In an October 30th letter, Union's president announced the following: Approval of the PsyD program will come shortly. Union will start its first cohort (cohort?) in 2006. They're still working on other scholarly doctoral programs, including an EdD They're still tinkering with the interdisciplinary Ph.D. The Vermont College programs will continue, including the MA, MA in Psychology and Counseling, the MFA programs, and the MEd in Florida and Vermont, along with the Virtual Vermont online bachelor's and the other bachelor's programs. No mention of the licensing issue with the OBR, but the OBR did renew Union a few months ago. No mention either of the NCA's putting Union on notice, but I suspect that will change when the OBR renews Union unconditionally. The announcements on the doctoral programs were interesting to me for several reasons. First, the interdisciplinary Ph.D. will continue. If it follows previous plans, concentrations will be available in the social sciences and humanities. I find the EdD (and other, unannounced programs) interesting because, for the second time, Union is moving away from its staunch stance regarding learner-centered graduate education. That is, the school, not the learner and committee, will decide the competency areas for the degree. (The first was the clinical psych degree.) I wonder what other fields Union will enter? The PsyD is interesting, too. I suspect it will replace the PhD in clinical psych. I don't know how it will differ, though. Are there specific differences one would normally find? (Like a different research emphasis on, say, practice instead of empirical research?) Union lives. Sorry, Jamesville.
That emphasis is the specific difference between the PsyD and PhD I was told to expect 10 years ago as an undergrad, but I am unconvinced it is the norm now. I suspect PsyD program are approved a little more easily because the degree is what it is, in one subject, and does not have to be compared to other PhD programs. But I see more PsyD programs that require a full dissertation no different from PhD programs, so I am wondering what the practical difference is nowadays.
I imagine the use of cohorts really tells the story. Was each student very independent in the past at Union?
Re: Re: Changes at Union Extremely. No two learners went through their programs at the same pace because each learner's program was different. You might start with a set of learners at an Entry Colloquium, then never see them again. (A few of the learners from mine met regularly because we were all in the same geographic area.) In this case, however, I don't know if they mean "cohort" in the true sense, where a group of students proceed lock-step through a degree program. They might just mean a set of students heading off to an Entry Colloquium, which Union holds monthly.
