Ph.D. Qualifying Exam

The purpose of the Qualifying Examination is to assess the student’s progress and ability to grasp the knowledge and level of scholarship required to succeed in the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision Program. The Qualifying Exam consists of students submitting the final version of the benchmark papers completed in COUC 715 Advanced Theory Application and COUC 740 Advanced Research Design, incorporating all feedback given by the professors of those courses and demonstrating mastery of experimental design, applied counseling theory, and case conceptualization. The student will also include the completed rubrics from the benchmark assignments in COUC 715 and 740.The completed rubrics from the courses will be reviewed to assess if final feedback offered by the faculty was addressed in the exam submission. The rubrics for the benchmark papers serve as the evaluation criteria for the qualifying exam.

Qualifying Exam Process

After students receive the final grade and the completed rubric for the benchmark papers in COUC 715 and 740, students must take the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision Qualifying Examination (COUC 969). To initiate the Qualifying Examination, students will email the Program Support Coordinator, Ms. Bonnie Gould, at bcsmith@liberty.edu . Email Ms. Gould, using your Liberty email account, the following:

• Name
• Attach the 2 papers and their rubrics into one document following this order:
  • COUC 740 – Benchmark Paper
  • COUC 740 – Benchmark Paper Completed Rubric
  • COUC 715 – Benchmark Paper
  • COUC 715 – Benchmark Paper Completed Rubric
    

The faculty review committee will assess the papers to ensure that the student demonstrates doctoral-level aptitude and readiness to progress in the program. Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of advanced counseling theory and practice as well as research. Work must adhere to current APA formatting guidelines. Once a student demonstrates mastery of the core concepts related to research design and applied counseling theory, the faculty review committee will submit a decision on whether the student has passed the exam.

Students will receive notification of their results within four (4) weeks via email. Students who meet passing criteria for the exam will receive notification without feedback that they passed. If mastery is not demonstrated and a non-pass decision is made on one or both of the papers, the student will be given specific feedback on areas of deficit. The student has 30 days to revise and resubmit. The student cannot continue taking courses until passing the entire exam. There are no exceptions to this requirement. Failure on the second attempt on any or all sections of the Qualifying Examination will result in dismissal from the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision Program.