S.U. Re-Accredited through 2024:

The Department of Counseling and Human Services is focused on program quality which is exemplified through our commitment to accreditation by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). CACREP accreditation provides recognition of the quality and scope of training as well as assures students that the program is stable and committed to meeting professional benchmarks of quality. Our two master’s programs (Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling) and our Counselor Education Ph.D. program are currently accredited by CACREP.  CACREP accreditation is critical as you compare programs in that counselors must be graduates of a CACREP program as of 2022 to be credentialed as a National Certified Counselor. Accreditation also streamlines licensure and credentialing processes for professional counselors.​

Admission

In our admission process, we consider multiple facets of an applicant’s portfolio and background because we believe that successful counselor educators, supervisors, and leaders need to be interpersonally skilled, highly self-aware, professionally mature, academically prepared for graduate work, and committed to the values and philosophies of the counseling profession and the Department of Counseling and Human Services at Syracuse University. Therefore, academic, interpersonal, professional, leadership, and personal components are integrated in our admission decision process.

The Department of Counseling and Human Services faculty seeks to admit individuals who are personally and academically prepared to be successful in completing the doctoral program in Counseling and Counselor Education. Within these parameters, the faculty is committed to admitting students who represent diverse backgrounds or who have special abilities to serve a diverse population. Admission is highly competitive and conducted once a year.

Applicants for admission to the Ph.D. program in Counseling and Counselor Education will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Prior graduate work in counseling or related field. Applicants should have completed the equivalent of a master’s degree in counseling and should have a minimum graduate grade point average of 3.25;
• The Graduate Record Examination (optional);
• Completion of a minimum of one year of work experience in counseling settings prior to admission to the doctoral program is desirable;
• Professional references from former professors and professional colleagues;
• Potential for and evidence of leadership and advocacy;
• History of and potential for tenacity, engagement, and collaboration;
• Congruence of professional goals with doctoral program features; and,
• A writing sample (which may be a paper written for a master’s level course).

The Process of Admission                    

The deadline for doctoral applications is November 1 for matriculation the following fall semester. This deadline is required for persons seeking funding, including fellowships or graduate assistantships. Prospective students who wish to study part-time should contact Dr. Derek X. Seward, doctoral program coordinator. All application materials, including the Department application, can be obtained through the Department website. Doctoral applications are reviewed by the entire full-time faculty. A positive review of the application will be followed by an interview. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Counseling and Counselor Education PhD program will:

1. Conceptualize supervisees’ developmental level and apply culturally relevant, developmentally based, ethically grounded, and legally situated skills of clinical supervision.

2. Develop a pedagogical model and style that is relevant to counselor education, responsive to varied models of adult learning, and situated in established instructional design and delivery systems.

3. Demonstrate theoretically situated, culturally relevant, scholarly-critiqued, and evidence-based counseling practices on a consistent and advanced level.

4. Conduct research and scholarship that is professionally relevant, methodologically rigorous, and vetted by professional colleagues.

5. Develop strategies of leadership and advocacy practices in relation to current multicultural and social justice issues.

Major Requirements

The doctoral program consists of approximately 96 graduate credits beyond the baccalaureate degree, with an additional 9-12 dissertation credits. Students must complete a minimum of 48 credits of course work (excluding dissertation) at Syracuse University.

• Required doctoral courses in counseling:

• COU 800 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s)

• COU 800-Experiential & Constructivist Pedagogy in Counselor Education(3 credits)

  COU 800-Reflexive Leadership in Counselor Education(3 credits)

• COU 876 - Ecological Issues in Counselor Education & Supervision 3 credit(s)
• COU 874 - Theory and Practice of Clinical Supervision 3 credit(s)
• COU 872 - Advanced Theory and Practice in Group Work 3 credit(s)
• COU 878 - Seminar in Counseling Theory 3 credit(s)
• COU 882 - Seminar in Professional Issues 3 credit(s)
• COU 860 - Advanced Practicum in Counseling 3 credit(s)
• COU 950 - Doctoral Internship 0-6 credit(s)
• COU 910 - Doctoral Research Seminar 0-3 credit(s)

The Research Sequence:

The doctoral research experience is an intentional plan to develop research expertise and experience for each student. It is part of the process of establishing a scientist-practitioner perspective that undergirds the entire doctoral experience, leading to data-based counseling practice, contributions to the body of knowledge in the helping services, and program evaluation skills. All doctoral students complete a minimum of 12 credit hours of research course work (beyond the master’s curriculum) during which the student will be expected to acquire receptive literacy in both quantitative and qualitative statistics and research design and a depth of knowledge in one or the other. The Department offers additional assistance in research through the COU 910 Doctoral Research Seminar.

Students must complete a research/statistics sequence of courses with either a Qualitative Research or a Quantitative Research emphasis. In either selection, students must take one course in the alternative research approach. Students are encouraged to take research courses beyond those that are required and research may be chosen as a cognate area.

• Possible Qualitative Research Methods sequence:

• EDU 603 - Introduction to Qualitative Research 3 credit(s)
• EDU 647 - Statistical Thinking and Applications 3 credit(s)
• EDU 810 - Advanced Seminar in Qualitative Research I 3 credit(s)
• EDU 815 - Advanced Seminar in Qualitative Research II 3 credit(s)

Possible Quantitative Research Methods sequence:

• EDU 603 - Introduction to Qualitative Research 3 credit(s)
• EDU 647 - Statistical Thinking and Applications 3 credit(s)
• EDU 791 - Advanced Seminar in Quantitative Research Methods I 3 credit(s)
• EDU 886 - Multivariate Research Methods 3 credit(s) /COU886-Multivariate Research Methods

• OR

• PSY 756 - Experimental Design and Statistical Methods II 3 credit(s)

Required Cognate (minor): 9 - 12 credits

Each student must establish an area of focus in addition to the required doctoral curriculum. Courses for this focus will be determined by the student in consultation with the doctoral advisor. With few exceptions, cognate areas are completed outside the Department (e.g., clinical psychology, distance learning, marriage and family therapy, higher education). Cognates may also be comprised of courses from different departments but following a particular theme (e.g., research methodology/statistics).

Transfer Credit

No more than one-half of credit hours in your doctoral program, not including doctoral dissertation credits, may be transferred into Syracuse University from other institutions of higher education.