UNCG Department of Counseling and Educational Development

WHAT: CED 688A:  Contemporary Problems Seminar:  Clinical Supervision.  This is an online 3 credit-hour graduate level course that will introduce you to theories, models, and methods of clinical supervision designed to fulfill the educational requirements of becoming an LPCS as defined by the NC Board for Licensed Professional Counselors (for full description of additional requirements, go to www.ncblpc.org).

WHO: To be eligible for the course, you must be either:

(a) a current graduate student in the counseling program at UNCG OR

(b) a counseling practitioner who has a masters degree in counseling or closely related field, preferably licensed as a LPC.

Class size will be limited to 12 students. James M. Benshoff, Ph.D., NCC, ACS, LPC, Professor, will be the instructor.

WHEN: The 2012-2013 Winter session is from December 18, 2012 through January 22, 2012.  This course will be taught entirely in an online format.

HOW: Winter session registration begins October 29^th.  Currently enrolled students can register online through UNCGenie and non-UNCG students can enroll through UNCG Division of Continual Learning (see instructions in Details section below). The tuition schedule for distance education courses can be found at http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/web/offcampus/credit_offcampus.asp

Email: askdcl@uncg.edu    Phone: (336) 315-7044

COST:For current students, this course will be included in your tuition for Spring semester. For non-UNCG students, costs for tuition and fees are projected to be $693.21 for in-state students and $1335.27 for “out of NC” students (status for out of state students who are taking distance education courses).

DETAILS:

1. The course will be offered all online–no physical face-to-face meetings (so, no travel, no parking, etc.).  The primary mode of instruction and learning will be through the use of an online discussion board where we will share questions and ideas, as well as prepared course content.  In addition, we will meet 3 times online in either a video-based or chat-based virtual classroom experience.  The technology related to all of this is pretty established and easy, so you don’t need to worry about your ability to handle on online course.  We’ll help you along the way.  You only need to have reliable internet access throughout the holidays.
2. Virtual class meetings are tentatively scheduled from 12-1:30 pm on the following dates:  Wednesday December 19th; Monday January 7th; and Monday January 21st. You must be able to attend these online class meetings.  All other work in the course will be asynchronous, so you can complete it more independently around your holiday schedules.
3. Two texts (both of them useful, user-friendly, and not lengthy) will be used in this course.  One is a workbook designed for training counseling supervisors in the field and the other is an excellent introduction to counseling supervision that focuses a bit more on theory and research.  When you register for the course, I’ll provide you with the information you need to order these texts through amazon.com or another online bookseller.  Total cost for both texts should be less than $75, and both are good resources for your professional library.
4. Most of our course will involve readings from the 2 texts, posting reflections and responses to an online discussion board, and responding to the postings of me and your fellow students.  Since you will earn 3 hours of academic credit for this course (and since NC LPCS requirements are to have 45 hours of supervision instruction), you should plan to be able to spend about 9 hours per week on work for this course.
5. For those planning to enroll in this course who are NOT current UNCG students, you will need to complete the application for a VISIONS or visiting and non-degree seeking student through The Graduate School.  You will need to indicate that you are enrolling for the 2012 Spring Semester (since the Winter Session is listed on the 2012 Spring Semester Schedule).  (Visions is a program offered in the Fall or Spring to visiting and non-degree seeking students who already hold a bachelor’s degree.)  The website for this application is http://www.uncg.edu/grs/visions/

If you have any questions concerning the VISIONS application, you should contact The Graduate School directly at 336-334-5596 and they can assist you.  Once you are admitted as a VISIONS student, our department secretary, Blaire Westmoreland (bmwestmo@uncg.edu), can enroll you in the course. If you have questions about the course, please contact Dr. James Benshoff at benshoff@uncg.edu.

5.  Class size is limited to 12 students, so I strongly recommend that you register as early as possible.

The success of graduate students can be enhanced greatly by working with a faculty mentor.  A mentor is very different from an advisor.  While an advisor helps a student   choose the correct courses and plan an appropriate schedule, a mentor is there to take a professional interest in the success of the student.  The word mentor comes from a Greek word that means enduring or surviving.  The mentor goes above and beyond helping the student with the practical issues relating to course scheduling, and helps the student by offering support, guidance and assistance.

This year The Graduate School sponsored the Outstanding Mentor Award to recognize an individual who has contributed to the success of graduate students.  The recipient of the Outstanding Mentor Award is Dr. Craig Cashwell from the department of Counseling and Educational Development in the School of Education. The Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards Ceremony and Reception will be held on October 5, 2012 at 9-11 a.m. in the School of Education auditorium (#114).

Dr. Cashwell was described by colleagues as well as both current and former students as a faculty member who has consistently provided support and guidance to students and who has contributed to helping them complete their program of study in a timely manner.  He has taken a personal interest in their academic and professional growth and has supported them in many ways including involving them in his publications and presentations.  Dr. Karen Wixson, Dean of the School of Education, highlighted Dr. Cashwell’s “career-long history of collaborative writing, particularly with students. Obviously he takes the role of mentoring students into their professional roles very seriously and he is clearly quite good at it.”  Dr. Paige Greason, a former student, recalled experiential activities and rich examples used by Dr. Cashwell to help bring complex topics to life in the classroom and stressed that her experience working with him was “remarkable on so many levels… I continue to see him as an invaluable mentor and support as I move forward in my career.”

These comments bring to mind the question of what makes an outstanding mentor.  It is clear that such a person provides a sustained relationship between teacher and student that begins in the classroom but extends through the career development of the student.  The characteristics of a good mentor include being emotionally supportive, providing good feedback, uncovering opportunities, and serving as a role model.  Typically a good mentor will help acculturate the student into the profession.  He or she will engage in research and/or scholarship with students and co-author publications with them.  He or she will guide students to take advantage of opportunities to attend conferences and when possible present with them at those conferences.  The mentor will introduce students to established professionals and encourage them to form networks.  The mentor will be on the lookout for funding opportunities that will help support the student.  In some discipline the mentor will work with students and recent graduates to co-author grants and sometimes to serve as co-principal investigators on grants.  The mentor will help the student examine career options and when possible help the graduate find an appropriate job.  In essence the good mentor follows the graduate throughout his or her career.  Dr. Cashwell has contributed to students in so many of these areas.  One of Dr. Cashwell’s graduates wrote “Under the direction of Dr. Cashwell, I have been the recipient of one funded dissertation grant, one national research award, and one regional research award.  Additionally, Dr. Cashwell continues to mentor me in developing my skills in scholarship as illustrated by the two manuscripts we are currently writing together.” She went on to state, “There are not many words that can describe how Dr. Cashwell has helped me to instill confidence in myself during one of the most challenging endeavors of my lifetime while demonstrating his genuine care, empathy, and desire for me to succeed in each and every conversation.”

How do graduate students find mentors such as Dr. Cashwell?  It is not an easy task for a student to locate the right person and establish a mentoring relationship.  Often it starts in the classroom where a student observes the interaction of a professor with the students.  Often a mutual interest in research or creative activities will spark the beginning of a mentoring relationship.  It requires the student to go the extra mile and spend time talking with the professor during his or her office hours.  From here the relationship may grow into mutual appreciation of each other’s knowledge and skills.

In choosing a mentor it is important for the student to do some detective work and determine if the faculty member and student will be a good match.  The following questions need to be investigated:

• Does the professor share the same research interests as the student?
• How much time does the professor give mentees?
• Will the professor be at the university throughout the student’s program?
• What are the professor’s expectations?
• What is the professor’s communication style?
• What is the professor’s policy on shared authorship?
• Where does the professor publish?
• What is the time to completion for other students mentored?
• What is the professional reputation of the professor?

These and other questions will help the student decide if a mentoring relationship should be pursued.  Students should also be aware that it is advisable to establish a “circle of mentors.”  No one person may be able to fulfill all of the roles of a mentor and it might take a circle of mentors to fully guide a student through his or her academic career and beyond.

Read more about Dr. Cashwell in this article from the Fall 2011 UNCG Magazine: http://ure.uncg.edu/magazine/2011_fall/feature_midlife.htm