Overview - CAGS

The CAGS program offers a course of studies, either 36 or 48 credits, leading to the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies with concentrations in Psychology and Counseling.

Academic Concentrations and Tracks
The program houses the following academic concentrations:

• Professional Counseling (Licensure Track)
• Counselor Education and Supervision (Licensure Track)
• Human Development and Wellness (Non-Licensure Track)
• Psychology Education (Non-Licensure Track)

This program is designed with several purposes in mind.  The first is to offer professional courses and supervised internship experiences that are increasingly required by state and national agencies and credentialing bodies.  The second is to support scholar-practitioners in non-licensure programs. The program of study is designed to augment the learner’s knowledge base and professional skills through structured plans of study. The plans of study link the learner’s interest with current scholarship and applied field experiences in the chosen area of study.

Academic Calendar
Enrollment: January, April, July, October
Course Load: 12 hours per six month term

Enrollment Status
Learners carry a full-time credit load, consisting of twelve semester hours per six- month term for a total of twenty-four semester hours per calendar year.  As the program does not offer part-time status, all learners matriculated into the program are required to carry a full-time credit load during each term of enrollment. Total credit options, based on learner need are either 36 or 48 credit programs. The program, thus, will be either a one and a half year or two year program.

UI&U's CAGS program consists of the following components:

• Core Courses - Seven core courses are taken by all learners enrolled in the program:
  1. Research & Program Evaluation: Quantitative/Qualitative/Methods
  2. Issues in Cultural Diversity: Power, Privilege and Justice
  3. Professional Orientation and Ethics in the 21st Century
  4. Human Growth and Development: Advanced Topics
  5. CAGS Portfolio
  6. Final Professional Presentation
  7. Internship/Field Work
  An additional required core course for Counselor Education & Supervision CAGS is Counselor Supervision: Theories and Methods.
• Elective Courses - Elective courses are designed to give post-graduate level depth of knowledge on a topic of the learner’s interest and related to her/his academic and professional goals.
• Internship or Field Work - Each learner will complete a supervised internship or engage in field work, as determined by her/his professional goals and relevant credentialing requirements.
• Final Professional Presentation Requirement - Final Professional Presentation: each student will give a culminating professional presentation before her/his peers and faculty. The Capstone presentation is focused on a topic of interest and synthesizes theory and research on the topic, as well as applications for practice in the field.

Range of Emphasis
Learners who come to this program bring with them a wide variety of backgrounds, goals, and motivations for undertaking post-graduate study. Those who have completed a graduate degree are likely to find that the benefits of continued academic study will enhance their growth in the field as well as offering current thinking and training in the field of choice. Some will come into the program as experienced professionals in their field with a strong focus of investigation. These individuals often look to their post-graduate education to broaden their understanding by absorbing the theoretical background of their field and advancing knowledge of new theories and practice. Others undertake post-graduate education as a means of changing or enhancing their careers. Their study plans will reflect this as they take on learning the core theory in the new or expanded field that they are entering. All learners will work with both theory and praxis, adjusting the balance to uniquely suit the learner’s goals.