Gwynedd Mercy University 2025-2026 University Catalog 147
of these areas may trigger a Professional Development Plan( PDP) to remediate the identified deficiency / ies. Failure to meet the expectations of the Professional Development Plan may lead to dismissal from the program. For a full explanation of this policy and process, please see the Program Handbook.
Regardless of the Professional / Personal Development Plan students are still obligated to meet the graduate programs’ academic policies, including but not limited to the Academic Warning, Academic Probation and Academic Dismissal policies found in the Graduate Catalog.
Course Withdrawal Policies: The Counseling Program maintains the same course withdrawal policies as outlined for all online graduate programs in the Graduate Catalog.
Time to Completion: 1. Master of Science in Counseling Program( both concentrations of study) is typically 2.5 to 3.5 years. The maximum time for completion of the degree is 6 years. 2. Post-graduate Clinical Mental Health Certificate Program is between 7 and 10 months depending on start time of cohort
3. Post-graduate PreK – 12 School Counseling Certification Program varies based on the total number of Pennsylvania Department of Education competencies waived based other master ' s degree work.
Field Requirements: The Counseling Program offers three areas of field experience: Pre-Practicum, Practicum and Internship: 6 hours of Pre-Practicum( built into counseling course work and the practicum application process), 100 hours of Practicum and 600 hours of Internship. Below are the main field experience expectations by area.
For specific information regarding field placement particulars( expectations, grading, application requirements, etc.) please review the appropriate field handbook. These handbooks can be found on the student portal and on the program website.
Pre-practicum: Pre-practicum requirements are fulfilled in CNS 505: Foundations of Counseling. This course and the pre-practicum hours involved must be completed when applying for practicum. For more information about the pre-practicum experiences, please review the Practicum Handbook found on the student portal.
Practicum: The following courses are prerequisites for Practicum( CNS 513): CNS 501 Counseling Skills, CNS 505 Foundations of Counseling, and CNS 540 Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling. Since these courses are Core courses, students must earn a grade of“ B” or better in each in order to begin Practicum.
Practicum requires 100 hours of fieldwork over the course of 14 weeks( approximately 7 hours per week). Students must complete the full 100 hours at the practicum site. Forty percent of these onsite hours must be directly working with students / clients. The practicum course requires an hour and a half( 1.5) of synchronous group supervision weekly. This supervision is held during the evening hours. Students must attend this weekly class group supervision in order to pass the course. For more information about Practicum, please review the Practicum Handbook found on the student portal and on our program website.