Because admission to the Program is competitive, the Counseling Psychology Faculty is able to exercise a great deal of quality control in the admissions process. We believe the students admitted to the doctoral Program are all very capable of completing our Program. Thus, the faculty emphasizes the importance of cooperating to students rather than competing. Although the Program faculty adheres to high Program standards, we do not believe those standards are best accomplished by students competing with each other. In classes the faculty emphasizes the importance of students working together as present and future colleagues.
Many classes have assignments requiring or allowing students to do group projects.
Most students form informal study groups for tests and preliminary exams. Most years students have formed pre-dissertation groups to challenge and support each other in their research work. A great deal of cohesion is evident among the doctoral students who were admitted in a particular year and also across years. The Counseling Psychology faculty has encouraged students to mentor each other according to individual talents and expertise areas. The Counseling Psychology Faculty also emphasizes our mentoring of students.