Kutztown University, Counseling & Human Services Department of Counseling & Human Services College of Graduate Studies KU Home

The Master of Education Degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education - Administration



Hours: 48
Thesis: None

The Master of Education degree program in Student Affairs (Administration) is designed to prepare students for professional careers in student affairs in institutions of higher education. Such careers are typically found in one or more of the following areas: admissions, athletics, career services, financial aid, housing and residence life, international student affairs, commuter services, intramurals and recreational sports, judicial services, minority affairs, orientation services, registration and records, student activities, student services, and women's affairs. The program combines experiences that are practical, specialized, and individual with those that are broad and theoretical. Research skills and an understanding of the relevant literature for the discipline are a part of the program.

This is a forty-eight (48) semester hour program, which requires a comprehensive examination for degree completion. Admission requires the Graduate Record Examination, three (3) letters of Recommendation, an interview, and an autobiography. Applicants are notified of the date of the interview after other general admission requirements have been completed. All courses are three semester hours unless otherwise stated. All students accepted into this program must complete all requirements within seven (7) calendar years.

The following is the course of study for this program.

Area I (15 hours) Required Foundation Courses
COU 516 Introduction to Student Affairs
COU 517 Professional Orientation and Ethics in Student Affairs
COU 530 Fundamentals of Counseling
COU 546 Group Processes Seminar (PREREQUISITE: COU 530) OR
        CPY 540 Group Counseling & Psychotherapy
COU 548 Counseling Theories Seminar (PREREQUISITE: COU530)

Area II (15 hours) Required Core Courses
COU 570 The American College Student
COU 535 Career Counseling Issues Across the Life Span
COU 571 Theory and Application of Student Development Principles
COU 572 Seminar in Leadership in Student Affairs
COU 519 Intercultural Issues in Counseling OR
        EDU 528 Education and the Culturally Different Student OR
        SOC 545 Ethnic Minorities and Group Conflict

Area III (6 hours) Research and Evaluation
COU 507 Tests and Assessment in Counseling AND
COU 508 Research Methods in Counseling(PREREQUISITE: COU 507)
        OR
CPY 511 Inferential Statistics and Research Design AND
PSY 512 Psychological Testing (PREREQUISITE: CPY511.)

Area IV (3 hours) Electives
PSY 520 Advanced Social Psychology
PSY 529 Growth and Development through Adulthood and Aging
PSY 530 Life Span Development
PSY 545 Theories of Personality
PSY 546 Psychopathology
PSY 557 Organizational Behavior
PSY 565 Theories of Learning
POL 516 Administrative and Organizational Theory
POL 517 Public Personnel & Strategic Human Resource Management
POL 518 Budgeting and Decision Making
SOC 510 Deviant Behavior

Area V (9 hours) Practicum and Internship
CPY 580 Seminar in Advanced Counseling (PREREQUISITES: COU530,
COU548, COU546 or CPY540)
        COU 592 Internship in Student Affairs I
COU 593 Internship in Student Affairs II

Description of Field Experiences

COU 592 Internship in Student Affairs I - This is a fifteen-week internship which combines a fifteen hour per week campus on-the-job experience in student affairs (under the direct supervision of a site supervisor) and a three-hour, fifteen-week seminar with a professor. During the semester, students will share information on the functions, services, and issues of each office, its role within the institution, and relevant professional literature with each other. Students will develop and share personal internship goals, implementation strategies, and a project which relates developmental theory to the internship experience.

Students can select from several student affairs sites at Kutztown University and several other area colleges and universities. Paid graduate assistantship sites may be utilized with permission from the student affairs program coordinator. PREREQUISITE: CPY 580.

COU 593 Internship in Student Affairs II - This is a fifteen-week internship which combines a fifteen hour per week campus on-the-job experience in student affairs (under the direct supervision of a site supervisor) and a three-hour, fifteen-week seminar with a professor. During the semester, students will share information on the functions, services, and issues of each office, its role within the institution, and relevant professional literature with each other. Students will develop and share personal internship goals, implementation strategies, and a project which relates developmental theory to the internship experience.

Students can select from several student affairs sites at Kutztown University and several other area college and universities. Paid graduate assistantship sites may be utilized with permission from the student affairs program coordinator. PREREQUISITE: COU 592.

The faculty members of the Department of Counseling and Human Services reserves the right to terminate the training or supervision of any candidate who shows himself/herself incapable of achieving an acceptable standard of personal and/or professional behavior. This standard also applies to candidates for admission.

NOTE: Upon admission, all students are given a copy of the Department Student Evaluation Policy. A copy of this policy is also on file in the Department Office.