1. Embarking on the Journey: A Student’s Perspective on Navigating the Regulatory Highway
Cheyenne Liang, CMHC Student – University of Utah
Uma Dorn, PhD, NCC – University of Utah

2. Valuing the student voice as future counselors
Background & Purpose
Understanding the needs of students as they navigate licensure and regulatory issues
Valuing the student voice as future counselors
Our program is in the process of looking at accreditation (in our state we are the only public institution that offers a Master’s CMHC program). We have four programs in the state (with one program that is CACREP accredited).

3. Participants
N = 26
Participants were from two different programs: clinical mental health counseling and school counseling at the University of Utah
The data has been categorized into two different data sets for most questions. One for the clinical mental health counseling students and one for the school counseling students.
The CMHC students ranged from 1st year students to graduating seniors while the school counseling students were in their first year of their program
Bullet 1: The survey was administered to only a small portion of our students as this is a exploratory/pilot survey. We plan to do administer the survey to more participants to get a sense of students perspectives across Universities.

4. Methods and Procedures
Data was collected via a 10 question short survey
Students were administered the surveys during class hours and told they could finish it at their own discretion
Data was then analyzed for themes and categorized accordingly
Some data sets may contain multiple answers for questions while some questions may only contain data from CMHC students

5. The Survey
QR code: For everyone that is technologically savvy and would like a copy of the survey – please scan the QR code
I will be going over the questions in the survey as I present the data we found

6. Does a program having accreditation matter to you?
“It is important to me to be able to find a job after graduating. That seems to mean we need accreditation”
Other: its not make or break, accreditation is ideal but not at the expense of quality
Figure 1 - of the total 26 students 92% of them said yes that accreditation does matter.
1 person from CMHC said no, 1 person from SC said not sure Figure 2 - shows why accreditation is important to CMHC students Figure 3 - shows why accreditation is important to SC students
“I don’t know if the requirements of the program would even change but I believe it matters to employers”

7. How informed/what do you know about accreditation related to your graduate program? Please explain.
What I’m going to say: Present data

8. Does a program having a specific accreditation matter to you?
“It did, but I chose this program because I felt the quality was equal if not higher at the University of Utah than other schools that are CACREP accredited”
What I’m going to say: Present data – read quotes
“No, I don’t need accreditation if I’m getting the knowledge I want from the classes I want”

9. What does accreditation offer to quality of education?
What I’m going to say: 7 of our students believe that accreditation ensures standardization and impacts quality of education while 10 believe that accreditation does not impact quality of education. This is because our students believe that they are receiving a quality and valuable education at the University of Utah despite not being accredited.  Read Quotes:
“It should mean a higher quality of education and more job opportunities. However the University of Utah has the quality just not the same opportunities”
“It seems that the ideal of accreditation is good, but in practice it hasn’t worked well and is not necessarily an indicator of a quality program”

10. When considering your graduate program what were some of your top reasons for choosing a particular program?
What I’m going to say: Present data  It’s interesting to note that none of the students considered accreditation upon entering their program of choice
Other: To stay in education but not teaching

11. Decision Making Factors for Future Students
What I’m going to say: the data from this chart was collected from information sessions that our program holds for possible future students
After specifically addressing accreditation during the info session 50% of future students said they considered accreditation when choosing a program
Other: Admissions, work-life balance, convenience, and long term use

12. On a scale of 1-5 how important is accreditation to you (1 being least important & 5 being most important)?
Least Important Neutral Most Important
The clinical mental health students scored an average of 3.44
The school counseling students scored an average of 3.72
What I’m going to say: Present data  Read Quotes:
“Only licensure is important to me, not accreditation”
“I want to go to an accredited program but the type or title of accreditation doesn’t really matter”

13. Please mark all factor(s) that are important to you when considering accreditation:
What I’m going to say: Present data
Other: Professional Identity

14. Discussion Please get together in small groups
Brainstorm challenges and barriers that you think students may face in light of professional licensure requirements
Take some time to do this and we will have you share your answers with the group
What I’m going to say: After hearing this data and some brief student perspectives I’d like to do a short activity with everyone

15. What I’m going to say: Present data  Read quotes:
Transportability - “leaving Utah and having to jump through extra hoops to get licensed”, “moving to a state that requires graduation from a CACREP accredited program”
Accreditation – “CACREP trying to become a requirement. I see this as about money, not improving education” , “agencies/organizations/state governments not recognizing certain accreditations and viewing them as less of quality and standards”

16. Discussion Continued Please stay in your small groups
Brainstorm what are some ways that professional organizations can support students in the licensure process?
Take some time to do this again and we will have you share your answers with the group

17. What I’m going to say: Present data  read quotes:
“Not require limiting accreditations for licensure. Make educational and professional experience the continual standards for measuring competency”
“Make reasonable guidelines for accreditation that are based on quality and performance rather than generational/union style acceptance”
“Advocate for standards requirements without monopolizing accreditations”
“I’d like to see consistent national standards for knowledge, training, and practice without the focus on exactly how those standards are met. I want to know that being qualified to help patients/clients is the most important factor. Also, I want lobbying efforts aimed at bolstering confidence in the license and those who hold it instead of benefiting particular institutions”

18. Future Directions
Further examine how students gain information in regards to accreditation and what their needs are for navigating licensure requirements and regulatory issues
Conduct a more in depth future study looking at how these issues effect future students, current students, and professionals

19. Questions? Uma Dorn – uma.dorn@Utah.edu
Cheyenne Liang –