Counseling and Student Affairs
Program Description
The Counseling and Students Affairs (CNSA) program is a two to three year, 48-semester hour program leading to a Master of Science in Education. It emphasizes the integration of developmental theory, acquisition of strong interpersonal skills, and personal development resulting in the ability to enter beneficially into another person’s world and provide opportunities for personal growth.
The Counseling and Student Affairs program supports and endorses human diversity. Persons of color and persons with other dimensions of diversity are encouraged to apply.
The program has a generalist orientation, but individualized specializations can be developed to meet each student’s needs. Through the program, students are provided with opportunities to develop core helping skills and to engage in concentrated study leading to a specialty in one of four program emphases.
The Community Counseling option prepares persons to provide counseling assistance in a variety of settings in the community, including social service agencies; community mental health sites; centers dealing with families, rape and abuse, and crises; as well as other specialty areas. Counseling theories and skills are emphasized, and the internship experience is in the appropriate community settings.
The Student Affairs option prepares persons for student affairs positions in higher education, including admissions, career services, financial aid, residence halls, orientation, and the student union activities. This option emphasizes coursework in the development of college students and practicum and internship experiences at college and university sites.
The College Counseling emphasis prepares persons to work in college counseling centers or college career counseling centers. This emphasis requires knowledge of the development of college students and their unique issues and concerns. Student affairs theories, counseling theories, and counseling skills are emphasized. A practicum and an internship in a college counseling center are required.
The School Counseling option leads to Minnesota Certification for K-12 school counseling. For Minnesota there is no teaching or teaching certification requirement. For North Dakota state certification for K-12 school counseling, certified counselors need to have taught for two years and have a teaching certificate. This emphasis includes internship experiences at the elementary, middle school, and secondary levels.
The program also prepares one to become licensed as a professional counselor in Minnesota and North Dakota, to become certified as a National Certified Counselor (NCC), and to be certified or licensed as a school counselor (depending on the option chosen).
The Counseling and Student Affairs graduate program at MSUM is somewhat unique in the individual attention paid to the graduate students. The class sizes are small, teachers get to know students, and advisor contact is welcomed. Most courses are offered in the evenings to accommodate part-time students. Through additional courses and personal advising, graduate students are encouraged to develop and meet their personal career goals.
Minnesota State University Moorhead's graduate program in Counseling and Student Affairs has specialized accreditation for its "Community Counseling," "Student Affairs," "School Counseling," and "College Counseling" emphases. The specialized accreditation is granted by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), which is an accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The "School Counseling" program is approved by the Minnesota Department of Education. All four of the Counseling and Student Affairs programs have institutional accreditation through the North Central Association and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.
The purpose of the program is to provide students with a high level of counseling skills in order that they can offer therapeutic experiences to their clients. The program is intended for students who seek to become competent counselors, have strong academic, verbal, and written skills, are aware of and able to articulate feelings, who want to gain in self-awareness, and want a thorough knowledge of the major content areas required to be a certified or licensed professional counselor.
Most of the courses are offered in the evenings after 4:00 p.m. The program takes a minimum of two years full-time to complete. The maximum amount of time allowed to complete the program is five years. Full-time as well as part-time students are admitted two times each year. There are two priority deadlines for applications to the program: September 15 and February 1.
Prior to a practicum or internship, successful completion of a criminal background check may be required. Successful completion of a criminal background check may also be a requirement for employment or licensure after graduation from the program.