Graduate Student Orientation

1. Graduate Student Orientation Psychology and Counseling Department

2. Welcome to the Psychology and Counseling Department • This tutorial will help you become familiar with the department’s and graduate school’s policies, procedures and resources • Objectives • Learn to navigate the department website • Understand the Graduate Student Handbook • Understand the Tarleton Catalog • Understand how to find resources

3. Obtaining Full Admittance • Make sure you have all documents completed and submitted to the Graduate Studies office to obtain full admittance: application, transcripts, GRE scores, and career development essay. • Take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and report GRE scores to the Graduate Studies office by the end of the first semester. You will be restricted to enrollment in no more than 6 credit hours without GRE scores on file. • Complete and submit the department Graduate Program Application located on the Graduate Programs page of our website.

4. Initial Advising An advising hold will be placed on your record once you are admitted. This will prevent you from registering for classes until you contact a department graduate student advisor. A Degree Plan Acknowledgement form will need to be completed and submitted during initial advising.

5. Initial Advising • Department graduate student advisors (assigned by degree program and the first letter of your last name) • Jamie Borchardt, Graduate Advisor for all campuses • Stephenville campus • Dr. Ann Albrecht • Dr. David Weissenburger • Fort Worth campus • Dr. Tom Burdenski • Dr. Linda Duncan • Dr. Diana Valdez • Waco campus • (vacant)

6. Maintaining Success • You need to maintain a 3.0 grade point average in the program • You need to stay on top of paperwork, applications and deadlines • You are responsible for being aware of the information in this presentation and the documents and processes associated with the program. • Classes must be re-taken if they become older than six years before you complete your degree.

7. Navigating the Website • The counseling and psychology department website is a great resource tool to find out information such as: • Upcoming events • Deadlines • Paperwork • Degree Guides • Contact Information • The Psychology and Counseling Student Handbook • Application to the program

8. Test Your Knowledge on Our Site • Go to the site www.tarleton.edu/pc • Follow the Graduate link and review all of the plans we offer. Search for your degree plan and print it • Many students are unaware of all the programs we offer, and this is a great opportunity to see if you are in your desired program • Search for the department graduate student handbook and print it

9. Student Handbook • Did you notice there are two handbooks located on our departmental page? • They are both very important to your success in the graduate program • Tarleton State University Graduate Student Handbook -and- • Psychology and Counseling Department Graduate Student Handbook

10. Student Handbook continued • The department graduate student handbook provides information about your admission status, degree plan, requirements, ethical standards, internships, advisement and licensure boards • It also provides you with up to date information about deadlines for the psychology and department

11. Tarleton State University Course Catalog • You can go online to review the catalog or go to the Admissions Desk in the Administration Building to receive a hard copy of the catalog • Review the online copy at: www.tarleton.edu/catalog - Under academic colleges and departments, click on College of Graduate Studies - The Psychology and Counseling department begins on page 38 (online version only)

12. Tarleton State University Course Catalog • Review the various sections of the catalog and pay particular attention to the middle gray colored pages – these are for Graduate Studies • Review the first section as it contains general information for all graduate students • Look for and review the Psychology & Counseling department graduate programs section

13. Course Prerequisites • Get out your printed degree plan • Go to the catalog and look for CNSL, CPSY, and PSY courses under Course Descriptions • Make a note of what classes will need to be taken first, and what classes have a prerequisite • Electives must be chosen from courses with a CNSL, CPSY, or PSY prefix

14. Who Do I Contact? • For questions and information about admission to Tarleton, contact the College of Graduate Studies at: 254-968-9104 or gradoffice@tarleton.edu • For department and program information, contact the Department of Psychology and Counseling at: • Stephenville 254-968-9945 • Fort Worth 817-732-7300 • Waco 254-299-8361 • pc@tarleton.edu • General questions about our graduate psychology and counseling programs can be directed to Jamie Borchardt at borchardt@tarleton.edu

15. Academic Dishonesty • Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated at the university • Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials (Tarleton State University Catalog; Tarleton State University Student Handbook). Students are strongly advised to avoid even the appearance of academic misconduct. For the purposes of your courses, the standards stated in the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct (2002) and the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics (2005) will be used.

16. Practicum/Internship(all majors except Experimental Psychology ) • The practicum and internship portion of your degree requires that you have completed specific prerequisite coursework (consult the catalog). Different degree plans have different requirements. • Which practicum and internship courses do I take? • MEd in Counseling: CNSL 595, CNSL 596 • MS in Counseling Psychology (LPC): PSY 505, PSY 584 • MS in Counseling Psychology (LMFT): PSY 505, PSY 584, PSY 587 • MS in Educational Psychology (LPA only): PSY 505, PSY 584 • Specialist in School Psychology (SSP): PSY 505, PSY 595, PSY 596 • Application Deadlines • Fall practicum/internship July 1st • Spring practicum/internship November 1st • Summer practicum/internship April 1st

17. Comprehensive Examination(all majors except Experimental Psychology ) • Required to graduate and applies to: • MEd in Counseling • MS in Counseling Psychology (LPC & LMFT) • MS in Educational Psychology (LPA only) • Specialist in School Psychology (SSP) • Taken during the final semester of your graduate coursework • You must apply to take the examination • Application deadlines: • Fall Deadline-October 1st Test Date 2nd Saturday in November • Spring Deadline- March 1st Test Date 2nd Saturday in April • Summer Deadline- June 1st Test Date 2nd Saturday in July

18. Experimental Psychology Majors • Thesis • An original project must be proposed, conducted and defended in the form of a written thesis • Refer to the Graduate Studies and department thesis manuals • Examination • Upon completion of the thesis, an oral examination (a “defense”) is to be scheduled with the student’s advisory committee. Coursework and the thesis will be addressed during this examination.

19. Writing Style of the American Psychological Association All graduate programs in the Psychology and Counseling department use the 6th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Manual for writing assignments The APA Style Manual provides information about proper formatting, referencing, and writing for academic and research papers

20. A successful graduate student! • Review all of the information provided in this tutorial and consult the following documents: • Tarleton State University Graduate Student Handbook • Psychology and Counseling Dept. Graduate Student Handbook • Tarleton Catalog- for general information and course descriptions • Make appointments with your academic advisor and go over information in which you do not understand • Make a calendar and highlight important deadlines • Contact the department or visit the department’s website if you have questions