August 13, 2012
Kara Carnes-Holt, assistant professor of counselor education, performs a puppet show
with Anistyn Holt at the University of Wyoming's Rocky Mountain Center of Play Therapy
Studies. All three University of Wyoming counselor education graduate degree programs
have received the maximum possible reaccreditation from the national organization
that certifies institutional curricular and clinical quality. (UW Photo)
All three University of Wyoming counselor education graduate degree programs have
received the maximum possible reaccreditation from the national organization that
certifies institutional curricular and clinical quality.
The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
granted eight-year accreditation for UW’s M.S. in mental health counseling, M.S. in
school counseling, and Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision. All three programs
are housed in the UW College of Education Department of Professional Studies.
The decisions follow an extensive self-study by UW counselor education program faculty,
submitted in spring 2011, and a CACREP review board site visit in April 2012.
Faculty members spent several months gathering evidence -- including class syllabi,
recruitment procedures, rubrics for grading and recruitment -- to demonstrate fulfillment
for every set of standards. The CACREP site review team spent several days at UW,
touring clinic facilities and interviewing faculty, students, alumni, supervisors,
administrators and others.
To qualify for the eight-year maximum reaccreditation, UW’s programs had to meet every
one of an extensive set of institutional and program standards. Few programs reach
this level of accomplishment, according to Mary Alice Bruce, chairperson of the UW
Department of Professional Studies. Most programs receive a shorter accreditation
period -- usually two years -- along with requests for additional documentation or
a list of actions to meet standards not met.
“Programs receiving accreditation for an eight-year period deserve to be commended
for the work they completed throughout the accreditation process,” CACREP President
and CEO Carol Bobby says.
“It really is assurance to our graduates, their clients, employers and supervisors
that they are well prepared,” Bruce says of the latest CACREP accreditation. “Our
students have the skills, knowledge and practical experience needed to do their jobs.”
When paired with several years of consistently higher-than-average scores on the National
Counselor Examination, UW counselor education graduates receive multiple layers of
assurance affirming program quality.
A significant factor contributing to the strength of UW’s counselor education programs
is the student body itself, Bruce says. Students recruited to the programs are “really
excellent.”
Once at UW, they encounter faculty committed to researching best practices in the
field and in implementing that new knowledge into their teaching, clinical practice
and supervision of students.
The third essential element to UW student success, according to Bruce: early and ongoing
opportunities for clinical practice and observation. Master’s level counselor education
students begin seeing clients as early as their second semester, receiving on-site
support and feedback. Students counsel members of the UW community, UW lab school
students and other Laramie residents as available in the college’s on-site counseling
clinic. This gives them real-world practice working with clients of all ages, from
childhood through mature adulthood, versus role-playing and other simulated experiences.
