Graduate Council Agenda—May 8, 2014 Academic Affairs Conference RM 239 I. Call to Order II. Consideration of April 10, 2014 minutes III. Report from Dean of the Graduate School IV.
Graduate Faculty Committee Report C. Student Research Committee Report V. College of Education & Behavioral Sciences Action Create a New Program Doctor of Psycholgy (Psy.), Applied Psychology Contact: Rick Grieve, rick. College of Health and Human Services Consent Proposal to Delete a Course CD 481G Normal Speech and Language Contact: Lauren Bland, lauren.edu, 745-8860 Consent Proposal to Delete a Course CD 485G Diagnostic Procedures for Communication Disorders Contact: Lauren Bland, lauren.
Ogden College of Science and Engineering Consent Revise Course Number PSYS 430G, Psychology of Women Contact Person: Sharon Mutter, sharon.edu, 54389 1 Consent Revise Course Number PSYS 485G, Psychology of Religion Contact Person: Sharon Mutter, sharon.edu, 54389 Action Create a New Course PHYS 425G, Introduction to Materials Science Contact Person: Sanju Gupta, sanju.edu, 55940 Action Create a New Course PHYS 799, Doctoral Research Contact Person: Vladimir Dobrokhotov, vladimir. Potter College of Arts and Sciences Information Revise a Course Prefix (Subject Area) JOUR to AD Contact: Cliff Shaluta, cliff.edu, 5-5833 Information Revise a Course Prefix (Subject Area) JOUR to PR Contact: Ken Payne, ken.edu, 5-3968 Consent Delete a Program 017 Master of Arts in Education: History, minor Contact: Beth Plummer, beth.edu, 5-5739 Consent Delete a Program 111 Master of Arts in Education: History, major Contact: Beth Plummer, beth.edu, 5-5739 Action Create a New Course HIST 518 Reformation Europe Contact: Beth Plummer, beth. Adjourn 2 PROPOSAL FOR A NEW DOCTORAL PROGRAM Institution Submitting Proposal: Western Kentucky University EEO Status: Degree Designation as on Diploma: Doctor of Psychology (Psy.) Title of Proposed Degree Program: Applied Psychology CIP Code: 48. Department, Division, School): Department of Psychology Name of Academic Unit : Name of Program Director: Dr.
Rick Grieve Intended Date of Implementation: Fall 2015 Anticipated Date for Granting First Degrees: Spring 2018 Name, Title and Information of Contact Person: Dr. Rick Grieve Professor of Psychology Coordinator, Clinical Psychology Program Department of Psychology 1906 College Heights Blvd #21030 Bowling Green, KY 42101 Date of Governing Board Approval: Date of CPE Approval: Evaluation Criteria All actions in the approval of new programs for public institutions are subject to a stipulation regarding the program’s ability to attain specified goals that have been established by the institution and approved by the Council on Postsecondary Education (the Council). At the conclusion of an appropriate period of time, the program’s performance shall be reviewed by Council staff following criteria established in the Council’s Academic Programs Policy. Centrality to the Institution’s Mission and Consistency with State’s Goals A program will adhere to the role and scope of the institution as set forth in its mission statement and as complemented by the institution’s academic plan.
List the objectives of the proposed program. These objectives should deal with the specific institutional and societal needs that this program will address. in Applied Psychology prepares students to: Function as competent practitioner/scholars, skilled in developing, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based practices, particularly for rural and other under-served populations, in their chosen area of concentration; Provide ethical, competent, and professional supervision of psychological practice in their communities of practice; and Contribute to the practice and scholarship of psychology, consistent with the practitioner/scholar model, with the capacity to review scholarly literature, effectively integrate it with practice considerations, and evaluate outcomes. Explain how the proposed program relates to the institutional mission and academic plan.
The proposed program has a strong fit with the University’s mission statement: “Western Kentucky University prepares students to be productive, engaged, and socially responsible citizen-leaders of a global society. It provides research, service and lifelong learning opportunities for its constituents. WKU is responsible for stewarding a high quality of life for those within its reach.”1 The proposed program’s fit with WKU’s mission is supported by the following points: Productive, engaged, and socially responsible citizen-leaders: Doctoral-level practitioners are trained to be leaders within the community. They work with others in a variety of settings as force-multipliers, removing emotional and behavioral barriers to effective lives.
Thus, they enable citizens to be more productive, engaged, and socially responsible. Global Society: It is clear from focus group discussions that current program graduates already work with culturally diverse populations, even in rural Kentucky. Diversity is implicit to the training and work sites for both clinical and school psychologists. Understanding and working effectively with people from diverse cultural backgrounds is a core value of Psychology and a professional expectation of those working in the field.
Psychologists are sensitive to diversity issues in terms of client needs and client populations. The American Psychological Association looks for these issues to be addressed when programs are undergoing the accreditation process. Thus, courses addressing such knowledge and providing such experiences will be built into the Doctor of Applied Psychology program. Further, the program is expected to attract international applicants.
Each semester there are more than 10 international students who inquire about the Clinical Psychology Master of Arts (M.) program and the School Psychology Educational Specialist (Ed. In addition, over the last three years, there have been at least four international applicants to these programs. It is expected that these trends will continue for the Doctor of Applied Psychology program. Life-long Learning and Quality of Life: The Doctor of Applied Psychology program will provide opportunities for graduates to advance their education, thereby providing better services to their communities, and to develop applied research, especially in the regions of Kentucky from which students will be recruited.
Further, life-long learning is a professional value in Psychology and an expectation for graduates. It is also a requirement in the form of continuing education for maintaining licensure as a health service provider (the doctoral level license for clinical psychologists) in Kentucky and for certification through the National Association of School Psychologists in order to work in the school systems as a practitioner. An additional expectation for doctoral-level practitioners is that they conduct professional development workshops within their agencies and in the community at large. Further, training programs that 1 Western Kentucky University.
Challenging the Spirit Action Plan 2012-2013 to 2017-2018.edu/academicaffairs/documents/challenging_the_spirit_action_plan_2012-18.pdf 4 are accredited by the American Psychological Association are expected to provide training experiences for professionals in the community. Thus, faculty and students involved with the Doctor of Applied Psychology program will be involved with creating and disseminating professional development experiences for mental health providers in the community. The proposed program also has a strong fit with the strategic plan of WKU: Challenging the Spirit Action Plan 2012-20 13 to 2017-2018.2 The strategic plan identifies four goals: foster academic excellence, promote a dynamic and diverse university community, improve quality of life for our communities, and support the core mission with a robust campus infrastructure. Foster Academic Excellence: The Doctor of Applied Psychology program will raise the bar for excellence in the practice and study of psychology, providing a career path for students from a variety of backgrounds and promoting increased research on the behavioral health needs of schools and communities in south central Kentucky.
Doctoral-level expertise will invigorate behavioral health services in rural Kentucky where shortages of providers are significant.3 For example, seven western Kentucky counties have no behavioral health practitioners.4 Because doctoral-level practitioners must supervise master’s-level practitioners, a lack of doctoral-level psychologists who are qualified to be supervisors limits the type of mental health professionals that organizations can hire. A regular supply of doctoral graduates can help move persons with lower levels of licensure into underserved areas while also increasing the number of doctoral-level psychologists. “Increasing the providers in these areas would involve rural placements of students, supervision of newly graduated providers in rural areas, and identifying what factors influence providers establishing a practice in rural, frontier, remote, and island areas.”5 In addition, doctoral students will bring to the program a variety of professional backgrounds that will enhance the scholarly and research experiences of students in the Clinical Psychology M., the School Psychology Ed., and the baccalaureate programs in Psychology at WKU through increased research activities and opportunities for engagement across the various program levels. A doctoral program will attract candidates of the highest quality for faculty positions within the department and related departments in the university.
It is anticipated that there will be opportunities to work with other units around the globe, such as Nanjing University and Harlaxton University. These are units with whom WKU already has a relationship. Promote a Dynamic and Diverse University Community: The proposed program will provide an incentive to outstanding baccalaureate students to be successful at the 2 Western Kentucky University. Challenging the Spirit Action Plan 2012-2013 to 2017-2018.edu/academicaffairs/documents/challenging_the_spirit_action_plan_2012-18.
Rural mental health research white paper for National Institute of Mental Health. Grand Forks, ND: University of North Dakota.edu/pdf/j_gray_nimh_white_paper. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration. Find shortage areas.
Rural mental health research white paper for National Institute of Mental Health. Grand Forks, ND: University of North Dakota.edu/pdf/j_gray_nimh_white_paper.pdf 5 undergraduate level, as it will model a career path for them. Employment of doctoral- level clinical and school psychologists is expected to grow at a rate faster than average for all occupations through 2020 (at a rate of 22%).6 It is anticipated that a number of international applicants will apply to the program. programs have a fair number of international applicants.
There is no reason to expect that this trend will do anything but increase. Improve Quality of Life for Our Communities: The National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates the rate of serious mental illness among adults aged 18 or older at 18.7 The shortage of doctoral-level psychologists and thus a lack of supervisors is a limiting factor on the employability of behavioral health providers with non-doctoral degrees. According to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, “The stark reality is that there are few behavioral health providers practicing in most small rural communities.”8 With more doctoral-level practitioners, agencies can employ persons with lower level credentials (who will be supervised by doctoral- level psychologists) and thus have increased capacity to serve more individuals. In a national survey of rural health providers, “having more practitioners” ranked first and “access to services for mental health disorders” ranked third in importance as means to enhance the health of those in rural areas.9 More behavioral health practitioners will help ameliorate suffering and improve productivity among the citizens as well as decreasing service costs for the state.
Support the Core Mission with a Robust Campus Infrastructure: While this item primarily concerns “brick and mortar” issues, it is worth mentioning that WKU’s Department of Psychology already has a Psychological Training Clinic in the relatively new Gary Ransdell Hall that is large enough to handle the increase in clients that would come with implementation of the proposed program. As such, no new buildings or facilities will be needed and existing facilities will see increased utilization. Explain how the proposed program addresses the state’s postsecondary education strategic agenda. The proposed doctoral program in psychology reflects the statewide postsecondary education 2011- 2015 strategic agenda, Stronger by Degrees10, in a number of ways.
The proposed doctoral program contributes toward the vision that all Kentuckians will be prepared to succeed in a global economy by addressing multiple policy objectives from the Stronger by Degrees document. In general, the program will improve college and career readiness; student 6 U. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Selected Occupational Projects Data for Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists.gov/oep/noeted 7 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Department of Health & Human Services.
Revised estimates of mental illness from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.gov/data/2k13/NSDUH148/sr148-mental-illness-estimates.htm 8 National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. The 2004 report to the Secretary: Rural health and human service issues.gov/ruralhealth/NAC04web. Rural healthy people 2020. Texas A&M University and Florida State University.edu/centers/srhrc/images/rhp2020 10 Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.
Stronger by degrees.
