Faculty and Curriculum

Seven faculty are involved in the on-campus preparation of school counselors, most of them teaching core counseling courses.  Because of the intensive nature of the program, students are admitted only once per year, for matriculation as early as the following summer semester.  Students generally proceed through the program as a cohort, beginning their coursework in the fall and completing the required coursework in two calendar years.  Most core courses are taught during late afternoon or evening with two or three courses typically taught during the day.  A limited number of courses are available in the summer, including Introduction to School Counseling, for which there are no pre-requisites.

Core School Counseling Faculty:

Jean Sunde Peterson, Ph.D. (The University of Iowa)    Professor, Coordinator of School Counseling Program Interests include high-ability populations who are little studied or are underrepresented in gifted programs; adolescent and young adult development; and school-counselor training.

Carrie A. Wachter, Ph.D. (University of  North Carolina at Greensboro) Assistant Professor  Interests include crisis and crisis intervention (particularly in school settings), adolescent attachment and relationships with peers, and collaborative work between school counselors and other health and mental health personnel in the schools and the community.

School Counseling Curriculum

The curriculum consists of 48 semester hours of academic credit, including 100 clock hours of practicum (at one school level) and 600 hours of internship experiences (at a second school level, with a minimum of 40 internship hours spent at a third school level) in a school setting.  At least 40 clock hours of the clinical experiences in practicum and 240 in internship must involve direct service to individuals and groups in the schools.  Students who have had no teaching experience in schools must complete 25 hours of classroom interaction and observation in a school prior to practicum.

Curriculum for School Counseling (PDF)