Grand Canyon University (GCU) School Counseling Program Objectives

Program Objective One: The counseling programs provide learning opportunities for counselors-in-training to develop and apply the knowledge, skills, and dispositional values to become competent, ethical, and culturally responsive global contributors.

School Counselors in Training Learning Outcomes:

• Counselor Identity and Ethics: Develop best practices and counselor identity as informed by ethical and professional standards and programmatic dispositional values.
• Diversity and Advocacy: Gain opportunities to practice ethically as advocates for social justice through exposure to multicultural counseling theories and experiential exercises that promote awareness of cultural bias and diverse worldviews.
• Human Growth and Development: Acquire knowledge and skills to meet the diverse needs of individuals in the context of human growth and development.
• Counseling & Helping Relationships: Cultivate counseling and helping skills by integrating counseling theories and research, engaging in community collaboration and outreach, and developing skills to apply in professional and therapeutic relationships.
• Group Counseling and Group Work: Integrate theoretical foundations and consider dynamics and therapeutic factors to gain knowledge of theories, develop techniques, promote leadership skills, and facilitate the therapeutic group process for diverse clients.
• Research and Program Evaluation: Acquire the knowledge and skills needed to identify, evaluate, and utilize research to inform best practices in counseling.
• Career Development: Facilitate college and career readiness standards to support the development of students in P-12 settings.
• Testing and Assessment: Utilize assessment methods, research, and program evaluation to appraise effectiveness of comprehensive school counseling programs using outcome data to inform future practice.
• Specialty Area for SC: Develop an educator and counselor identity that integrates the GCU Professional Dispositions of Learners and upholds ASCA professional and ethical standards as licensed/certified school counselors by acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to plan, implement, and evaluate comprehensive school counseling programs based on research and national standards.

Program Objective Two: The programs will recruit, enroll, and retain qualified applicants that reflect the demographic diversity of the multicultural and pluralistic societies in which they will serve.

Program Objective Three: Graduates of the program will complete curricular requisites in preparation to obtain licensure and secure employment in their respective specialty