Main Office
Stovall Hall, 155
P.O. Box 311337
Denton, TX 76203-1337
(940) 565-2910
Web site: www.coe.unt.edu/CDHE/CDHE.HTM
Advising:
Counselor Education - Stovall Hall, 155
(940) 565-2910
Higher Education - Matthews Hall, 119
(940) 565-2045
Child Development, Human Development andFamily Studies - Matthews Hall, 110
(940) 565-4646
Graduate Faculty: Altekruse, Baier, Berg, Bratton, Chandler, Coy, Dixon, Durodoye, Eddy, Engels, Glover, Harris, Holden, Jacobson, Kern, Landreth, Lawhon, Lumsden, McLeod, Newsom, Norton.
The Department of Counseling, Development and Higher Education provides programs designed to prepare professionals for leadership positions in child care and preschool facilities, schools, colleges, universities, and the public sector.
Counselor education offers graduate programs leading to the following degree programs:
These programs are designed for people who wish to become professional counselors and/or counselor educators and supervisors in schools, colleges, universities, agencies and student services administration. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA), has conferred accreditation on the following program areas in counselor education at the University of North Texas: agency counseling (MEd, MS), school counseling (MEd, MS), college and university counseling (MEd, MS), student services administration (MEd, MS), and the PhD program in counseling and student services.
Human development and family studies offers the following degree:
The program is designed to meet the needs of parent and family life educators, hospital child life specialists, community college teachers, vocational home economics teachers, home economists in the Cooperative Extension Service, individuals seeking qualifications for child care administration, and other professionals who wish to specialize in child development and family studies.
Higher education offers graduate degree programs leading to the following degrees:
The program's faculty believe that higher education as a field of doctoral study may be presented in a cohesive, disciplined and scientific manner; that issues, activities and problems in higher education can be formally studied and taught through courses in foundations, research, teaching, curriculum, finance, law, administration, comparative education, learning theory, student affairs, business affairs, human development, resource development and others; and that study in higher education is strengthened and enhanced through administrative and research practica, internships, assistantships and independent study. Graduate faculty who chair doctoral committees are urged to include an outside member on each doctoral student's dissertation committee. The student's major professor and the student should work together to select an outside member whose expertise will contribute meaningfully to the dissertation. An outside member is defined as a graduate faculty member (category I, II, or III) whose principal appointment is in a department other than the Department of Counseling, Development and Higher Education.
Research interests of the counselor education faculty are directed toward providing a strong academic and applied counselor preparation program and advancing the body of knowledge in counseling and human development. Research is focused on counseling methods and techniques, theoretical perspectives, measurement and evaluation, and current issues within the discipline. Specific areas of research are counselor
effectiveness, cognitive style and personality type, descriptive longitudinal study of child and adolescent maturity, employability skills, group counseling, human relations training, human resources development in business and industry, measurement and evaluation of characteristics associated with student success in counselor education, play therapy and filial therapy, relationship and family therapy and assessment of family functioning, single-parent and stepparent family functioning, and transpersonal counseling.
Research in child development and family studies focuses on numerous topics concerning children from birth through the preschool years. Current research interests include child and human development, infant education and care, early childhood administration, parental involvement in public schools, parent education, moral development, cognitive development, family stress, and foster care. The Center for Parent Education provides a vehicle for outreach, public relations, and in-depth research of critical societal needs related to children and families.
Current research interests of the higher education program faculty include studies of statewide coordination and control of higher education; information bases for decision making by higher education administrators; effects of colleges on student cognitive and social development; instrumentation for measuring student co-curricular activities; graduate student needs and services; substance abuse issues; higher education financing strategies for the 21st century; strategies for improving the quality of college teaching; measurement of educational outcomes in higher education; comparative international higher education systems; and the use of qualitative research methodology in the study of higher education subsystems and in the evaluation of teaching and administrative effectiveness.
The quality of graduate study in the higher education program is enhanced by the program's close affiliations with the Center for Higher Education, the Center for Private Support of Non-Profit Agencies and the North Texas Community/Junior College Consortium. The department also sponsors the publication of the Community/Junior College Journal of Research and Practice and Educational Gerontology: An International Bi-Monthly, and has been represented on the editorial boards of six other scholarly journals, including the Journal of College Student Development; College Student Affairs Journal; Reading Psychology; British Journal of Educational Gerontology; Journal of Applied Research in the Community College; and Journal of Staff, Program and Organization Development.
Master of Science, Master of Education
Admission to the master's degree programs in counselor education is competitive because available facilities do not permit admission of all qualified applicants.
Admission to the master's program in counselor education is a three-stage process.
First, the student must be admitted to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies. The general requirements for admission are specified in the College of Education section in this catalog. Second, applicants must submit a satisfactory GPA and satisfactory scores on the verbal, quantitative and analytical sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies prior to admission to the counselor education program. Third, a departmental application to the counselor education program, three letters of recommendation (completed on special forms provided by the department), a writing sample and a total score of at least 1200 (verbal, quantitative and analytic) with a minimum of 800 on combined verbal and quantitative section of the GRE must be submitted by the deadlines.
All required admission materials must be filed in the department office by June 15 preceding the fall semester, November 15 preceding the spring semester, or March 15 preceding the summer semester for which the student is applying to begin the program. Shortly after the application deadline, each applicant is required to participate in an orientation and interview session.
All students granted provisional admission to the master's program, with the exception of the student services administration program (Track II), are required to enroll in EDSS 5710 during the first semester of enrollment in graduate school and must receive a grade of B or higher. Concurrent enrollment in EDSS 5680 and 5710 is encouraged.
With the exception of the student services administration program, admission to all other counselor
education programs is provisional until the student's progress is evaluated by the counselor education faculty upon
completion of EDSS 5680. The student's progress is evaluated on the basis of the demonstration of adequate
subject
matter knowledge and the interpersonal skill required for counseling. After the progress review, the
department either recommends the student continue the program or reserves the right to withdraw the student from
the program.
Following this initial evaluation, the student will be routinely evaluated on the criteria of knowledge, interpersonal skills and counseling skills to determine if progress is adequate, if remedial work is needed or if the student should be withdrawn from the program.
Both the Master of Education and Master of Science degrees in counseling and student services are offered in the counselor education program. Each degree requires a minimum of 48 semester hours with the exception of the student services administration (Track II) program, which requires a minimum of 36 semester hours. The MS degree requires that the student complete EDER 5050 or 5550 in addition to the other degree requirements and that prior to graduation the MS candidate must pass a comprehensive examination, either written, oral or both. For the MEd degree, in all except the student services administration (Track II) program, successful completion of EDSS 5720/5721 and a final exit interview are required in lieu of the comprehensive examination. All degree programs must be planned in consultation with the student's adviser. Students are required to file a degree plan during their first semester of graduate study.
Each master's degree program requires a field-based practicum which should be the last enrollment in the master's program. Placement for the field-based experience is selected in cooperation with the field-based practicum supervisor and must be approved by the department.
Students who wish to become licensed professional counselors in Texas are required to have specified supervised experiences. Counselor education program area heads should be consulted for details.
Required courses: EDSS 5470, 5610, 5660, 5680, 5690, 5700, 5710, 5720, 5721, 5740, 5760, 5770 and 5790; EDER 5210 and EDHD 5230.
Elective: one course (3 hours) selected in consultation with the student's adviser.
Required courses: EDSS 5470, 5580, 5600, 5610, 5660, 5680, 5690, 5710, 5720, 5721, 5740, 5760 and 5790; EDER 5210 and EDHD 5230.
Elective: one course (3 hours) selected in consultation with the student's adviser.
Required courses: EDSS 5470, 5610, 5660, 5680, 5690, 5710, 5720, 5721, 5730, 5740, 5750, 5780 and 5790; EDER 5210 and EDHD 5230.
EDSS 5300, 5580 or 5590 selected in consultation with the student's adviser.
Required courses: EDSS 5300, 5470, 5610, 5660, 5680, 5690, 5710, 5720, 5721, 5730, 5740 and 5790; EDER 5210 and EDHD 5230.
Electives: two courses (3 hours) from the student's area of emphasis selected in consultation with the student's adviser.
Required courses: EDSS 5680, 5750, 5780, 5790; EDER 5210; EDHE 5110, 5120, 6660, 6710 (or other EDHE course approved by adviser), 6790, and two EDHE 6030 Internships (6 hours).
Electives: students are encouraged to take 3-6 hours in higher education administration and/or human development to broaden their understanding in these areas.
Note: this program does not lead to Texas licensure as a professional counselor or Texas certification as a school counselor, nor does this program qualify recipients for professional counselor positions in other states.
The state of Texas public school counselor certification requires a master's degree from an accredited institution and at least three years of teaching experience in an accredited school. A master's degree in counseling and student services from UNT with a program emphasis in elementary school counseling or secondary school counseling will meet the academic certification requirements.
Applicants to the doctoral program must meet requirements for admission to the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies. The general requirements for admission are described in the College of Education section.
A completed application for admission to the doctoral program, including the names of three professional references, must be submitted to the department. The department makes independent inquiry of the applicant's references.
Applicants must submit evidence of holding a master's degree from an accredited college or university and have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on all graduate credit hours. The applicant who has not completed a master's degree in counseling or who does not hold appropriate counselor credentials must complete a prerequisite of a minimum of 30 hours in counselor education. If the master's degree is from an institution other than UNT, the applicant must enroll in the master's practicum, EDSS 5690, and earn a grade of B or higher; or submit evidence of a practicum experience comparable to EDSS 5690 and demonstrate counseling proficiency to the review committee.
Applicants must submit a total score of at least 1500 (verbal, quantitative and analytic) with a minimum of 1000 on the verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE.
The admission examinations for counselor education are administered once each year during the spring semester. All required admission materials must be filed in the department office by January 15 preceding the fall semester for which the student is applying. All academic prerequisites must be completed by the end of the summer semester preceding that fall semester.
Students may not enroll in doctoral core courses until the admission examinations are successfully completed.
Upon successful completion of the admission examinations, admission to the counselor education doctoral program is provisional until the student's progress is evaluated by the counselor education faculty upon completion of EDSS 6652 and 6022. The student's progress is evaluated on the basis of the demonstration of adequate subject matter knowledge, counseling skills and the interpersonal skills required for counseling.
After the progress review, the department will recommend that the student continue or continue with specific conditions attached, or reserves the right to withdraw the student from the program.
The Doctor of Philosophy degree in counseling and student services is offered in the Department of Counseling, Development and Higher Education. The degree requires a minimum of 66 semester hours beyond the master's degree, of which approximately 45 hours are specified. A minor of at least 12 semester hours must be completed outside the department. Graduate faculty who chair doctoral committees are urged to include an outside member on each doctoral student's dissertation committee. The student's major professor and the student should work together to select an outside member whose expertise will contribute meaningfully to the dissertation. An outside member is defined as a graduate faculty member (category I, II, or III) whose principal appointment is in a department other than the Department of Counseling, Development and Higher Education.
The general core courses for the doctoral program are EDSS 6021, 6022, 6031, 6032, 6090, 6130, 6651, 6652, 6680 and 6950 (12 hours); and EDER 6000 and 6010. Students may not be enrolled in any EDSS core course until they have been fully admitted to the doctoral program in counselor education.
Placement for internship, EDSS 6031 and 6032, is selected in cooperation with the internship director and the major adviser. Internship placement must be in a counseling setting approved by the department.
Students who wish to become licensed professional counselors in Texas are required to have specified supervised experiences. The counselor education doctoral program area head should be consulted for details.
A student must meet the University of North Texas general admission standards printed in the Graduate Catalog. A combined GRE score of 800 on the verbal and quantitative sections must be submitted to the graduate school by the end of the first semester of a provisional admittance to graduate work and prior to formal admission to the Human Development and Family Studies program. Deficiency course work may be completed in undergraduate courses for undergraduate credit until test requirements are met.
Students completing undergraduate deficiencies must make at least a grade of C in each course while maintaining a B average. Courses may be repeated if an adequate GPA is maintained. See the Admission section of this catalog for additional admission information.
Minors range from 6 to 12 semester hours in a field outside the major field of study.
Individuals from a variety of backgrounds may choose the human development and family studies
master's program as a specialization or minor area of study for careers in professional writing, media production,
public
policy, counseling, health professions, adult/continuing education, early childhood education or
businesses specializing in toys and educational materials, or as a consultant to human service organizations. The foundation
is provided for a student to continue education at the PhD level in child and family-related areas.
Requires a minimum of 39 semester hours, with 27 hours in the student's major area. One minor of 12 hours, or 6 hours in each of two minors, is required.
Requires a minimum of 36 semester hours, with 24 hours in the student's major and 6 hours of thesis. A minor of 6 hours is required.
Courses in the program area are chosen with the help of an adviser. Course selections may be chosen for a particular emphasis area and to meet professional certification requirements. Emphasis areas include: human development, family life education and support, childhood intervention, and leadership and training.
Three to six hours of internship or practicum may be recommended for an emphasis area or required for certification requirements.
During the final semester, students who select the non-thesis option must pass a final comprehensive examination written, oral or both over all course work. All deficiencies must be removed before the comprehensive exam is taken.
The student who selects the thesis option must successfully complete, defend and submit the thesis for approval.
For all students, 3 hours of graduate-level research methods and 3 hours of graduate statistics are required. A maximum of 6 hours of 4000-level courses may be taken for graduate credit.
EDCD 4140, School-age Child Care Programs; 4160, Family Life Education; 4500, School-Age and Adolescent Development; 4510, Guidance of Children and Youth; 4550, Transitions in Family Living and Work; 4590, Preprimary Curriculum, Organization and Management; 4600, Advanced Field Experience; 4601, Infant-Toddler Practicum; 4602, Preprimary Practicum; 4610, Community Resources Related to Children and Families; 4620, Administration of Programs for Children, Youth and Families; 4800-4810, Studies in Child Development.
EDHD 5030, Practicum, Field Experience or Internship; 5130, Current Problems in Administration of Programs for Children, Youth and Families; 5200, Child Development Theory and Research; 5230, Human Development Across the Life Span; 5300, Parent-Child Interaction; 5330, Parent Education; 5400, Family Relationships; 5430, Cognitive and Language Development; 5440, Social-Emotional Development; 5530, Family Problems in Urban Living; 5800-5810, Studies in Child Development and Family Relations; 5900-5910, Special Problems; 5950, Master's Thesis.
EDEE 5710, Research and Evaluation of Elementary School Teaching and Learning, or EDER 5050, Educational Research and Evaluation; and EDER 5210, Educational Statistics.
Students seeking admission should apply for either the EdD or PhD program depending on their academic preparation, prior experience and career goals. Admission to the program is selective and restricted.
In addition to the minimum requirements of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies and the College of Education listed under the "Admission Requirements" heading in the appropriate section of this catalog, admission to the EdD and PhD doctoral programs in higher education is contingent upon the following:
1. submission of a recent acceptable GRE score (1000 minimum combined total on quantitative and verbal sections or 1500 minimum combined total on quantitative, verbal and analytical sections) or acceptable GMAT score (510 minimum for the EdD and 550 minimum for the PhD);
2. the quality, quantity and relevance of the applicant's prior undergraduate and/or graduate work and prior work experience in higher education administration, teaching and/or research;
3. the applicant's career objectives;
4. submission of three professional references; and
5. the grade earned on the departmental admission examination.
Each applicant also must receive an endorsement for admission by a majority vote of the full-time faculty members of the higher education program area.
Both doctoral programs offered in higher education enable students to acquire knowledge about and evaluate major organizational, behavioral, and learning theories applicable to higher education; to conduct applied and/or original research in the field of higher education; to become familiar with past, present and emerging patterns of organization and professional administrative practice in higher education; and to observe and participate in the actual practice of higher education administration and/or research. However, the two programs differ significantly in length and emphasis and in course work, research tool, minor field and dissertation requirements.
The EdD program in higher education is designed for individuals interested primarily in the application of theory to practice. It is particularly appropriate for persons who aspire to administrative leadership careers in one or more of the following areas.
1. Higher education doctoral core (15 hours). Provides the student with a broad overview and integrated perspective of higher education as a field of study and academic enterprise: EDHE 6050, 6510, 6520, 6700 and 6710.
2. EdD base course requirement (9 hours). Provides the student with a knowledge of the main areas of administrative specialization common to most institutions of higher learning. Each student must complete at least three of the following base courses: EDHE 6570, 6720, 6730, 6760, 6780 and 6790.
3. Internship (6 hours). Intended to help the student better relate theoretical concepts to administrative practice and to gain work experience in one or more areas of higher education administration. A supervised administrative internship of up to 180 clock hours (90 clock hours for each 3 semester hours of course registration) is required of any student who has not been employed in a full-time administrative position in an institution, agency or professional association of higher education for at least one academic year, or the equivalent (as determined by the higher education faculty), prior to taking written comprehensive examinations.
4. Minor or cognate area (15 hours). Designed to allow the student to conduct in-depth study in a specific aspect of higher education. At least 6 hours of the student's minor or cognate area must be selected from the higher education course inventory. The other 9 hours may be selected from outside the higher education program as long as all of the courses constitute a cognate area of study that relates to a particular area of specialization within higher education, such as student affairs administration, community college administration or teaching, policy studies, adult and continuing education, institutional planning and analysis, legal aspects of higher education, athletic administration, multicultural education, or general administration of higher education.
5. College of Education research core (6 hours). The College of Education requires that each student, in addition to completing EDER 6000 and 6010, pass a comprehensive written examination covering the content of these courses.
6. Higher education program research course requirement (3 hours): EDHE 6530.
7. Dissertation research requirement (minimum of 12 hours). The EdD dissertation may be related to immediate operational problems of any aspect of higher education, either in an analysis and solution format or in an application of theory or research context.
8. Minimum total for EdD (60-66 hours beyond the master's or 90-96 hours beyond the bachelor's degree).
The PhD program in higher education is designed for individuals interested primarily in the scholarly inquiry and/or teaching of higher education as a field of study. The PhD in higher education is particularly appropriate to the following careers:
1. Higher education doctoral core (15 hours). Provides the student with a broad overview and integrated perspective of higher education as a field of study and academic enterprise: EDHE 6050, 6510, 6520, 6700 and 6710.
2. PhD base course requirement (9 hours). Provides the student with the contextual basis of higher education and organizational concepts common to the teaching, administration and study of higher education. Each student must complete at least three of the following courses: EDHE 6500, 6550, 6560, 6570, 6760, 6780 and 6790.
3. Higher education elective course requirements (6 hours). Courses are to be selected from the program's course inventory and should enable the student to gain either a broader exposure to the various specializations in higher education or an in-depth knowledge of one particular area of specialization.
4. Internship (6 hours). An administrative and/or research internship of up to 6 semester hours is required of students who have not been employed in a full-time administrative position, or a teaching or research position in an institution, agency or association of higher education for at least one academic year, or the equivalent (as determined by the higher education faculty), prior to taking qualifying examinations. Administrative internships consist of at least 90 clock hours of closely supervised administrative work per 3 semester hours of credit and culminate with a written report of the internship experience. Research internships require the close supervision of the student's research project by a graduate faculty member of the university and culminate in a publishable or presentable research paper.
5. Minor field requirement (12 hours). Provides the student with a unified, intensive concentration of course work in an academic or professional area outside the Department of Counseling, Development and Higher Education. All minor field course work must include a minimum of 12 hours in a single graduate discipline or field of study. The minor should relate to the student's professional goals and develop a conceptual knowledge base and perspective of his or her scholarly and research interests.
6. College of Education research core (6 hours). The College of Education requires that each student, in addition to completing EDER 6000 and 6010, pass a comprehensive written examination covering the content of these courses.
7. Higher education program research course requirement (3 hours): EDHE 6530.
8. Research tool requirement (9 hours). Each PhD candidate must be competent in the modes of scholarly inquiry common to the major field of study. For the study of higher education, those modes include experimental, descriptive, historical and relational studies, all of which utilize qualitative and/or quantitative research designs and analyses. The higher education program requires its PhD students to take 9 hours in statistics and research methodology (beyond those courses previously specified). Specifically, three or more of the following courses must be completed for a total of at least 9 credit hours: EDER 6210, 6230, 6280, HIST 5500 and 5940.
9. Dissertation research requirement (minimum of 12 hours). The principal goal of the PhD dissertation is the demonstration of the student's ability to conduct independent research. The research design, sampling procedures and methods of analysis must be congruent with the modes of inquiry used in conducting research on higher education, and must be a report of independent research generating knowledge with generalizable characteristics discussed in depth. Moreover, the dissertation must be of publishable quality and make a bona fide contribution to pressing or emerging issues in higher education.
10. Minimum total for PhD (72-78 hours beyond the master's or 102-108 hours beyond the bachelor's degree).
The UNT program in higher education and the Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) offer a
collaborative program of study for a doctorate in higher education for the development of senior-level administrators
for
religious colleges, universities and seminaries. Students who have not completed a master's degree may enroll
at DTS and after completing 36 semester hours of approved master's course work may apply to the doctoral
program in higher education at UNT. A DTS graduate faculty member will serve as minor professor on the
doctoral committee of a student in this program. Applicants for this program must meet the standard admissions
and program requirements at each institution.
For detailed information on this program, please contact both UNT and DTS. At UNT contact the coordinator of the program in higher education. At DTS contact the chair of the Christian Education Department.
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