This MSCP Student Handbook is a supplement to the Alverno College Student Handbook, Building a Community of Learners: A Community Guide and Student Handbook. The college handbook includes the policies that apply to all undergraduate and graduate students. This MSCP Student Handbook provides additional information, policies, and procedures specific to the MSCP program. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the Alverno College Community Psychology faculty invite you to contact the MSCP Program Director (Dr. Malena Taylor) with your suggestions for changes to the handbook.
The Alverno College Master of Science in Community Psychology program prepares students for work across a variety of mental health and community related settings. The focus of the program is concerned with how graduates identify and engage community agencies and resources in the delivery of services to those individuals and/or groups who need them. This includes, but is not limited to:
Those who teach in and lead this program are committed to providing the critical thinking skills of the discipline of Psychology to help our graduates to problem-solve beyond the individual therapy session and to look at multiple resources at hand. We believe that whether a professional is working in consulting with an organization or with an individual mental health concern, the pairing of strong analytic frameworks for counseling with the awareness of community resources, trends, and problems will provide the practicing professional with an exceptional ability to coordinate and enact 3 approaches for creating healthier environments for individuals and organizations. The program has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. It is approved by the State of Wisconsin requirements for licensure as a professional counselor.
Program Director, MCP
Malena Taylor, Ph.D.
Telephone: 414-382-6252
E-Mail: malena.taylor@alverno.edu
Dean, School of Professional Studies
Jodi Eastberg, Ph.D.
Telephone: 414-382-6231
Email: Jodi.Eastberg@alverno.edu
Community Psychology Academic Administrative Assistant Division of Graduate Psychology in School of Professional Studies:
Mary Tews, Administrative Assistant
Telephone: 414-382-6500
E-Mail: mary.tews@alverno.edu
Malena Taylor, Ph.D. Program Director and Chair of Community Psychology
Education:
Professional Credential: Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Teaching Interests: Clinical mental health diagnosis and treatment, psychology of women and Latinx diaspora, multicultural counseling, couples & partner counseling; student supervision, lifespan development
Professional Involvement: MPA, HPGM, ALPFA, APA, PSI CHI, and NLPA; Private Practice Counseling and Consultation
Personal Interests: Travel, reading, cooking/baking, spending time with family, health and wellness
Katt Cochran, Ph.D., Internship Coordinator and Director
Education:
Professional Credential: Licensed Psychologist
Teaching Interests: Counseling techniques, multicultural counseling, LGBTQ+ counseling, trauma-informed counseling
Professional Involvement: ACA, APA; Psychologist at The Center for Community Healing
Personal Interests: Knitting, hiking, reading, camping, travel
Maria Guardiola, MS, Visiting Assistant Professor 2023/2024 School Year
Education:
Professional Credential: Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Teaching Interests: Fundamentals of psychology as a science and a helping profession; human diversity in context and quality of life for individuals, communities, and societies; integrating research with practice through a multicultural and social justice lens
Professional Involvement: APA, IAPC, PSI CHI, SIP, NLPA
Personal Interests: Gathering with loved ones, reading, travel
ADJUNCT FACULTY
Anne David, LCSW
Licensed Social Worker and Program Director, Jewish Family Services
anne.david@alverno.edu
Cesilia Gonzalez-Esparza, MS, LPC, NNC
Bilingual Psychotherapist, Growing Mindful Psychotherapy Creciedno Plenamente
cesilia.gonzalez-esparza@alverno.edu
Jennifer Grodski (Evertsen), MS
jennifer.evertsen@alverno.edu
Melissa Hernandez, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist, Inpatient Mental Health, Chicago
melissa.hernandez@alverno.edu
Melinda Hughes, LPC
Riverwalk Psychotherapy Associates
melinda.hughes@alverno.edu
Pablo Navarro, LPC
pablo.navarro@alverno.edu
Mary Catherine (MC) Nimphius, LPC
Licensed Professional Counselor, Portland DBT Institute
mary-catherine.nimphius@alverno.edu
Michelle Parisot, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist, Sixteenth Street Community Health Center
michelle.parisot@alverno.edu
Rachel Reinders, Ph.D.
rachel.reinders@alverno.edu
Megan Schiferl, LPC Psychotherapist
Center for Behavioral Medicine
megan.schiferl@alverno.edu
The MSCP curriculum provides an in-depth approach to the study of psychology within the context of community. Everyone who seeks the MSCP degree participates in a core curriculum that explores the field of community psychology as well as how people develop and grow within their environmental context. The core curriculum addresses the needs of the helping professional and equips students with the skills necessary for gathering and using relevant data.
Some people may decide to enter this program immediately after graduation from college. Others may come to this program as a working professional, ready to take the next step in their education. This curriculum is designed to meet the needs of each individual. Classes are scheduled on Thursday, Friday evenings and Saturdays in our Weekend College schedule (meeting every other weekend), and on weeknights. Students may also choose to take summer courses which are offered on different evenings during the week or afternoons or evenings during the summer. Summer courses generally run for 8 weeks every week or for the duration of summer on an individualized schedule per faculty course design.
MSCP Outcomes
The outcomes for the MSCP program have been constructed through an integration of the following standards in the field: (1) the Psychology Department advanced level outcomes at Alverno College, (2) the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs “Common Core Curricular Experiences” for Masters programs in psychology, (3) licensing standards of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, and (4) the central principles of Community Psychology. In the construction of these outcomes the Psychology faculty carefully considered core competences needed for the engaged, community-astute, professional counselor. In the curriculum construction, the competence areas and courses align with the standards of the field and those outlined by the State of Wisconsin. Alverno College is very conscientious about students’ ability to enact what they learn in the classroom as they work within the counseling and psychology positions that they hold in both their present and future vocation. The outcomes for the program are as follows.
MSCP Courses
Most MSCP required courses are offered twice a year. Many are offered on Saturdays during the fall and spring semesters. Some required courses are offered on Friday or other weekday evenings and/or on afternoons or evenings during the summer. Formal and informal surveys (e.g., course evaluations, advising sessions) are conducted to identify course needs and delivery. The 60-credit program includes foundations, theories, skills, and practice. Each student also chooses 2 (6 credits) electives (or more if desired).
MCP 600 - Foundations of Community Psychology and Counseling (3 credits)
MCP 611 - Human Development in Community Contexts (3 credits)
MCP 625 - Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Diagnosis & Treatment (3 credits)
MCP 620 - Helping Relationships: Prevention, Intervention, Systems (3 credits)
MCP 627 - Culturally Engaged Counseling (3 credits)
MCP 640 - Trauma Counseling (3 credits)
MCP 645 - Family, Partnership, and Couples Counseling (3 credits)
MCP 655 - Group Dynamics Processing and Counseling (3 credits)
MCP 685 - Lifestyle and Career Development (3 credits)
MCP 651 - Research and Statistical Methods (3 credits)
MCP 660 - Individual Appraisal, Assessment, and Measurement (3 credits)
MCP 680 - Counseling Theory: Individual, Group, Family (3 credits)
MCP 682 - Evidence-Based Approaches to Abnormal Behavior and Psychopathology (3 credits)
MCP 688 - Professional Ethics and Legal Issues (3 credits)
MCP 671 - Substance Abuse Counseling (3 credits)
MCP 699 - Supervised Practicum (3 credits)
MCP 700 - Supervised Internship I (3 credits)
MCP 720 - Supervised Internship II (3 credits)
Total Credits from Required Courses = 54
Elective Courses (choose 2):
Total Credits from Elective Courses = 6
Total Credits Needed for Graduation = 60
Possible Course Sequences
There are several ways to complete the program. Particularly, there is flexibility based on which electives you’d like to take. It is important to take the foundational courses first and to pay attention to what prerequisites are required for each course. This will help you avoid any unnecessary delays in your program. This program is designed so that if you take 3 classes every semester plus 3 classes each summer (2 summers), you can graduate in 2.5 years. If you do some semesters at 2 classes, you may still be able to graduate in 3 years, start to finish. You can go more slowly if you’d like and in fact, many students choose to take two courses at a time. It is also possible to graduate in exactly 2 years if you are able to take 4 classes for 2 semesters. There are many required courses, so be sure you have the correct courses as well as having 60 credits.
Add in sample course sequence and course descriptions
For up-to-date information on pursuing a credential as a Substance Abuse Counselor (SAC) or a Substance Abuse Counselor-In Training (SAC-IT), you are strongly encouraged to review all of the requirements which can be found on the website for Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) (www.dsps.wi.gov). Please reach out to the program director with any additional questions about these procedures.
Substance Abuse Counselor-In Training: Almost all MCP students are eligible to apply for the SAC-IT license when going on practicum as long as they have an appropriate supervisor. In order to meet the DSPS requirements for the SAC-IT, you need to fulfill the following:
Substance Abuse Counselor: In order to complete the educational requirements for the full SAC, students must take the MCP 679 physiological psychopharmacology course as an elective. Additional DSPS requirements include:
Students have the opportunity to pursue a certificate in the area of trauma-informed care. This certificate is granted by Alverno College as a way of affirming that students, if they have met all of the criteria, have completed training and supervised experience in the area of trauma treatment. If you are interested in earning this certificate, the following criteria must be met:
Absences from Courses
Students are expected to attend all classes and participate in all learning activities. If, due to illness or unavoidable personal/professional commitments, you must miss a class, you should consult with the faculty member involved and/or the MSCP Program Director, as soon as possible in advance of the class, to develop an alternative plan to meet the objectives of the missed class. Absence from more than one session of a 3- credit required course will generally require the student to repeat the course. Consistent lateness may be considered an absence.
Depending on the situation, your instructor or the MSCP Program Director may advise you to drop a course or may decide that you are ineligible to continue attending a course if attendance has not been regular or you have missed the first class meeting. In all instances, if you choose to drop a course, it is your responsibility to officially drop the course by contacting the Registrar's Office. You are always encouraged to communicate with your advisor if you are considering dropping a course.
Academic Integrity
All students are expected to come to classes prepared and ready to engage fully with other class members, in the assigned material at hand. Because this is a Community Psychology program, emphasis on respectful interaction within the community of learners is a key expectation.
Background Checks
All students will have a background check completed as part of their participation in MCP 600, the introductory course. This background check has several purposes:
Policy to request Academic Incomplete and/or Extensions
Academic Honesty
Plagiarism and Misrepresentation of Authorship
Throughout your studies at Alverno College, you are exposed to a variety of learning styles. In some classes faculty require students to complete assignments in small group work sessions, while in other cases they may require you to complete work on an independent and individual basis. Both experiences can be stimulating and rewarding. However, when submitting work for your courses, you need to remember that you have a personal responsibility to complete work in accordance with the instruction of your teacher and sound academic principles. This means standing behind your work as a contributing member of a team when collaborative work is required. It also means standing behind your work as the individual who thought it through and carried it out when independent work is required.
When you are required to consult with professionals outside the College or undertake research in the library in order to gather information necessary for the completion of an assignment, you need to make reference to the resources used. Whenever you refer to secondary sources, whether for direct quotation or paraphrasing, you must supply clear documentation within generally accepted academic standards. In other words, when you use another‘s thoughts in the exact words or with some words changed around, the source must be indicated.
Work required to be completed independently does not meet the above requirements if it is more the work of someone else than that of the person who claims it. To claim work that is essentially someone else‘s constitutes misrepresentation. Failure to document sources of information constitutes plagiarism. When such cases come to the attention of faculty, a department or division faculty committee will review the situation and make a recommendation to the department or division regarding the necessity of disciplinary action. After the committee reviews the situation, they may recommend that the student receive an unsatisfactory in the course for which the work was required, an assignment of a new equivalent assignment, and dismissal from the College or other disciplinary action.
Here are some additional guidelines adapted from The Masters in Education Student Handbook:
GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE—Avoid Plagiarism
Learning the appropriate academic procedures for citing sources will not only help you in writing your papers within the academic setting, it will also help you to be accurate about the sources of ideas in writing and speaking within your work setting. Giving others credit for their ideas is a basic writing guideline. Such practice keeps you honest, by allowing you to reflect on the ideas of another and to add or integrate your own thoughts with the deliberate support of other authors. Citing sources correctly also helps your reader to follow your own thinking and to understand the evidence that supports your thoughts. You too may find that being able to find a reference based on how someone else talked about them in an article or paper is a very helpful process.
The same guidelines apply to giving a speech, poster-project, or other form of presentation. PowerPoint, slides, posters and other visual materials need to be properly referenced, and your thinking needs to be distinguished from the thoughts and ideas of others.
Plagiarism is, in essence, the taking of someone else‘s thoughts and words and representing them as your own. It is seen as an offense to both the original author of those thoughts and words as well as an offense to your reader, who potentially could confuse the thoughts of the original author with those of someone representing those thoughts as their own.
If you use someone else‘s words, you must use the proper quotation format. For short quotations, that means quotation marks and a reference with page number. For longer quotations, that means a hanging indent, and a reference with page number. Be sure to consult your APA manual 6 th Edition. (Remember when you paraphrase, you give the author‘s name and date of the publication. When you quote, you must also include the quotation marks and the page number where you found the quote.)
If you have a question about the format of a specific citation, first consult your APA Manual, 7th Edition. If after considerable effort in trying to resolve your question you are still in need of assistance, bring your question to your instructor or advisor, along with your specific work with the APA Manual and show them exactly where your confusion lies. They will help you address your specific concern. In the end however, you will be held responsible for representing yourself and others in an appropriate manner.
Tell It Like It Is—Avoid Misrepresentation
When you are working with another author‘s ideas, it is imperative that you represent those ideas accurately and that you give credit to the author for those ideas. If, for example, an author is presenting several alternatives to a particular dilemma, it is important that you indicate the range of alternatives that the author offers, rather than simply picking the one that you like the best and presenting it as if it were the author‘s only idea. To single out a sentence or paragraph that suits your own purposes but does not represent the author‘s train of thought is considered misrepresentation.
Talk Your Own Talk—Avoid Plagiarizing Another Student‘s Work
A student may be dismissed from the program if he/she uses the work of another student as her/his own. This includes using papers that have been published on the internet, written by a student in this or another college or university, or written by a former student.
Be Discreet About Repeat—Avoid Self-Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism is the practice of using a paper that is written in one class to complete the requirements for a different class or project. If you are planning to use a part of a paper that you have already written in another class, first consult your instructor to see if the part of the paper is suitable material for the class you are presently taking. If you do not obtain appropriate permission for building on work from another class, or if you hand in a duplicate paper from another class to meet an assessment requirement, you may fail the project, the assessment and jeopardize your standing in the program.
Walk The Walk In Order To Talk the Talk—Maintain Responsibility for Your Work within Groups
Students are expected to be appropriately responsible for their work within a group project setting. This includes attending mutually agreed-upon group meetings, completing mutually-agreed upon assignments and carrying your weight in the writing of a group paper or the implementation of a group presentation. If you fail to maintain your responsibilities as a group member, you may fail the group project assignment and you may be dismissed from the class.
Resources Consulted:
Graham, S. (2000) Academic Honesty (Alverno College Master of Arts in Education). Unpublished document. Milwaukee, WI: Alverno College.
Smith, P. (2001). Policy on plagiarism for all psychology & MA courses. Alverno College Master of Arts in Education policy on academic honesty. Unpublished document. Milwaukee, WI: Alverno College.
University of Massachusetts: Policies: Academic Honesty. Retrieved August 2002 from http://www.umass.edu/umhome/policies/honesty.html
University of Oregon: Avoiding Plagiarism. Retrieved August 2002 from http://www.cs.orst.edu/~watsog/cs151/honesty.htm
University of Vermont Policies on Academic Honesty. Retrieved August 2002 from http://www.uvm.edu/~judicial/ah.html?Page=faculty.html&SM=ahmenu.html
Email Expectations
Your Alverno email is an official way the college uses to communicate with you. This includes all instructor communication. You should read your Alverno email regularly.
Universal Design for Instruction Tip
Accessibility: Alverno College makes every effort to provide accessible facilities and programs for individuals with disabilities. Learn more at https://www.alverno.edu/Instructional-Services-Accessibility
Children on Campus Policy
https://catalog.alverno.edu/collegepolicies/studentnon-academicpolicies/minors/
©Copyright And Fair Use: Read Me
As a college student using Alverno College’s technology resources, you are required to comply with copyright laws. Illegal downloading of movies and music is just that: illegal, and traceable back to the user. It is also illegal to take texts, images, webpages, and computer programs from the Internet or other sources without getting permission from the creator. College students have been successfully prosecuted for copyright violations.
However, much of the material in the Library and on the Internet can be used for educational purposes by following Fair Use Guidelines. You may use approximately 10% of a written text, of images out of a book, or information from a web-page for a course project. You can also play excerpts from movies and music. Of course, when you do use materials that you have not personally created, you must give full credit to the originator.
Additionally, there are resources available at Alverno College that have been paid for and are yours to use. These include databases that offer free music streaming, web- pages that encourage student use (such as OWL at Purdue), ARTstor, which offers millions of images, and much more. Visit your Library and your Library Web-Page often for resources and updates.
For more information on copyright laws and fair use, follow the link found here.
Other Important Alverno College Technology Use Policies
From Alverno Student Handbook
Be Ethical Accurately identify yourself and your affiliations; use the Alverno College name only for official school business; use Alverno College technologies for lawful purposes only.
Be Respectful Do not share confidential information; do not send offensive communications or materials; do not send chain letters, spam, or unsolicited advertisements.
Be Secure Do not share your password; change your password when prompted; if you are using a personal computer, it must have anti-virus software.
Graduate Student Professionalism Rubric
All MSCP students are held to high academic and professional standards. This rubric is used by faculty to document professional behavior. Should concerns arise regarding professional behavior, faculty will review concerns with the student involved and report them to the MCP Program Director.
Add rubic
MSCP Student Status Committee
Every semester, the MSCP Student Status Committee reviews MSCP student academic performance and professionalism. Any student with an "Unsatisfactory" progress code in any course will be recommended to the Alverno College Graduate School Status Committee for consideration of probation. Any student with multiple Unsatisfactory MSCP progress codes (in the same or different courses) will be recommended for probation with warning or dismissal from the program. Any student not meeting one or more professionalism standards (see the Graduate Student Professionalism Rubric above) may also be recommended for probation. Engaging in plagiarism may be grounds for dismissal from the program.
As part of this process, each student will meet with their faculty advisor to review their progress in the program. Please see the Student Evaluation Form in the appendices for details about what will be covered during this meeting.
Advising
When you are admitted to the MSCP program you are assigned a faculty advisor/mentor who serves as an academic advisor. The Program Director serves as a resource on to academic matters, policies and procedures, and registration.
The Practicum/Internship Experience
A Supervised Internship (also referred to as practicum) is a key experiential learning component of the MSCP program. Your supervised experiences as an intern will prepare you greatly for your work as a Licensed Professional Counselor. In your internships, you will apply many of the concepts that you study throughout your MSCP program. You will be supervised by a licensed site mentor and you will actively participate in the group supervision that is supplied in the internship classes on campus, which are taught by faculty members in the MSCP program.
You will begin to prepare for your internship placement a year before you take your first internship (usually this means you will be taking MCP 660 and MCP 680 when you complete your Application for Internship). The Internship Coordinator generally sends you an invitation to a session where the Practicum and Internships are more fully explained. You will complete the internship application and you will submit this application to the Internship Coordinator. Your application will be reviewed by the graduate faculty who will also review your academic progress and your professionalism rubrics. Once the graduate faculty have approved your candidacy for internship you will work with the Internship Coordinator to find an appropriate internship placement. You may seek out an internship placement. If you do this, the placement must be approved by the Internship Coordinator and the Program Director. The site mentor of the placement must be licensed and must be able and willing to supervise your work for at least one hour every week. More specific guidelines for the internship experience and the class will be presented to you at the time that you receive your application.
If you are not performing appropriately in your practicum or internship the Site Supervisor, in consultation with the Internship Coordinator may remove you from the internship site. If removed from the internship site, you must meet with the Internship Coordinator and the Program Director before you may secure another internship. If you are unable to successfully complete your practicum or internship experience, you may be dismissed form the program and thereby, Alverno College. The Program Director is available to help you with this process.
Credit for Transfer Courses
Previous graduate course work is evaluated at the time of admission. There are very rare cases when transfer credit is accepted for the Core courses. Elective credit will be considered if there is no significant overlap with these required courses. It is usual A maximum of 6 credit hours are accepted.
Extension of Program Completion
Course work is to be completed within seven years of entry into the MSCP program. If you are not able to complete the program within this timeframe, you must submit a letter to the MSCP Program Director requesting an extension. Your letter should explain why an extension is required and describe your plan and timeline for program completion. The Program Director will review the request and respond in writing. The deadline for submitting a request to extend your program completion is the beginning of your sixth year in the program.
Independent Study, Internships, Projects for Academic Credit
A student who wishes to engage in independent study, pursue an internship, or receive academic credit for a special project, as part of their elective coursework must complete the Independent Study/Internship/Project Proposal Form. This form is available from the Registrar's Office (or on-line) and must be submitted to the MSCP Program Director at least one semester prior to pursuing this as an alternative to an existing course.
If your proposal appears feasible based on these exploratory conversations, you should complete and submit the Independent Study/Internship/Project Proposal Form to begin the formal approval process for registration.
Graduate students at Alverno College are expected to develop and consistently demonstrate strong communication and social interaction, along with critical thinking and problem solving. Three developmental rubrics help guide the students in integrating these skills into their performance in academic and clinical settings.
I. CRITERIA FOR EFFECTIVE SPEAKING/MEDIA (Adapted for Entering Graduate Students, 8/04)
In a given speech, the student should show the following abilities to the level indicated:
Preliminary: Follows directions: yes or no
1. Connects with audience through SPEAKING ON ONE’S FEET
L1 Speaks to an audience for at least a minute with little reliance on scripted or memorized input
L2 Communicates to an audience, long enough to suggest the speaker has internalized his/her message, with little reliance on scripted or memorized input
L3 Communicates with the audience, giving the impression of both thinking and speaking spontaneously without reliance on scripted or memorized input
L4 Gives a consistent impression of communicating with the audience without reliance on scripted or memorized input
2. Connects with audience through ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING CONTEXT (clarifying, in a manner appropriate to a specified audience, limits of the situation and sources of thinking)
L1 Gives audience some sense of focus and purpose (What am I telling whom and why?)
L2 Gives audience full sense of purpose and focus, distinguishing his/her own thoughts from those of others
L3 Throughout a presentation, show how others’ ideas relate to his/her own thinking
L4 Throughout a presentation, clearly articulates relationships between ideas/concepts out of an academic framework and those out of his/her own thinking
3. Connects with audience through VERBAL EXPRESSION (word choice/ style/tone—reflecting awareness of the audience’s degree of knowledge, values, need for clarity, right to an opinion, and expectation of interest)
L1 Uses language that shows some awareness of appropriate word choice/style/tone
L2 Uses language that shows general awareness of appropriate word choice/style/tone— avoiding vague, empty, and condescending expression
L3 Uses language that consistently shows awareness of appropriate word choice/style/tone
L4 Uses language that reflects a refined awareness of the audience
4. Connects with audience through EFFECTIVE DELIVERY (speaking with credibility demonstrated through adequate volume and voice projection, clear articulation, vocal variety, use of gestures/body language, eye contact, and projection of interest in topic and audience)
L1 Speaks with some elements of effective delivery
L2 Speaks with most elements of effective delivery
L3 Speaks consistently with elements of effective delivery
L4 Speaks with a refined repertory of effective delivery techniques
5. Connects with audience through use of APPROPRIATE CONVENTIONS (usage, pronunciation, and sentence structure)
L1 Generally follows appropriate conventions
L2 Consistently follows appropriate conventions
L3 Adapts appropriate conventions to the expression of complex relationships
L4 Shows a refined sense of appropriate conventions
6. Connects with audience through PURPOSEFUL STRUCTURE (sense of introduction/development/ conclusion; focusing by main point make; major/minor connections)
L1 Presents a message with recognizable introduction, development, and conclusion
L2 Establishes and maintains focus on a clear purpose, providing transitions to clarify relationships between most points of development
L3 Without digression from the focus of the speech, consistently articulates relationships between points of development
L4 Maintains a refined sense of structure in relation to an academic framework
7. Connects with audience through SUPPORT FOR A POSITION/DEVELOPMENT OF AN IDEA
L1 Shows ability to use examples and/or evidence meaningful to audience
L2 Supports most generalizations with examples and/or evidence meaningful to audience
L3 Uses development appropriate to audience and purpose to clarify message
L4 Uses development of appropriate length and variety and of sufficient interest to convince audience of worth of message
8. Connects with audience through CREATION and USE OF MEDIA
L1 Incorporates a visual that is legible, understandable, and appropriate to topic and audience
L2 Computer-generates eye-appealing visuals, using them purposefully to enhance presentation
L3 Smoothly incorporates high-quality and diverse media whose messages reflect the core concepts of a presentation
L4 Incorporates professional-quality media within a specific context to aid in clarifying academic frameworks
9. Connects with audience through APPROPRIATE CONTENT (criteria may be further contextualized by instructor in discipline)
L1 Articulates accurate representation of ideas
L2 Demonstrates appropriate application of designated or selected ideas
L3 Identifies key elements that indicate understanding of theories and/or frameworks
L4 Articulates original applications, syntheses, and/or evaluations of academic frameworks/theories, validating them with substantial thinking and appropriately citing 32 valid sources
10. SELF ASSESSMENT
L1 Shows awareness of a few strengths and weaknesses in a presentation, based on specifically designated criteria
L2 Shows some understanding of development in speaking ability, based on the same criteria
L3 Articulates, providing evidence, a realistic sense of performance in all criteria areas
L4 Shows a refined sense of strengths and weaknesses in all criteria areas
II. CRITERIA FOR EFFECTIVE WRITING
(Adapted for Entering Graduate Students, 1/03)
In a given piece of writing, the student should show the following abilities to the level indicated:
Preliminary: Follows directions: yes or no
1. Connects with audience through ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING CONTEXT (clarifying, in a manner appropriate to a specified audience, limits of the situation and sources of thinking)
L1 Gives audience some sense of focus and purpose (What I am telling whom and why?)
L2 Gives audience full sense of purpose and focus, distinguishing own thoughts from those of others
L3 Throughout the writing, shows reasonably how others‘ ideas relate to his/her own thinking
L4 Throughout the writing, convincingly articulates relationships between ideas/concepts out of an academic framework and those out of her own thinking
2. Connects with audience through VERBAL EXPRESSION (word choice/style/tone— reflecting awareness of the audience’s degree of knowledge, values, need for clarity, right to an opinion, and expectation of interest)
L1 Uses language that shows some awareness of appropriate word choice/style/tone
L2 Uses language that shows general awareness of appropriate work choice/style/tone— avoiding vague, empty, and condescending expression
L3 Uses language that consistently shows awareness of appropriate word choice/style/tone
L4 Uses language that reflects a refined awareness of the audience
3. Connects with audience through APPROPRIATE CONVENTIONS (usage, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, format conventions)
L1 Generally follows appropriate conventions
L2 Consistently follows appropriate conventions
L3 Adapts appropriate conventions to the expression of complex relationships
L4 Shows a refined sense of appropriate conventions
4. Connects with audience through PURPOSEFUL STRUCTURE (sense of introduction/development/conclusion; focusing by main point made; major/minor connections)
L1 Presents a message with recognizable introduction, development, and conclusion
L2 Establishes and maintains focus on a clear purpose, providing transitions to clarify relationships between most points of development
L3 Without digression from the focus of the work, consistently articulates relationships between points of development
L4 Maintains a refined sense of structure in relation to an academic framework
5. Connects with audience through SUPPORT FOR A POSITION/DEVELOPMENT OF AN IDEA
L1 Shows ability to use examples and/or evidence meaningful to audience
L2 Supports most generalizations with examples and/or evidence meaningful to audience
L3 Uses development appropriate to audience and purpose to clarify message
L4 Uses development of appropriate length and variety and of sufficient interest to convince audience of worth of message
6. Connects with audience through APPROPRIATE CONTENT (criteria may be further contextualized by instructor in discipline)
L1 Articulates ideas accurately
L2 Demonstrates appropriate application of designated or selected ideas
L3 Identifies key elements that indicate understanding of theories and/or frameworks
L4 Articulates original applications, syntheses, and/or evaluations of academic frameworks/ theories, validating them with substantiated thinking and appropriately citing valid sources
7. SELF ASSESSMENT
L1 Shows awareness of a few strengths and weaknesses in one‘s own written work, based on specifically designated criteria
L2 Shows some understanding of one‘s own development in writing ability, based on the same criteria
L3 Articulates, providing evidence, a realistic sense of one‘s own writing performance in all criteria areas
L4 Shows a refined sense of one‘s own strengths and weaknesses in all criteria areas
III. CRITERIA FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION
(Adapted for Entering Graduate Students, 8/04)
1. Shaping and Working with a Task
2. Using Task Oriented Behaviors Appropriate to the Task
3. Using Interpersonal Behaviors Appropriate to a Situation