Fielding Institute

Good Morning, Looking for impressions and experience that members have had with the above for dl options. Thanks. Hille

 

Fielding has changed its name to 'Fielding Graduate University'.

http://www.fielding.edu/

I guess that one of the reasons why Fielding is talked about a lot is that it offers one of the few (the only?) DL clinical psychology programs that's accredited by the American Psychological Association. That's important for getting a license in some states. None of the DL options is really prestigious in the psychology world, but this may be one of the best offerings in that group. As Steve says, it's expensive though.

 

I had a co-worker who was enrolled in one of their programs and complained all the time about how unreasonably time-consuming the courses were (they used a different term for their courses -- if I recall correctly, they were "contracts," which had specific "learning outcomes" that were used as the basis for the grades). She said that the pereption that their programs were "distance learning" was misleading, as they had plenty of time-consuming residential "colloqiums" to attend (in Santa Barbara, I think). She said that the program was certainly way more rigorous than your average master's and that you should prepare to give up your "life" as you know it if you enroll...

 

Rigorous. Expensive. Time-consuming. Yep. And very good.

Residencies are not required, except for the initial 5-day one in Santa Barbara. However, it behooves you to go to the quarterly sessions whenever possible. They're held in many locations away from Santa Barbara.

Fielding sets forth the competencies, but the student and the school negotiate learning contracts to define how the student will achieve competency, and how he/she will demonstrate it.

 

I agree with your description of this programs. One of my colleagues pursued a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from this school and his life was literally put on halt. It took him approximately ten years to complete the doctorate.

 

I am currently a student at Fielding. I am starting my third year in the clinical psychology program. Thus far Fielding has been an utterly awesome experience for me. The "Fielding Model" mixes residential study with individual study. I hesitate to describe Fielding as "distance learning" since my program requires one to attend monthly cluster meetings and week long residential meetings at various places around the US such as Santa Barbara. It is better described as "distributed learning."

Most of the work I do is individual in nature. We each negotiate a learning contract with a faculty member who agrees to supervise our study. Fielding allows significant flexibility and creativity in this process. You also have the ability to create courses that reflect your learning needs and interests, within limits of course. Fielding calls its courses "knowledge areas" and it conceptualizes mastery in a "knowledge area" in a somewhat broader way than many traditional programs. Some knowledge areas can be done online in a group format. However, I find that the online format does not suit my learning needs and learning style.

Fielding believes that this model of education is transformative and at this point in my program I'd have to agree. One result of this program is that I am changing as a person, growing, and beginning to conceptualize things differently. When I started on this journey, I was thinking "Focus of the goal of a Ph.D. and don't get caught up in the process." That is a very "male" approach to problem solving . But even though I maintain the "goal orientation" I started with, I am finding some appreciation for the trans formative process inherent in this experience.

Let me tell you the positives about Fielding first. The course of study is very rigorous and stimulating. The psychology program I am in is APA accredited and this is an absolute essential for me. For a hide bound entity like APA to accredit a non-traditional program like Fielding, it (the program) must be extraordinary... and Fielding is! The Human and Organizational Development Ph.D. program is one of the best in the country. The faculty are wonderful and supportive. The faculty do not have tenure, they can be fired for cause at any time. This prevents many of the problems one gets as a student in traditional programs. Consequently, Fielding is very student-centered. I have also had the opportunity to become friends with and meet people from all over North America. I will probably have these friendships for life.

The negatives include the fact that the work load is high. However, this is not really a negative per se. I mean I am in a friggin doctoral program! Of course the work load and faculty expectations are very high! Anything of value requires effort and hard work. Yet despite this I have been able to work full time, still have a social life (albeit more limited) and work on my Ph.D. But this program will place signifiant time constraints on you. But again, this is a doctoral program and any residential doctoral program would make equally significant time demands! Another negative is the expense. Fielding has a high tuition and traveling to local and national residency sessions can be expensive. However, there are ways you learn to cut costs.

One negative I am finding is getting practicum sites for my clinical Ph.D. set up. I am encountering logistical difficulties right now and this is very frustrating. Another negative is a factor inherent in the "positives" I mentioned above. Fielding is so supportive and flexible, it is very easy for students to get caught up in the "process" and let their "goal orientation" slip. I know students who have been in the program for 10 years and more. They tell me that they love the "Fielding experience" so much that they just don't want to leave, so they take a long time to complete their Ph.D. All that extra time translates into extra student loans expense etc... This also has caused APA to ask why it takes some students so long to graduate.


All in all this has been a wonderful experience though! As always your mileage may vary!

Anyway, I hope this answers some of your questions. If you have any more, please ask!

Chris