Program Policies
Cross Registration within PHSU Programs
School Psychology students are often encouraged to take advantage of diverse academic experiences available within our institution. Some students participate in departmental Journal Clubs and investigation activities.
The student must have Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) status to be able to benefit from cross registration at PHSU. The process to be followed is:
- The student must submit a written proposal to the Master of Science in School Psychology Program Director expressing his/her interest of taking an out-of-program course and will provide evidence of satisfactory academic progress.
- The Program Director will consult with the other director of the program offering the desired course and will request an approval of the proposal.
- Upon receiving approval from the host department, the Program Director will submit a request for authorization to the Dean of SBBS for final approval. If approved, a copy of the approval will be sent to the Registrar and Financial Aid Office.
- The Program Director will inform the student of the decision taken on his/her request.
Cross Registration within Psychology Programs
Students accepted to PHSU Master of Science in School Psychology Programs will take their curricular core courses within the program in which they are registered. Only under the most extraneous circumstances will students be allowed to register for a core course outside the program to which they were accepted by the institution. When such circumstances become evident upon the production of medical or similar evidence, the Program Director, the SBBS Dean, and the course Professor will approve such request. This policy pertains to the different modalities and curricular sequences of the program in which the student was admitted, including both daytime and evening formats.
Students interested in transferring from one of our programs to another must write a letter to the Dean of the SBBS expressing their interest and justification for the transfer. The Dean will discuss the request for the transfer with the Program Directors. The following criteria will be used for the decision of accepting or not the transfer requested:
- Space available in the requested program
- GPA 3.5 or above
- Recommendation from academic advisor
- Outstanding professional behavior
Requests must be presented during the first year in the SBBS. If the transfer is accepted, students commit to abide by the requirements of the new program.
Comprehensive Examination
The Master of Science in School Psychology Programs at PHSU utilizes the Comprehensive Examination (CE) as a broad measure for the formative evaluation of student learning. The CE focuses on assessing knowledge acquired on the foundations of the discipline, the profession, and in research, aligned to the NASP domains.
Comprehensive Examination (CE)
The CE is offered at the second semester of the second year (May). All students must take the CE. Students must have approved all courses of the first two years of the program and must be in satisfactory academic progress (as described in the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy).
The format of the CE is like the licensing examination prepared by the Board of Registration of Psychology of Puerto Rico. It is designed to cover the following four areas: 1) Foundations of the profession, 2) clinical application, 3) knowledge of research and data analysis, and 4) knowledge acquired in the courses of neuropsychology area of interest.
The areas covered under the foundational aspects of the discipline are:
Professional Behavior and Ethics, Psychology of Personality and Individual Differences, Lifespan Human Development, and Social Bases of Behavior and Diversity.
The areas covered under the clinical components of the discipline are:
Psychological and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children and Adolescents, Cognitive Assessment, Social-Emotional Assessment Techniques, Psychoeducational Assessment and Intervention, Social-emotional and Behavioral Intervention Models, and Consultation and Collaboration in School Settings
The areas of the CE covering the research and data analysis components of the discipline are:
Test and Measurement, and Research Methods and Statistics
The areas of the CE covering the neuropsychology components of the discipline are:
Biological Bases of Behavior: Neuroscience, and Approaches to The Study of Cognition and Emotion.
Students receive a letter informing them of their Comprehensive Exam (CE) results. To pass the CE, they must achieve a score of 70% or higher on the overall exam. Students who receive an overall score below 70% will be required to retake the specific areas they failed during a subsequent administration.
Remedial Plan for Comprehensive Examination (CE)
If students fail a second administration of the CE, a remedial plan will be developed to address the deficiencies identified in their test performance. Remediation plans may include assigned readings, further revisions of written materials, enrollment in additional courses, or other specified training experiences under the mentorship of a faculty member. All remediation plans, along with the contractual agreement established by the faculty, will be provided to the student in writing. The goal of remediation is to support students in acquiring the knowledge necessary to pass the CE and the licensing examination. Each student is allowed only one remedial plan. Failure to pass the CE after completing a remedial plan will result in a referral to the Institutional Promotions Committee. The committee will evaluate whether the student is eligible for additional remedial opportunities or should be dismissed from the program.
Unjustified absence or tardiness to CE
A student who arrives 15 to 30 minutes late to the CE must complete the rest of the exam within the same period given to other students, except when the tardiness is justified. However, a student who arrives over 30 minutes late will not be allowed to take the exam unless the tardiness is objectively justified. A student who does not take the CE on the assigned day will not be able to take it until the next administration of the test, usually during the following year.
Academic Honesty related to CE
The CE is a complex assessment method developed by program faculty and implemented through a staff of employees. These evaluation techniques are costly and time consuming in terms of preparation, implementation, scoring and reporting. Therefore, any violation to the honor code is considered a serious offense that may result in dismissal from the school. Violations include cheating during the CE or sharing the content of the test with other students.
Student Annual Evaluation and Feedback
At the beginning of their first year in the program, an Academic Advisor is assigned to each student. The main objective of the academic advising process is to help students with their academic and/or educational needs and to offer guidance and support while progressing through their training program. The academic advisor seeks and receives information from the student and from other faculty members regarding the student’s academic performance and the professional roles expected for the student’s developmental level. Based on such information, the advisor evaluates the student’s performance each year using the “Standard Form for Student End of Year Evaluation”.
Every student signs an “Advisory Contract” during their first year in the program. Advisor and advisee will meet at least once per semester. Any faculty member who has any concerns or comments about a student’s academic or clinical performance or professional behavior should present these in written form to the student’s assigned advisor. In case of a serious deficiency or concern, the advisor will refer the situation to the Program Director for analysis and remedial action. The program procedures and institutional policies are used in cases of academic problems, unprofessional behavior, or other concerns related to the student’s performance.
At the end of year each student meets with his/her advisor to discuss and to complete the “Standard Form for Student End of the Year Evaluation”.
Evaluation of Student Professional Behavior
Our program has adopted the complete statement on evaluation of student non-academic competence developed by the Council of Chairs of Training Councils. At the beginning of their first year, every MSSP student acknowledges with their signature the receipt of this statement.
Students in psychology training programs (at the master, doctoral, internship, or postdoctoral level) should know-at the outset of training-that their faculty, training staff, and supervisors have a professional, ethical, and potentially legal obligation to: (a) evaluate the interpersonal competence and emotional well-being of student trainees who are under their supervision, and who provide services to clients and consumers, and (b) ensure-insofar as possible-that the trainees who complete their programs are competent to manage future relationships (e.g., client, collegial, professional, public, scholarly, supervisory, teaching) in an effective and appropriate manner. Because of this commitment, professional psychology education and training programs, faculty, training staff, and supervisors strive not to “pass along” students with issues or problems (e.g., cognitive, emotional, psychological, interpersonal, technical, and ethical) that may interfere with professional competence to other programs, the profession, employers, or the public at large.
Therefore, within a developmental framework and with due regard for the inherent power difference between students and faculty, students and trainees should know that their faculty, training staff, and supervisors will evaluate their competence in areas other than coursework, seminars, scholarship, comprehensive examinations, or related program requirements. These evaluative areas include, but are not limited to, demonstration of sufficient: (a) interpersonal and professional competence (e.g., the ways in which students relate to clients, peers, faculty, allied professionals, the public, and individuals from diverse backgrounds or histories); (b) self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation (e.g., knowledge of the content and potential impact of one’s own beliefs and values on clients, peers, faculty, allied professionals, the public, and individuals from diverse backgrounds or histories); (c) openness to processes of supervision (e.g., the ability and willingness to explore issues that either interfere with the appropriate provision of care or impede professional development or functioning); and (d) resolution of problems or issues that interfere with professional development or functioning in a satisfactory manner (e.g., by responding constructively to feedback from supervisors or program faculty; by participating in personal therapy in order to resolve problems or issues).
Faculty members or supervisors will attempt to assist any student who presents difficulties in professional behavior. If this assistance is not accepted or fails to produce the desired results, the SBBS faculty, clinical supervisors, or administrators will follow the following procedure:
- Report the concern to the students’ academic advisor. If the situation is not resolved, the academic advisor moves to step #2
- Report the situation to the Program Director. If the situation is not resolved, move to step #3
- The program director discusses the situation with SBBS Dean and decides if the student should be referred to the Professional Behavior and Ethics Committee (PBEC)
- The Dean and Program Director may refer the student to the PBEC, using the “Unprofessional Behavior Referral Form”.
- The student will be notified verbal and via email that he/she was referred to the PBEC.
- The PBEC will:
- Familiarize with the complaint through interviews or documents
- Consult with legal advisor if necessary
- Meet with the student and identify his/her needs
- Advise student on the concerns presented
- Recommend follow up actions through a report to the Dean
- The SBBS Dean will consider the recommendations to be received and will make a final decision that may include referral to the institutional students’ promotions committee.
Professional Behavior and Ethics Committee (PBEC)
The main goal of the PBEC is to support the SBBS mission of developing a new generation of well-rounded school psychologists capable of performing excellently in different clinical settings, to a higher standard of competency.
At the individual level, professional behaviors include, but are not limited, to personal and professional characteristics, interpersonal relationships and ethical/moral decisions. Expected professional behavior comprise motivation to progress in the program and initiative to address new challenges, responsibility, commitment, teamwork, professional image, response to authority, response to criticism, recognition of limitations, empathy, consideration of other’s roles and rights, relation to peers and to non-faculty members, and confidentiality, among other behaviors.
Unprofessional behaviors may be recognized as: limitations in assuming responsibility for ones actions and duties, poor initiative to change and to assume ones role as student and future professional, not following instructions or recommendations for improvement, impaired relationships with students and faculty, impaired relationship with other allied health professionals, bullying, plagiarism, problems with moral character (differentiate right from wrong), poor judgment, not handling well transference/countertransference, among others. The PBEC is consonant with the PHSU institutional catalog, Board of Registration of Psychology of Puerto Rico, National Association of School Psychologists, American Psychological Association and Puerto Rico Psychology Association code of ethics.
Identification
Students will identify themselves to patients, to the public and to any other person both verbally and in written form by using the designation “Master of Science in School Psychology Student”. This designation will change when the student enters an internship program at which time the following title must be used “School Psychology Intern”. Students will not present themselves as “psychologist” and will not allow others to address them with such a title. Failure to follow this rule will be considered as an ethical violation.
Use of cellular phones
While attending lectures or any other official activity of the program cellular phones will be turned off or changed to vibration mode. Students need to inform the professor when he/she is expecting an important call during class.
Institutional Policies
Psychology students are referred to the document on student policies published by the Deanship of Student Affairs regarding applicable institutional policies. The student is especially asked to review the following policies:
Attendance Policy
Dress Code Policy
Grievance Policy
Honor Code
Interpersonal Abuse Policy
Standard of Conduct in the
Teacher-Learner Relationship
Student with Unprofessional Behavior Policy
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