Division of Counselor Education & Psychology

Educational Specialist in Counseling

Please complete the online admissions application and submit required documents.

The Educational Specialist degree in Counseling is a 78 hour (60 hours for the Masters, plus 18 additional for the Specialist) curriculum designed to provide advanced professional preparation for practicing school counselors in elementary, middle, and high school settings. It prepares students to meet the requirements for Mississippi Class AAA educator licensure and further  updates and increases student knowledge and professionalism in the field of school counseling. The program also provides an opportunity for counselors in school settings to seek other advanced credentials, such as National Certified School Counselor (NCSC) status and licensure as a Mississippi Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).

The Ed.S. program is available for students who already hold a Master’s degree in counseling. The program typically entails one to two years of graduate study and has two goals:
(1) Prepare students to meet requirements to obtain an AAA Mississippi educator’s license
(2) Update and increase their knowledge, skills, and professionalism in the field of school counseling.

The Graduate Bulletin has additional information on admission, degree requirements, programs of study, and more. Please visit the financial aid web page for tuition assistance and scholarship information.

Mission Statement

The faculty and staff of the Delta State University Counselor Education Program, through teaching, training, supervision, and experiential activity, develop ethical, competent, and culturally sensitive counselors who are prepared to work in school or community settings. Program faculty seek to strengthen the profession by modeling for students the professional expectation of continued growth and learning, interpersonal awareness, and practical application of sound principles and practices in their work as professional counselors.

Program Learning Objectives

Mission Statement: The faculty and staff of the Delta State University Counselor Education Program, through teaching, training, supervision, and experiential activity, develop ethical, competent, and culturally sensitive counselors who are prepared to work in school or community settings. Program faculty seek to strengthen the profession by modeling for students the professional expectation of continued growth and learning, interpersonal awareness, and practical application of sound principles and practices in their work as professional counselors.

  1. Counseling students will develop and demonstrate an understanding of the life-long need to pursue counseling knowledge and professional development. Students will articulate the value of engagement in professional organizations for the purposes of advocacy, certifications, and accreditations.
  2. Counseling students will develop an ethical awareness that results in behaviors that reflect an understanding of roles, responsibilities, supervision, and limitations as they collaborate and consult with other behavioral health professionals, school professionals, and systems.
  3. Counseling students will verbalize the importance of counseling history and its ongoing influences on current practices.
  4. Counseling students will examine biological, environmental, and systemic factors that affect human behavior, development, and functioning. Counseling students will develop strategies for promoting optimum development, resilience, and wellness across the lifespan.
  5. Counseling students will utilize career theories that facilitate the client’s pathway to satisfactory work and leisure, including counseling skills that foster values clarification, knowledge of the work world, and personal wellness.
  6. Counseling students will utilize critical thinking skills to evaluate the effects of power and privilege for clients.  Counseling students will demonstrate decision making strategies to understand the impact of attitudes, beliefs, heritages, understandings, and acculturative experiences on the views of others.
  7. Utilizing multicultural competencies and awareness, counseling students will adopt the counseling knowledge base and work-behavior areas to diverse client populations. This ability to make cultural adjustments will be shown specifically in the work-behavior areas of counselors including fundamental counseling issues, counseling processes, diagnostic and assessment services, professional practice, and professional development.
  8. As they strengthen their commitment to grow deeper toward integrated practice, counseling students demonstrate foundational understanding of the intersection between counseling theory, counseling skills, and differentiated interventions.
  9. Students are aware of their own worldview and its intersection with theories of counseling and development. From this perspective, students demonstrate a beginning verbalization of their own integrated theoretical approach.
  10. Counseling students will display knowledge of the various models of group work, processes, and development to ensure effective, ethical group experiences with clients.
  11. Counseling students will recognize the need to assess and improve their own leadership skills. They will demonstrate the ability to manage group dynamics within counseling venues.

Admission

Admission. To be admitted into the Educational Specialist in Counseling program, prospective students must:
1. Meet all general requirements for admission to the graduate school of Delta State University.
2. Provide a transcript indicating a master’s degree in Counseling or Counselor Education from a program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) or an equivalent program from an institution fully accredited by one of the recognized accrediting agencies.
3. Obtain an overall master’s minimum grade point average of 3.25 using a 4.0 scale.
4. Provide a copy of a Mississippi Class AA Educator License in School Guidance and Counseling (or an equivalent from another state)
5. Provide evidence of current employment as a professional school counselor in a public or private school with a minimum of two years of experience.
6. Provide a curriculum vita demonstrating leadership and professional counseling identity and involvement.
7. Provide an academic writing sample.

Courses & Advising

Program of Study

Every student is assigned an academic advisor upon admission. Advisors collaborate with students as they progress through the program. Advisors are available to assist students with adjusting to graduate school and to serve as mentors. Advisors will support students through regular, frequent communication with the student and program faculty. Students will meet with their advisors at least once each semester to discuss their progress and needs throughout the program.

While academic advisors are present to support students, students are responsible for making sure they have met all graduation requirements. Students must familiarize themselves with the DSU Graduate Academic Catalog under which they entered the Counselor Education Program.

STUDENT
LAST NAME
ADVISOR OFFICE PHONE NUMBER
All EdS Students Mary Bess Pannel EW 340 662-846-4362

Contact

Interim Division Chair

Dr. Corlis Snow
P: (662) 846-4355
F: (662) 846-4549
csnow@deltastate.edu

Address and Mailing

Counselor Education & Psychology
College of Education & Human Sciences
DSU Box 3142 Ewing 335
Cleveland, MS 38733