Evaluation of Critical Competencies

The Messiah College Counseling Program is committed to ensuring that students from our program are well-suited for the professional demands, roles, and responsibilities of the counseling profession.  In order to help assess the students’ preparation we have developed four critical competencies that all students must achieve throughout the program.

The four critical competencies are:

1. Interpersonal and professional competence  including:
1. the student’s ability to relate to peers, faculty, professionals, the public, and individuals from diverse backgrounds or histories in an appropriate manner
2. the student’s ability to resolve problems or issues that interfere with professional development or functioning in an appropriate manner
3. the student’s ability to respond constructively to feedback from supervisors or program faculty, including participating in personal therapy in order to resolve problems or issues if necessary
2. Self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation including:
1. the student’s knowledge of the content and potential impact of one's own beliefs and values on peers, faculty, professionals, the public, and individuals from diverse backgrounds or histories
2. the student’s openness to the process of supervision
3. the student’s ability and willingness to explore issues that either interfere with the appropriate provision of care or impede professional development or functioning
3. Written and oral communication including:
1. the student’s ability to articulate ideas, thoughts, and concepts clearly and at a professional level appropriate to the discipline, both orally and in writing
2. the student’s knowledge and use of the APA style format
4. Quality of work including:
1. the student’s timely completion of all work at a satisfactory level
2. the student’s ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively with others
3. the student’s active participation in discussion boards, synchronous experiences, and other class-related activities
4. the student’s ability to obtain knowledge and understanding of the content area is satisfactory
5. the student’s ability to appropriately apply skills necessary for counseling

Students will self-reflect upon these competencies from their application for admission to their application for graduation and at various points throughout their program.  Instructors will assess each student on these competencies in every class the student completes.  The Program Director and Advisor will review the evaluations individually as they are distributed, and twice a year, the Graduate Program in Counseling will review them as a whole.  Finally, the students will reflect on their growth in these areas as part of their final reflection paper.