APA accreditation, on probation possibility?

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affectiveH3art

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So our program has been given one more chance to address many issues brought up due to a site visit. Many students are afraid we will be placed on probation. What are the consequences of being on probation and applying for internship? I was not planning on applying next academic year but the way things are going I just might have to. Also, has anyone transferred at this point in their grad program? I have all but 2 classes completed, passed my prelim and doing D-1 this semester. Is it possible to "transfer" my dissertation? I'm thinking of applying to a different program within my university (counseling to clinical).

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So our program has been given one more chance to address many issues brought up due to a site visit. Many students are afraid we will be placed on probation. What are the consequences of being on probation and applying for internship? I was not planning on applying next academic year but the way things are going I just might have to. Also, has anyone transferred at this point in their grad program? I have all but 2 classes completed, passed my prelim and doing D-1 this semester. Is it possible to "transfer" my dissertation? I'm thinking of applying to a different program within my university (counseling to clinical).

Anything is possible, but nothing is guaranteed or likely when it comes to changing programs. Especially going between program types...they could very well want you to redo some classes, take comps again and start over on the dissertation. Counseling and clinical certainly have a heavy overlap, but I can't imagine any respectable program being okay with someone training elsewhere and then just showing up to finish up their dissertation. Odds of them even accepting you are probably very slim unless you have a compelling case to be made besides "They might lose accreditation and I'm already living here"

As for its impact on internship apps - its probably a ding. Its probably not going to single-handedly kill everyone's applications if it is still technically accredited. Losing accreditation completely would likely have a pretty big impact though, since I think "APA vs. non-APA" is an easy filter for the more competitive sites to apply.
 
There are always issues to be corrected after a site visit. If not, then the site evaluators would not feel that they were doing their job. One more chance to correct them would mean they were already on probation. I think that the stress of the doctoral program is driving some anxiety based cognitions. We had a site visit while I was at my doctoral program and I had some panicky thoughts afterward. Some of us were angry at students who complained about things because we thought it might jeopardize accreditation. I think the real odds of my university losing their accreditation over the next ten years is about one in a billion or so give or take a few decimals points. :)
 
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There are always issues to be corrected after a site visit. If not, then the site evaluators would not feel that they were doing their job. One more chance to correct them would mean they were already on probation. I think that the stress of the doctoral program is driving some anxiety based cognitions. We had a site visit while I was at my doctoral program and I had some panicky thoughts afterward. Some of us were angry at students who complained about things because we thought it might jeopardize accreditation. I think the real odds of my university losing their accreditation over the next ten years is about one in a billion or so give or take a few decimals points. :)

Well, we are not on probation now. We had a site visit and had 3 times to respond to changes. So far within their reports they stated that they were giving us another chance to respond BEFORE they were placing us on probation. I do not believe these are "panicky" thoughts rather a reasonable response to possibly going on probation. Also, we had many students complain and it made a severe impact on the outcome of the site visit (this is a complicated issue). Best case scenario is that this 3rd attempt to respond will give us ATLEAST 3 years...but who knows at this point.
 
Anything is possible, but nothing is guaranteed or likely when it comes to changing programs. Especially going between program types...they could very well want you to redo some classes, take comps again and start over on the dissertation. Counseling and clinical certainly have a heavy overlap, but I can't imagine any respectable program being okay with someone training elsewhere and then just showing up to finish up their dissertation. Odds of them even accepting you are probably very slim unless you have a compelling case to be made besides "They might lose accreditation and I'm already living here"

As for its impact on internship apps - its probably a ding. Its probably not going to single-handedly kill everyone's applications if it is still technically accredited. Losing accreditation completely would likely have a pretty big impact though, since I think "APA vs. non-APA" is an easy filter for the more competitive sites to apply.

Yes, that was my fear- that it appeared like I was seeking a different program because my program was possibly going on probation. It actually would be a better fit considering my interests (health psych & assessment). Once I have a discussion with my advisor I will probably see how reasonable it would be to apply to the clinical program.
 
I don't think it's unreasonable on your end to be considering an attempted transfer to the clinical program in light of your program's accreditation issues. However, keep in mind that at least in my experience, clinical programs are generally very averse to attempts to "back door" in from another concentration at the same school. I'm not suggesting that's what you're doing, as you have legitimate concerns, but it's possible they may review your materials with even more scrutiny/skepticism than they would a standard applicant.

I think speaking with your advisor is a great first step. Would being on probation potentially be a ding during internship applications? Yes, but I would imagine that most sites know this is an issue with your program, not with you, and that probationary status can occur for any number of reasons. If your program generally has a solid track record otherwise, it'll be less of a problem than if it could be seen as "questionable" to begin with.
 
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