Psychology Program Nationally Recognized
MARY MILLER
THE SIGNAL
UHCL’s School Psychology graduate program recently gained approval and recognition from the National Association School Psychologist (NASP). The three professors who helped the program achieve recognition are Gail Cheramie, Mary Stafford and Kate Jaspers.
“I am proud of these three very modest, unpretentious and dedicated professionals; not only do they set the standards for other psychology programs but also for the staff of all other psychology programs,” said Patricia Cuchens, executive director of operations for the School of Human Science and Humanities.
NASP approves psychology programs, also known as specialty programs, all over the United States. Each specialty program has the opportunity to receive recognition, although not all do. The approval process is renewed every 5-7 years. Cheramie, program director for the School Psychology program, has been running the show for this program for more than 25 years.
“Our program was the first in the state of Texas to receive recognition from NASP and become nationally accredited; we’ve held that standard of approval and recognition since 1988,” Cheramie said.
Once a program receives approval from NASP, it is then eligible to receive accreditation from the National Counsel for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NACATE), making NASP a type of gatekeeper.
“Since the students in this program work in schools, we must be approved by NACATE to do so, but can’t get that approval without NASP, so it’s a big deal,” Cheramie said.
Keeping track of all the information and records needed for review is a never-ending process for these professors. Data is constantly being collected including research, course success rate and publications. Therefore when it comes time for review, all the material is readily available.
“A neat thing we do in this program is include our students in on the publications so when they graduate they are already published, which is not something a lot of professors do, but we feel it is a situation for all involved,” Cheramie said.
Even with the material available for easy access, it is around a 6-week process to put all the material together for review. Additionally, guidelines to meet standards are always changing to ensure the program is always up to date on the most current teachings and laws of practice.
The new guidelines implemented this year did not include examples to go by, so the School Psychology program faculty had to do what they felt appropriate to meet standards.
“The most difficult part of the process is meeting the new guidelines,” Stafford said. “There was no example to go by; we had to go back and contact students who have already graduated from the program, and that was hectic.”
Potential candidates for this UHCL accredited graduate program are quite competitive. Prospects are interviewed once a year in the spring for summer admission. Because it is a nationally recognized program, students from all over the nation try to get admitted, but no more than 12-14 students are accepted each year.
“Part of the reason we keep our numbers so low is so that we continue to meet the NASP requirements,” Jaspers said.
The three professors interviewed potential students from places like Pennsylvania and Maryland, and even did a Skype interview with someone in South Africa. During the interviewing process, that is considered a typical day for them.
“There is a 100 percent guaranteed hire rate for our graduates, and more often than not I have companies calling me asking our students to intern for them,” said Stafford, the clinical and internship director.
Students who graduate from UHCL’s School Psychology graduate program only have to take the board exam to get their license once. Once they have their license, they can practice in any state. Whereas with other programs that are not recognized, the graduates must take the boards for each state they wish to practice in, which is another bonus this program has to offer.
“Receiving accreditation gives credibility to the students who graduate from this program,” Cuchens said. “It indicates the rigor of the School Psychology program which has high principle and integrity proven through national recognition.”
Correction: March 24, 2014
This article reflects the following change from the print edition: School of Psychology program should have read School Psychology program.
