U of Mass Boston Counseling Phd?

[krnlady]

Hi everyone!

It looks like U of Mass Boston's Counseling Psych Phd program is brand new with its first cohort starting in 2012. Has anyone heard any feedback about how it's going? Just curious, as there is a professor there who I feel would match my interests but I am somewhat leery of there not being a whole lot of information yet. Funding looks good, so that's a big plus! Any info?

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[LivingOffLoans]

APA accreditation will not be granted for at least a few more years. If you enter the program before then, the doctoral degree granted to you is not APA accredited. Otherwise, based on what I've researched, it sounds like an excellent program at a fine school.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

APA accreditation will not be granted for at least a few more years. If you enter the program before then, the doctoral degree granted to you is not APA accredited. Otherwise, based on what I've researched, it sounds like an excellent program at a fine school.

A quick clarification on this--if you're enrolled in the program at the time of the final site visit leading to accreditation, then your degree will be considered as having come from an accredited program (i.e., accreditation is retroactive to the date of the final site visit). However, it's always a bit of a risk, and just out of selfish self-interest, I'd probably hold off until accreditation is actually granted.

 

[bmedclinic]

Ditto AA. To get a site visit, my understanding is that the first class (2012) needs to graduates. EG- they need to match for internship, finish their dissertations, and get their PhD. If you're enrolling in 2014, there are a TON of things about their program that will change, you may have to re-take courses, re-do projects, etc so that they'll be ready for the site visit. All of that, and you dont even know if your degree will have little, or zero value. I'd stay away, too.

 

[LPPSYD]

A quick clarification on this--if you're enrolled in the program at the time of the final site visit leading to accreditation, then your degree will be considered as having come from an accredited program (i.e., accreditation is retroactive to the date of the final site visit). However, it's always a bit of a risk, and just out of selfish self-interest, I'd probably hold off until accreditation is actually granted.

Just wanted to add that the recent issue of the APA Monitor on Psychology had an article outlining upcoming changes in the match process, and one of those is that (effective 2017) they will no longer allow students from unaccredited programs to enter into the match at all. While they did say that students already admitted to these programs would be grandfathered in, they stated that any students entering an unaccredited program this fall (2013) will not be allowed to enter the match. Something to think about.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Just wanted to add that the recent issue of the APA Monitor on Psychology had an article outlining upcoming changes in the match process, and one of those is that (effective 2017) they will no longer allow students from unaccredited programs to enter into the match at all. While they did say that students already admitted to these programs would be grandfathered in, they stated that any students entering an unaccredited program this fall (2013) will not be allowed to enter the match. Something to think about.

Wow, did they say what they're going to do about programs applying for initial accreditation...seeing as how, you know, the APA requires them to actually graduate a class?

 

[futureapppsy2]

Wow, did they say what they're going to do about programs applying for initial accreditation...seeing as how, you know, the APA requires them to actually graduate a class?

I have to say, I think APA's "graduate a class first but don't have retroactive accreditation" rule is ridiculous for this reason--it guarantees that at least one class of students (often more) from reputable programs suffer from being from an "unaccredited" program. If APA wants to be strict with accreditation standards, there are many things they could (and should) improve, but this rule helps no one.

 

[LPPSYD]

Wow, did they say what they're going to do about programs applying for initial accreditation...seeing as how, you know, the APA requires them to actually graduate a class?

I didn't see that addressed in the article and I thought it was really odd because of that requirement. Seems like a huge issue to overlook though!

My first thought was that this seems unfair to students who have already accepted admission to the 2013-2014 school year. I'm surprised to see they are included in this since they did not have this knowledge before accepting a spot in an unaccredited program.

Edited to add my source: http://www.apamonitor-digital.org/apamonitor/20130708?folio=36#pg36