Faculty Perceptions of CACREP Accreditation

Abstract

Faculty members in CACREP‐accredited institutions were surveyed for the purposes of (a) determining common program characteristics; (b) determining if and how accreditation had influenced curricula, institutional support, and length and type of supervised experiences; (c) assessing faculty opinion concerning whether accreditation efforts had improved the quality of counselor preparation programs; (d) assessing faculty opinion concerning the effectiveness of the Standards as criteria for evaluating programs; and (e) assessing faculty opinion of the fairness and adequacy of the accreditation review process. The status of programs is summarized, with curricula and length of supervised counseling experiences having been most often influenced by accreditation efforts. Faculties were mixed in their reactions as to whether accreditation had improved the quality of their programs. Those faculties that had initiated change as a result of self‐study thought that their programs were improved. Satisfaction with the Standards as criteria and with CACREP as the accreditation decision‐making body was substantial.

The Potential Effect of Accreditation Standards on the Type of Students Who Will Enter Counselor Education Programs

“…The concerns and questions raised above are not new, but the problems are magnified by the increase in entry-level practicum hours and the addition of a third internship at the doctoral level. Cecil and Comas (1986) found that rigid standards were not popular with counselor educators, so one might assume that many counselor educators might want to have standards that accommodate more potential student groups. Accreditation should be a means to implement the educational goals established by the counseling profession.…”

“…The characteristics of faculty members and students in accredited programs have been explored (Miller & Sampson, 1984;Stickle & Schnacke, 1984), as have the curriculum characteristics (Vacc, 1985) and the influence of accreditation on enrollment (Barcley & Percy, 1984). Perceptions of program faculty members about the accreditation process (Cecil & Comas, 1986), perceptions of those who hire program graduates (Cook, Berman, Genco, Repka, & Shrider, 1986), and even heads of counselor education programs have been separately surveyed (Stickle & Schnacke, 1984). The influence of accreditation on a specialization, community agency counseling, has been explored by Wilcoxon and Cecil (1985), and specific curriculum issues like multicultural counseling (Lloyd, 1987) and life-style and career development (Bradley, 1987) have been reviewed.…”