COUNSELING AND STUDENT AFFAIRS (CNSA)

August 2006 NEWSLETTER

WELCOME to the 2006-07 academic year!  We are glad to have the newly admitted graduate students join us.  Those of you who have been here, we hope that you had a great summer and are refreshed and renewed.  We are looking forward to another terrific year.

FACULTY CHANGES and Contact Information

Pat Neuman is on phased retirement. Fall semester Pat Neuman will teach the Student Affairs practicum/internship class (CNSA 691B/CNSA 692B).  Dr. Wes Erwin will be on campus full time for both semesters. He will teach Intro to Counseling Research (CNSA 600), Foundations of Counseling (CNSA 610), and Skills (CNSA 620). Dr. Duane Halbur joins the Counseling and Student Affairs (CNSA) faculty this fall. He will teach Theories of Individual and Family Therapy (CNSA 611) and Organization and Administration of Guidance (CNSA 650).

Karen Montgomery is teaching the School Counseling Internship (CNSA 692A). Julie Dokken is teaching Appraisal (CNSA 612). Kara Woodbury and Kama Jensen are teaching Community Counseling Internship (CNSA 692D). Myla Korbel is facilitating Growth Group. Amy Sannes is teaching Introduction to Student Affairs (CNSA 660). Warren Wiese is teaching History of Higher Education in the US (CNSA 661). 

Contact Information:

Pat Neuman (on campus fall semester): Telephone: 218-477-2699,

       Office: 209C Lommen Hall, email: neuman@mnstate.edu

Wes Erwin: Telephone: 218-477-2009, Office: 209F Lommen Hall, email:

       erwin@mnstate.edu

Duane Halbur: Telephone: 218-477-2127, Office: 209H Lommen Hall, email: halburdu@mnstate.edu

Karen Montgomery: email: montgka@mnstate.edu

Julie Dokken: email: 85dokj@state.nd.us

Kara Woodbury: email: karabliss@msn.com

Kama Jensen: email: minnkota@pepp.org

Warren Wiese: email: wiese@mnstate.edu

Amy Sannes: email: sannes@cord.edu

New School Counseling Coordinator

Dr. Duane Halbur has been hired as the new School Counseling program coordinator.  He was the Coordinator for the School Counseling program at the University of North Dakota.  He was faculty in the Counselor Education program at the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa prior to accepting the position at UND.  Dr. Halbur will officially begin his work with the CNSA program August 21, 2006.  Dr. Halbur brings a lot of expertise to the program.  He is co-author of the book “Developing Your Theoretical Orientation in Counseling and Psychotherapy” (2006) and has published and presented on a wide array of topics.  Please extend a warm CNSA welcome to him when you have the opportunity.

ADVISING TIPS FOR FALL 2006

Classes will begin Thursday, August 24, 2006. 

If you are taking only “one course”, it should be the CNSA 600, Introduction to Counseling Research (1 credit) and CNSA 610 Foundations (2 credits) package of courses.  If you are taking two courses, they should be the CNSA 600 and 610 package and CNSA 611, Counseling Theories.  If you are taking three courses, they should be CNSA 600 and 610 package, CNSA 611, and CNSA 620, Counseling Skills.  Only fully admitted majors can take CNSA 620 Fall Semester. 

All students in Counseling Skills are required to participate in the Growth Group attached to Skills because it is a Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accreditation requirement.  Growth Group typically begins the third week of the semester and will take place each week of the fall semester thereafter from 3:00-4:30 p.m. on Wednesday or Thursday.  Dr. Erwin will attend the first class session of CNSA 620 Skills to arrange for students to have an interview with Myla Korbel, the growth group facilitator. Students will be assigned to a Wednesday or Thursday group after the individual interviews are completed.

CNSA 620 is the first of a multi-course sequence of skill courses (practicum and internships are the others) and must be completed before a practicum or internship is taken.  If CNSA 620 is not taken this fall, you must wait until next year for the sequence.  CNSA 620 is also a prerequisite for the Group Counseling course offered in the spring.  It is expected, in order to register for CNSA 620, that you will have had CNSA 610 and CNSA 611 or are concurrently registered for them. 

Note also, that the Student Affairs and School Counseling courses are offered this year.  They are only offered every other year.  Given all of the scheduling constraints, you may want to talk with your advisor to plan the courses that are most appropriate for you.

If you have any questions about your plan of study or if you have not yet worked out a plan of study, please contact Dr. Erwin. 

Internship Notes

If you are enrolled in Internship this fall, you need to have student liability insurance before you are able to see any clients or students.  Please check the following websites if you do not yet have insurance and you are taking internship this academic year: http://www.hpso.com/index.php3

http://www.cphins.com

http://www.ftj.com/Educ-ProLiability/Default.asp

http://www.nbcc.lockton-ins.com

Due to liability issues, internships cannot officially begin until the fall semester begins. 

FALL ALL GRADUATE STUDENT MEETING

There will be a meeting of all CNSA prospective students, admitted students, and faculty at 5:00 p.m., Monday, August 28 in Room 210 in Lommen Hall.  This orientation meeting is an important meeting for everyone.  It is a chance for us all to get together, to meet the new students and the students who have been here before, and to see and meet the faculty.  It has some orientation aspects and provides information about the program.  Most of all it is a chance to make new friends to help you through the program.  GSO student officers will be elected.

CNSA Scholarship Established

The CNSA program has established a Scholarship for future CNSA students.  Alumni, faculty, students, and friends of CNSA may contribute to this scholarship.  The scholarship will be awarded when $500.00 has accrued. A committee consisting of the CNSA faculty and two alumni will determine the recipient of the scholarship.  At the present time there is $50.00 in the scholarship fund.

CNSA LISTSERV INFORMATION

The Counseling and Student Affairs (CNSA) Listserv is an e-mail listserv that allows CNSA students and faculty to send messages to everyone on the listserv using one command.  This is a very efficient and quick way to communicate.  Information that is sent on the listserv includes items related to the CNSA program such as announcements, faculty meeting minutes, newsletters, conference information, and job and internship opportunities.  You are responsible for information posted on the listserv that pertains to you.  If you are not already on the listserv, please join it as soon as possible.  The instructions for joining the listserv are as follows: If you get e-mail at home, you can join from there.  If you do not get e-mail at home, you can get it here on campus.  You will need an e-mail account, which you can get by going to the Computer Help Desk on the Minnesota State University (MSUM) web page at http://www.mnstate.edu/home/  Once you get the e-mail account, you can send an e-mail from your home computer or from any computer on campus. 

Send the message to: majordomo@mnstate.edu

In the message area type the following message:

subscribe cnsa_students (make sure there is a space after subscribe and an underline between cnsa and students)

After a while you will get a message from the mail server (a computer, not a person) on your e-mail that says you have been added to the listserv. 

We cannot stress enough the importance of getting on this listserv.  Students in CNSA 600 will be aided in this process.  If you need additional help, please see your advisor.  You might also want to visit our CNSA website: http://www.mnstate.edu/cnsa/

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIPS

The faculty graduate assistantships (GA) have not yet been filled for the 2006-07 year.  Please let Dr. Erwin know if you are interested in a GA. The faculty graduate assistantship openings for next year will be announced during the spring semester.  However, there may be other graduate assistantships on campus that are still available.  Stay tuned to the CNSA listserve for GA openings.

HANDBOOKS

The 2006 Graduate Student Handbooks will be on the Web soon.  Prior year’s handbooks are on the web under the “Student” menu.  Every student needs to read the handbook, as it is a summary of all of the program’s policies and procedures.  You will be able to access the handbook via the CNSA webpage: http://www.mnstate.edu/cnsa/

In order to download the Handbook you will need to download a free application of Adobe Acrobat Reader from the following website:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html If you wish a paper copy of the handbook, you may print it from the web.

RESEARCH SEMINAR

Research seminar will be held this fall semester from 4:00-5:00p.m. on Thursdays in Lommen Hall Room 111.  This is a voluntary meeting to support students with their thesis work.  Everyone is invited to attend no matter where they are in the thesis process. 

GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION (GSO)

The GSO is an organization for graduate students in CNSA.  It needs your time and input.  It is also a source for friends, information, and other involvement.  Learn more about the GSO during the fall orientation meeting. The GSO Officers for 2005-2006 were: Co-Presidents Tara Marquart, marquata@mnstate.edu and Jenessa Fillipi, kuzniaje@mnstate.edu; Secretary, Amy Halvoson, halvorson_amy@hotmail; and Faculty Representative, Eric Leinen, leinener@mnstate.edu.

ETHICAL REMINDER

All graduate students in Counseling and Student Affairs are bound by the ACA professional code of ethics called the Ethical Standards.  If you do not have one, download one from the ACA website at www.counseling.org  Similarly, all courses in counseling are covered by the confidentiality rule.  That means nothing of a personal nature learned by you in a counseling course can be revealed by you outside of the course.  Failure to maintain professional ethical behavior is a cause for dismissal from the program.  Check with the Standards, or the faculty, if you have questions about any of the things you do and say.

MAXIMUM YEARS TO COMPLETE DEGREE

Please take note of the five-year limit for finishing your degree.  To meet the deadline you must graduate before your first course is 5 years old.  Otherwise, you must retake courses as they go over the 5 year limit.  For instance, if you took your first course in the fall of one year, you need to graduate by the summer 5 years later. 

The same is true for spring semester starts.  If your first course is in the spring you must be through by the fall semester 5 years later.  Please check your transcript to check on these dates.  Add 5 to the year of your first course.

          First Course                      Graduate By

          Fall, 2002                        Summer, 2007

          Fall, 2003                        Summer, 2008

          Fall, 2004                        Summer, 2009

          Fall, 2005                         Summer, 2010

          Fall, 2006                         Summer, 2011

COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

The following dates and times have been set up for administering the comprehensive exam for Master of Science degree students.  Graduate students in Counseling and Student Affairs should contact their advisor to let them know when they will be ready to write the exam, as the advisors will be the ones writing the questions.  Please secure application forms from Bev Nokken in Lommen 209 or copy the one in your Handbook.  These application forms should be turned in to Bev Nokken the first week of the semester in which you plan to write.  There is a list of study areas for the comps as well as a sample of the rating form used by faculty when reading these.  See your Handbook for a copy of these.  A video is available for checkout which covers how to study for comps.  See Dr. Erwin to check out the video.  Comprehensive exam dates:

FALL SEMESTER 2006 Wed. Nov. 8, 2006       Thur. Nov. 9, 2006

                   10:00-12:00 noon        10:00-12:00 noon

                   (Lommen 201)            (Lommen 201)

                   and 1:00-3:00 pm        and 1:00-3:00 pm

                   (Lommen 107)            (Lommen 107)

SPRING SEMESTER 2007

                   Wed. March 21, 2007     Thurs. March 22, 2007

10:00-12:00 noon and    10:00-12:00 noon and

          1:00-3:00 pm            1:00-3:00 pm

                   (Lommen 201)            (Lommen 201)

SUMMER SESSION 2007

Wed. June 6, 2007       Thurs. June 7, 2007

                   10:00-12:00 noon and    10:00-12:00 noon and

                   1:00-3:00 pm            1:00-3:00 pm

                   (Lommen 201)            (Lommen 201)

DEADLINES FOR MASTER'S DEGREE STUDENTS

ACADEMIC CALENDAR 2006-2007

                                  Fall              Spring             

                                  Semester           Semester                                                1998                    1999                   

 Deadline to submit “advisor

Approved draft” to CNSA faculty   Oct 12             March 2

 Deadline for distribution of     Oct 26             March 23

“Faculty approved draft” to

Outside committee member

Deadline for form 3 (last day to  Nov 9              April 6

Apply for oral examination                                      

Last day for oral exam            Nov 23             April 20

Last day to submit      

Thesis/Project to   

the Library and Form 4

to Graduate Studies office       Dec. 7              May 4

Commencement                    Dec. 22            May 11                              

*These deadlines only apply to the Thesis Oral Defense. The deadline for a thesis proposal is the last official day of classes prior to final exams. Thesis meetings are not held during final exam week.

NOTE:  Form 4, Recommendation for Graduate Degree, serves as the application for graduation from graduate programs.  Students need only apply to graduate in absentia if they do not plan to attend Commencement ceremonies.  The Form 4, is available on the Graduate Studies website.  The Form 4, with all signatures, must be submitted for final approval at least one week prior to May or August Commencement for the student's transcript to show degree completed in term.  All "I/X/IP" grades need to be cleared by appropriate faculty members with change of grade slips sent to the Registrar's Office by the deadline for degree in term. 

Preliminary graduation notice needs to be submitted to Graduate Studies one month prior to graduation.  This form can be found on the Graduates Studies website.

Academic garb should be ordered from the MSUM Bookstore not less than eight weeks prior to Commencement.  Hoods should be delivered to the Graduate Office one week before Commencement.

Fall 2006 Schedule (Updated 8/4/06)

Newsletter developed by Wes Erwin