By the end of the third year, the thesis should have been defended successfully, and the specialty exam or major area paper should be scheduled for completion. By the student s fourth year, the dissertation proposal should be successfully defended and its research should be in progress. The typical schedule for a clinical student during the academic year includes 12 hours of courses per semester, plus 1-3 semester hours of supervised practicum in the Psychological Services Center. An additional 20 hours a week are devoted to the departmental or agency assistantship. Academic and financial counseling for clinical students is available within the department and is also offered through the Center for Student Development on campus.
Students can receive reduced-fee personal counseling from community professionals.
Once a student is accepted into the Clinical Program, every effort is made to provide an environment conducive to his or her successful completion of the program without compromising training standards. Unsatisfactory academic performance is probably the factor that contributes least to this attrition. We try to prevent attrition as much as possible through early detection of problems, either academic or personal, and through early counseling and constructive feedback. All Clinical students will be given at least one year of clinical placement. One method of helping ensure a placement of choice is to register, as early in the Program as possible, as a Licensed Psychological Examiner.