes studies that provide a broad understanding of group and
individual educational and psychometric theories and approaches to appraisal,
data and information-gathering methods, validity and reliability, psychometric
statistics, factors influencing appraisals, and use of appraisal results in
helping processes.
(7) Research and
evaluation- includes studies that provide a broad understanding of types of
research, basic statistics, research-report development, research
implementation, program evaluation, needs assessment, and ethical and legal
considerations.
(8) Professional
orientation- includes studies that provide a broad understanding of
professional roles and functions, professional goals and objectives,
professional organizations and associations, professional history and trends,
ethical and legal standards, professional preparation standards, and
professional credentialing.
(9) If
the course titles as stated on the transcript do not clearly reflect the
subject matters listed above, the applicant must document the course or
combination of courses in which the material was covered.
(a) If the master's or doctoral degree was
awarded prior to September 1, 1992, the Board will accept the degree
irrespective of the number of semester hours or quarter hours of graduate study
required to obtain the degree, provided the core program required each student
to demonstrate knowledge and skill competence in seven of the eight substantive
content areas listed above.
(b)
Only graduate level courses are acceptable as establishing equivalency. The
Board will not accept coursework counted or credited toward an undergraduate
degree.