Summary of Program Data Collection

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Summary of Program Data Collection 2016-2017

Academic Year 2016-2017

Each annual and three-year review generates recommendations that are then forwarded to appropriate department, whether it be recruiting, admissions, enrollment, institutional advancement, financial aid, registrar, or counseling program faculty and staff. Certain modifications require approval by one of two administrative committees: 1) the SSW Academic Affairs committee, or 2) the SSW Faculty and Administrative Committee.

Policy changes, significant procedural changes, and changes requiring notification and/or approval by accrediting bodies must be proposed and approved by one or both of these committees before changes can be implemented.

Data from academic year 2016-2017 are summarized below for review in determining any program or curricular modifications that might be needed.

External Data Type 1 - Changes in State of Texas Laws, Licensure Policies, and Accreditation Standards

In 2017, the State of Texas moved to require all new applications for LPC to graduate from a 60 credit- hour program including a required course in Professional Orientation, Addictions, Psychopathology, and a second required course in Ethics. Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) 2016 standards align well with this requirement, and also require three semesters of practice prior to graduation, for a total of 700 hours of supervised pre-graduate practice experience.

Beginning Fall 2016, the MHC program successfully implemented new curricular requirements for this 66 hr degree including a new Professional Orientation course, a new Psychopathology course, and a second required course in Ethics, as well as a third semester of internship for a total of 700 hours of supervised practice experience. The MHC program’s existing course in Addictions was made a requirement as well. All curricular standards now adhere to the 2017 State of Texas, the NBCC, and 2016 CACREP standards.

During the past academic year, the administrators of the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE) changed the method of administration so that it is no longer available by paper and pencil.

Improvements/Modifications Recommended:

The recommendation was made this year to reconsider the decision to dedicate all four “elective” slots in our 66 hr program to spiritual integration courses (Interpretation of the Bible; Theological Studies;

Historical Studies in American Religions, and Christian Ethics). Alternatives include reducing hourly requirements (State of Texas requires only 60 hrs) and/or combining courses to make room for additional electives, etc. MHC faculty will make proposals this coming year and seek a decision by the end of the next reporting cycle.

The recommendation was made to revise our procedures and instruct students to take the CPCE exam at an authorized testing site and retain this measure as a meaningful direct assessment of KLO domains.

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External Data Type 2 - Professional Field Considerations

Data on the State of Texas continues to demonstrate low utilization rates for mental health and counseling services (see https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/2015_Texas_BHBarometer.pdf) and that these rates are lower for rural, low-income, and Spanish speaking populations than the general population.

Furthermore, data continues to show Texas remains one of the nation’s more “religious” states, with the majority of Texas residents indicating some form of Christian faith affiliation (see http://texasalmanac.com/topics/religion/religious-affiliation-texas)

The recommendation from last year was implemented to launch a Latino/Hispanic Counseling Concentration (LHCC), and assessment criteria and benchmarks were established to measure effectiveness in training bilingual/bicultural counseling graduates who are equipped to serve the Latino/Hispanic community.

Furthermore the recommendation was made this year to being plans to launch a Creative Spiritual Integration (CSI) Scholars Program, to research the most effective ways of training counseling graduates equipped to meet Association of Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling competencies.

This year MHC faculty will establish objectives and potential benchmarks for this program.

Program Data Type 1 - MHC Program Vital Statistics

Vital Statistics were informative to the program. The recommendation from the previous report was implemented to make an attempt to obtain NCE exam pass rates data directly from graduates via the Alumni Feedback Survey. Two alumni returned survey responses and 100% of respondents indicated having passed their NCE exam post-graduation.

To improve response rate for Alumni Surveys, the recommendation was made to convene a committee to assess and make proposals for modifying the process by which we track alumni contact information, prior to the end of the next assessment cycle.

Program Data Point 2 - MHC Program Admission and Enrollment Applications and admissions exceeded benchmarks at 126%.

Program Data Type 3 - Student Remediation Plans

Student remediation plan rates remained at 0%. The recommendation from last year’s report was implemented to create a remediation plan template and was approved by the MHC Program Assessment Committee and reviewed during our End-of-Semester reviews at Fall and Spring.

To improve the usefulness of this measure, the proposal was made to begin tracking and including data pertaining to pre-remediation interventions, wherein if a student obtains a 1.0 (failing to meet

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benchmark of 2.0) on any KLO or KPD standard, and an intervention is implemented to assist student in making the required improvement prior to formal remediation, this will be recorded as program data.

Program Data Type 4 – Key Learning Objectives Assessments

KLO data showed 100% of students meeting standards or higher for core curriculum. The recommendation from last year’s report was implemented to review this data twice a year during End- of-Semester reviews. Furthermore, the recommendation from the previous report was implemented to add the KLO domains to the Practicum/Internship Supervisor Evaluations and Alumni surveys to obtain further direct and indirect data on KLO domains from additional sources.

The recommendation was made going forward to track KLO data only in designated core counseling courses where those domains are being assessed according to the MHC Program Curriculum Matrix, along with Internship II courses as a measure of scores from students preparing to graduate. This change was proposed to the MHC Assessment Team and approved. The new MHC Assessment Plan and Curriculum Matrix for the coming academic year will be updated to reflect this change.

Program Data Type 5 - Key Professional Disposition Assessments

KPD data showed 100% of students meeting standards or higher for key professional dispositions. The recommendation from the previous report was implemented to include KPD Assessment domains on Practicum/Internship Supervisor Evaluations as direct assessment of the success of the program on these learning domains. MHC faculty noted the lowest scores were found in the area of Cultural Empathy.

Faculty discussed how to address this domain in curriculum, advising relationships, and in practicum/internship courses.

MHC Faculty will make efforts to attend to Cultural Empathy explicitly in curriculum and advising conversations, and track data to see if these scores improve in the following academic year.

The recommendation was made going forward to track KPD data only in designated core counseling courses where those domains are being assessed according to the MHC Program Curriculum Matrix, along with Internship II courses as a measure of scores from students preparing to graduate. This change was proposed to the MHC Assessment Team and approved. The new MHC Assessment Plan and Curriculum Matrix for the coming academic year will be updated to reflect this change.

Program Data Type 6 – Candidacy Endorsements

Candidacy Endorsement data indicated 100% of students applying for candidacy in 2016-2017 were endorsed by their advisor.

Program Data Type 7 – Final Clinical Internship Evaluations

Final Clinical Internship Evaluation indicated 100% of students were rated as meeting or exceeding standards by their site supervisor at the conclusion of their final internship semester.

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Program Data Type 8 – Student Site Evaluations

Final Student Site Evaluation data indicated that 100% of sites utilized in 2016-2017 were rated as meeting or exceeding standards and were retained as approved sites for the coming academic year.

Program Data Type 9 - Counseling Program Comprehensive Exams (CPCE)

100% of exams taken were passed by students at all points in the program. 100% of exams taken were passed by students by graduation. MHC faculty noted the lowest scores were found in the area of Career Development. Faculty discussed how to address this domain in curriculum, advising relationships, and in practicum/internship courses.

MHC Faculty will make efforts to attend to Career Development explicitly in curriculum and advising conversations, and track data to see if these scores improve in the following academic year.

Program Data Type 10 – Capstone Paper Assessments

The recommendation from the previous report was implemented to make an attempt to include data from student end-of-program Capstone Papers as a form of assessing Key Learning Objectives and Key Professional Dispositions at graduation, to be assessed with a Rubric to see that graduates are meeting benchmark of 2.0 – Meets Standards on each area designated. 100% of Capstone Papers assessed in 2016-2017 met established benchmarks.

Program Data Type 11 – National Counseling Exam (NCE)

The recommendation from the previous report was implemented to make an attempt to obtain this data directly from graduates via the Alumni Feedback Survey. Two alumni returned survey responses and 100% of respondents indicated having passed their NCE exam post-graduation.

To improve response rate for NCE Exam results via Alumni Surveys, the recommendation was made to convene a committee to assess and make proposals for modifying the process by which we track alumni contact information, prior to the end of the next assessment cycle.

Program Data Type 12 – Alumni Feedback

The recommendation from the previous report was implemented to create a separate item that asks about rural settings (i.e. split the first item into two parts). Two alumni returned survey responses and 100% of respondents indicated the program met or exceeded standards.

To improve response rate for Alumni Surveys, the recommendation was made to convene a committee to assess and make proposals for modifying the process by which we track alumni contact information, prior to the end of the next assessment cycle.

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Program Data Type 13 – Stakeholder/Constituent Feedback

Two stakeholders returned survey responses and 100% of respondents indicated the program met or exceeded standards.

To improve response rate for Stakeholder/Constituent Surveys, the recommendation was made to convene a committee to assess and make proposals for modifying the process by which we track stakeholder/constituent contact information, prior to the end of the next assessment cycle.

Program Data Type 14 – Faculty to Student Ratios

Faculty to Student ratios were calculated at 4.2:1 for 2016-2017 academic year, which is less than half of the upper limit which is 12:1 as established by CACREP. This ratio will continue to be monitored as program enrollment grows, and projections made to predict when a fourth core faculty member may be needed.

Program Data Type 15 – Faculty Utilization

Of the eleven courses taught in academic year 2016-2017, four were enrolled at greater than 100%

optimum capacity and three practice courses were enrolled at less than 50% optimum capacity.

For the past 3-5 years, the average utilization rates for counseling courses have been useful as a measure of capacity and equitability among faculty teaching loads and optimal course rotation schedules. The Optimum Capacity levels for required courses will remain set at 25 students enrolled, with the exception of clinical practice courses (Practicum, Internship, Helping Relationships and Group Counseling).

CACREP establishes a maximum limit of 6 students per Clinical Practicum or Clinical Internship Courses and 12 for Helping Relationships and Group Counseling and these recommendations have been adopted.

Counseling program course rotations are continuously updated and Faculty Utilization data will be monitored in coming academic years.