Doctoral Program
The mission of the Counselor Education and Supervision (CES) doctoral program at Kent State University is to prepare research-informed, ethically sound, and culturally responsive counselor educators and supervisors who can effectively: conduct research and engage in scholarship; provide counseling supervision; facilitate learning; engage in leadership and advocacy; and deliver counseling services. Fulfilling this mission ensures delivery of a high quality doctoral education which meets accreditation standards of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
Ph.D. Graduation Information, Completion Rates, Licensure & Job Placement (pdf)
For students with an acceptable master’s degree in counseling, full-time doctoral study in the Counselor Education and Supervision program usually involves two years of course work and an additional two years for finishing internship requirements and completing a dissertation.
Our degree is available to both full-time and part-time students. We do, however, require at least one year of full-time study, that is, enrollment for a 12-month period totaling at least 21 semester hours (e.g., two semesters of 9 hours plus a contiguous summer of 3 hours).
All applications are due no later than February 1st for an anticipated start date of the doctoral program the following Fall Semester. Beginning the Fall 2022 cohort, the CES Program will no longer require the GRE.
Steps to be considered for admission include:
- Informal interview with the Doctoral Program Coordinator
- One Writing Sample; coordinated with the Doctoral Program Coordinator
- Completion of all Application materials (letters of recommendation, goal statement, etc.) through Slate
- Faculty Interview during Doctoral Group Interview Day – Typically held during the second Friday of February from 9am-12pm.
Our curriculum is structured around the belief that doctoral level graduates should be well grounded in counseling theory and practice, teaching / pedagogy, research and scholarship, counseling supervision, teaching, leadership and advocacy, and professional identity. KSU CES doctoral students should be prepared with entry-level knowledge and skills from their master's degree program, and advanced work in the five core areas of CES will occur at the doctoral level.
Applicants are expected to have completed curricular requirements equivalent to CACREP entry-level standards, as well as requirements of an entry-level CACREP specialty program area before beginning doctoral-level counselor education coursework. If minimal coursework is needed, it can be completed before or in some cases concurrently with initial doctoral-level counselor education coursework. Graduate coursework in the following content areas is considered prerequisite to the doctoral program.
- Counseling theory
- Counseling procedures
- Counseling practicum
- Internship
- Group dynamics and group work theory and procedures for intervention
- Assessment and testing
- Career development theory and counseling
- Professional orientation appropriate to the counseling profession
- Consultation theory and procedures
- Legal and ethical issues pertinent to counseling
- Research methods and program evaluation appropriate to the behavioral/social sciences
- Human growth and development (child, adolescent and adult)
- Social/cultural diversity and responsiveness
The total program must include at least 104 semester hours of study, including approved master's level work but excluding dissertation credit. Following are the coursework requirements and options comprising the doctoral program in CES.
PROGRAM CORE (39 SEMESTER HOURS)
This is designed to develop the counselor identity of the doctoral student, and to offer advanced training in fundamental areas.
- CES 80090: Doctoral Residency Seminar
- CES 87168: Advanced Counseling Theories
- CES 80200: Fundamentals of Writing and Research in CES
- CES 88284: Supervision of Counseling
- CES 88492: Supervision of Counseling Practicum in CES
- CES 78538: Advanced Multicultural Counseling
- CES 80300: Leadership and Advocacy in CES
- CES 88294: College Teaching in CES
- CES 88392: College Teaching Practicum in CES
- CES 88281: Research Seminar in CES
- CES 78592/87392: Advanced Counseling Practicum (individual or couples/family). All students enrolled in Advanced Counseling Practicum need to provide documentation to their instructor of current professional liability insurance before they can meet directly with clients.
- CES 88292 Internship in CES
ADDITIONAL COURSEWORK (AT LEAST 6 SEMESTER HOURS)
You will choose electives to give greater depth or breadth to your program. Electives may be chosen in any area within or outside of counseling; for example, outside areas might include addition research coursework.
RESEARCH COURSEWORK
Students must take all basic research courses. Students must select one advanced research course.
Basic research courses include:
- RMS 75510: Statistics I for Educational Services
- RMS 85515: Quantitative Research Designs and Application for Educational Services
- RMS 85516: Qualitative Research Designs and Application for Educational Services
Advances research courses include:
- RMS 85517: Advanced Quantitative Research for Educational Services
- RMS 85518: Advanced Qualitative Research for Educational Services
INTERNSHIP (AT LEAST 6 SEMESTER HOURS)
The two semester doctoral internship (taken Fall/Spring or Spring/Fall) serves as a culminating experience, with no more than nine hours of coursework (excluding dissertation) to be completed. A basic purpose of the internship is to provide the student an opportunity to integrate his/her cognitive learning and skill in teaching, research and scholarship, counseling, leadership and advocacy, and supervision. The doctoral internship should allow for expression, in varying degrees, of the doctoral coursework. Thus, there is a diversity of placements of doctoral level interns. With the 2016 CACREP standards for doctoral internship, a total of 600 hours must be completed in three of five categories, which include: teaching, research and scholarship, counseling leadership and advocacy, and supervision. It is expected that the intern will perform many of the activities of a regular employed professional in their respective settings. Each placement will require supervision. Internships may be either paid or unpaid and at times a student may have a placement at his/her site of employment, allowing that internship activities differ from the intern's regular duties/responsibilities and that co-advisors approve.
Those not having an acceptable master’s internship will be required to complete an additional 600 hours. Such additional work may well be engaged in early in the student’s doctoral program.
All students planning to enroll in internship need to provide documentation to their instructor of current professional liability insurance before they can begin their internship experience.
DISSERTATION (AT LEAST 30 SEMESTER HOURS OVER TWO TERMS)
The dissertation is an empirical, philosophical, theoretical, or historical investigation on a topic consistent with this program and with faculty scholarly pursuits. Students are expected to be familiar with procedures for entering data and analyzing results despite the methodology chosen.
For more information on our KSU doctoral program in counselor education and supervision, please contact our doctoral program coordinator:
Cassandra A. Storlie, Ph.D., LPCC-S, NCC
Associate Professor, Counselor Education & Supervision
Doctoral Program Coordinator
Office: 330-672-0693
cstorlie@kent.edu
Professional Licensure Disclosure
This program is designed to prepare students to sit for applicable licensure or certification in Ohio. If you plan to pursue licensure or certification in a state other than Ohio, please review state educational requirements for licensure or certification and contact information for state licensing boards at Kent State's website for professional licensure disclosure.