Counseling program receives national accreditation

Thursday, September 15, 2005

OSU’s master’s degree programs in school counseling and community counseling have received full accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.

Dr. Al Carlozzi, head of the OSU School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology in the College of Education, said OSU is the only university in Oklahoma that has undertaken and successfully completed the extensive self-study process for national accreditation in these graduate programs.

“Our faculty has worked diligently to get our programs entirely consistent with the standards established by CACREP, which is the only national accrediting body for the counseling discipline,” Carlozzi said.

Seventy-five students are enrolled in the master’s programs offered in Stillwater and at OSU-Tulsa. National accreditation for these programs is important because it underscores their credibility and promotes national visibility, Carlozzi said.

“Accreditation is one of the premier ways that an academic program can establish visibility across the country and internationally,” he said.

It’s especially important for graduates of the program when they seek employment and state licensure as professional counselors, he said.

“Graduating from a nationally accredited program underscores the quality of their master’s degree,” he said. “When you graduate from our community or school counseling master’s program, you can be proud that you have a degree from Oklahoma State University that has met the stringent standards of a highly respected national accrediting body."

The programs received accreditation for the maximum number of years allowable by CACREP, an eight-year period through 2013. Students who receive master’s degrees in school counseling work in public schools. Community counseling seeks to understand and treat human problems in social and community settings, and graduates work in places such as college counseling centers, domestic violence centers, youth and family service centers, community mental health clinics, residential treatment centers, and hospital settings.

“Programs receiving accreditation for an eight-year period deserve to be commended for the work they completed throughout the accreditation process," said Carol L. Bobby, executive director of CACREP, located in Alexandria, Virginia.