College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences 2015-2016 Catalog

53 For licensed marriage and family therapists, additional training and supervision to become an AAMFT Approved Supervisor is provided through the Brief Therapy Institute. Recruitment Policy As noted in the Ph.D. in MFT Educational Outcomes, the NSU Ph.D. in MFT program demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion, and prepares students for the clinical practice of family therapy, maintaining a high level of graduation and postgraduate success in the field. Our recruitment policy combines a commitment to diversity and underserved populations with a fair and realistic appraisal of qualities needed to graduate and have success in the field of marriage and family therapy. We do not require the GRE or other standardized testing, as standardized testing tends to privilege certain populations over others. We require a 3.5 GPA, and demonstrated interpersonal ability. In addition to letters of reference, an admissions essay, and a writing sample, we conduct in person interviews to assess prospective students. To attract qualified students, we maintain relationships with universities nationwide who have graduate programs in MFT and related fields. We make it a point to build relationships with other universities nationwide. We also offer open houses, open to the community, and publicized through our website, where prospective students can talk with faculty and current students. Our students and graduates themselves are a primary source of prospective students for us, as they recommend the program to friends and colleagues. We strive to recruit a diverse student body, in terms of age, experience, sexual orientation, race, class, culture, gender, and national origin. We are transparent about our values and what we offer, providing all prospective students with a statement of our core diversity/inclusion values, and publicizing both our licensure exam pass rates and our postgraduate employment statistics. Retention Policy As noted in the Ph.D. in MFT Educational Outcomes, the NSU Ph.D. in the MFT program demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion, and prepares students for the clinical practice of family therapy, maintaining a high level of graduation and postgraduate success in the field. Our retention policy balances our commitment to the best outcome for individual students, with the need to maintain a positive reputation for our graduates to ensure success in the field. The Program Director attends closely to the progress of individual students during the entire program as evidenced in the Annual Review (Preliminary Review). Most of our attrition occurs during this first semester, when students are not able to succeed academically or have underestimated the commitment required for a graduate program. In this event, the Program Director meets with the student and the faculty teaching the student that semester. Every effort is made to work towards a mutually agreeable outcome. The Program Director is notified if a student earns a “C” in any course and a letter is sent to the student advising her/him that students are required to repeat a course in which a second “C” is earned. Additionally, students may be asked to take additional internal practicums above and beyond the minimum requirement. The Program Director and the faculty work with individual students to maintain their progress towards graduation. If at any time, however, it becomes clear that a student is interpersonally, ethically, or academically unqualified for the practice of marriage and family therapy, the Program Director will schedule an appointment with that student and the possibility for a remediation plan will be discussed along with the possibility of dismissal from the program. Our goal is a high level of retention, but balanced at all times with the need to maintain the integrity of the program and the profession. Grievances/Student Complaints