The mission of the School of Professional Counseling is to address the diverse academic and community needs of Appalachia and other regions through dedication to academic excellence and professional integrity where students obtain a solid professional knowledge and skills base. The School of Professional Counseling partners with community colleges and mental health agencies in Appalachia and across five states to provide the undergraduate degree in Human Services & Counseling and the graduate degree in Counseling with a specialization in Mental Health Counseling.
The Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Services & Counseling is an interdisciplinary program comprised of course work in psychology, sociology and social work in combination with broad-based general education courses. (Most human services & counseling course work is designated by an "HS" prefix.) Each course is taught by faculty with advanced degrees and experience in the course content area. Practicum experiences will equip the student with the skills to enter a variety of work settings.
The Master of Education in Counseling is a broad-based generalist degree that exposes students to a variety of skills in mental health counseling. The program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards. CACREP is an independent non-profit organization, recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which grants accredited status to graduate-level programs in the professional counseling field. The master's degree in Counseling with specialization in Mental Health Counseling has been accredited by CACREP since 1996, indicating that it has met or exceeded CACREP standards for counselor preparation. The program requires a minimum of sixty (60) semester hours. Thirty-nine (39) hours from nine (9) core areas provide foundation course work and clinical experience; in addition to twenty one (21) hours of specialty requirements in mental health counseling provide training in specific areas of counseling techniques and practice.
The School of Professional Counseling provides numerous resources to support its students. These resources are largely web-based, using cutting edge technologies to communicate with students on key issues related to their professional development. Some of these tools include:
Blackboard
Designed with student learning in mind, Blackboard provides a rich set of tools that faculty use to support live classroom instruction. Blackboard provides support for online syllabi, documents and powerpoints, grade distribution, quizzes and exams, electronic submission of written assignments, and much more!
SPC Student Center
The SPC Resource Center is an integration of Google Apps technologies that provides students access to key information for academic and professional development, and much more. The resource center is accessible through all Blackboard courses provided by the School of Professional Counseling. Students can access most resources through the myLWC Portal and adding the SPC Resource Center.
Katie Murrell Library
The mission of the Katie Murrell Library is to provide access to information resources, collections, technology and AV services, which have been selected and designed to support the educational and research needs of the Lindsey Wilson College community, and to provide the active instruction, assistance, and guidance needed to locate, evaluate, and use these resources and services.
Beacon Journal
It is a peer-reviewed journal originating from the School of Professional Counseling.
Student Handbook
In order to support and complement the academic mission of Lindsey Wilson College, the Office of Student Services provides students with a support through the Student Handbook. Here, students have access to information such as Academic Information, Student Code of Conduct, and Student Resources.
Counseling Services
Personal and confidential counseling is provided by a licensed professional from The Adanta Counseling Group and by the College Chaplain and assistant chaplains. Whether it is a religious question, a personal relationship issue, a career decision, or the need for an unbiased opinion, counselors are available and ready to provide assistance. Referral to outside agencies is also available when requested or needed.
For more information on LWC policies, please refer to the LWC Student Handbook as well as the relevant Graduate or Undergraduate SPC Student Handbook. SPC students should refer to their SPC Student Handbooks for policies relating to community campus students.
Academic integrity is essential to the existence of an academic community. Every student is responsible for fostering a culture of academic honesty, and for maintaining the integrity and academic reputation of Lindsey Wilson College. Maintaining a culture that supports learning and growth requires that each student make a commitment to the fundamental academic values: honesty, integrity, responsibility, trust, respect for self and others, fairness and justice. To foster commitment to academic integrity, faculty are asked to require each student to place and sign the following Honor Code on tests, exams and other assignments as appropriate: On my honor as a student, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment/exam. Violations of the academic integrity policy include cheating, plagiarism or lying about academic matters. Plagiarism is defined as any use of another writer's words, concepts, or sequence of ideas without acknowledging that writer by the use of proper documentation. Not only the direct quotation of another writer's words, but also any paraphrase or summary of another writer's concepts or ideas without documentation is plagiarizing that writer's materials. Academic dishonesty is a profoundly serious offense because it involved an act of fraud that jeopardizes genuine efforts by faculty and students to teach and learn together. It is not tolerated at Lindsey Wilson College.Students who are determined to have plagiarized an assignment or otherwise cheated in their academic work or examinations may expect an "F" for the activity in question or an "F" for the course, at the discretion of the instructor. All incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported by the instructor to the Academic Affairs Office along with copies of all relevant materials. Each instance of cheating or plagiarism is counted separately. A student who cheats or plagiarizes in two assignments or tests during the same semester will be deemed guilty of two offenses. If the evidence is unclear, or if a second offense occurs, the VP for Academic Affairs or Associate Dean will work in cooperation with the Dean of Students to move the student before the campus Judicial Board for review. Violations will ordinarily result in disciplinary suspension or expulsion from the College, depending on the severity of the violation involved. Note: The College has purchased Turnitin.com, a web product used to detect plagiarized documents.
The Lindsey Wilson College Institutional Review Board (IRB) safeguards the rights and welfare of human participants in research and other research activities. Lindsey Wilson College faculty, staff, and students, which comprise its academic unites, and facilities, are subject to the IRB policies. This includes any research for which a research agreement (e.g. MOU) identifies Lindsey Wilson College Institutional Review Board (IRB) as the IRB of record. All student-led human subject research mush have a LWC faculty sponsor. All faculty members and students conducting human subject research are required to submit documentation of training on research involving human subjects that has been completed within two years of the onset of the proposed research. Online training is available at http://php.nihtraining.com/users/login.php.
Lindsey Wilson College accepts students with learning disabilities and provides reasonable accommodation to help them be successful. Depending on the nature of the disability, some students may need to take a lighter course load and may need more than four years to graduate. Students needing accommodation should apply as early as possible, usually before May 15. Immediately after acceptance, students need to identify and document the nature of their disabilities. It is the responsibility of the student to provide to the College appropriate materials documenting the learning disability, usually a recent high school Individualized Education Program (IEP) and results from testing done by a psychologist, psychiatrist, or qualified, licensed person. The College does not provide assessment services for students who may be learning disabled. Although LWC provides limited personal counseling for all students, the College does not have structured programs available for students with emotional or behavioral disabilities. For more information, contat the ADA coordinator at 270-384-7479.
The Academic Success Center, located in the Everett Building, offers peer tutoring to aid students in completing class assignments, preparing for exams and improving their understanding of content covered in a particular course. In addition, computers are available for student use. Students are encouraged to utilize this Center as a resource for improving study strategies and reading techniques. The Center also offers assistance with other academic problems resulting from documented learning disabilities. All services are free of charge to all Lindsey Wilson College students (students with learning disabilities are responsible for providing documentation from an appropriate outside professional source such as a professional evaluation or school IEP). Please contact Maretta Garner, Tutor Coordinator at 384-8037 for further information and assistance.
The Writing Center (located in the Slider Humanities & Fine Arts Building), and the Mathematics Center (located in the Fugitte Science Building) are available for specialized tutoring at no charge to students. Students should contact the Writing Center at 384-8209, or email lwcwc@lindsey.edu and/or contact the Academic Success Center, at 270-384-8038 or asc@lindsey.edu for further information and assistance in mathematical courses.
The academic calendar, which contains the schedule for finals, is in the College Catalog and course schedule listing. Please make any necessary flight arrangements after the final exam week. Students will not be permitted to take early finals unless extenuating circumstances exist. "Extenuating circumstance" means illness, a verified family emergency or participation in officially sponsored travel in support of an event arranged by the College. Travel arrangements must be made in sufficient time that tickets may be obtained after final exams and the semester is officially over. All requests for early finals must be made in person to the Academic Affairs Office.
All Lindsey Wilson College students are required to communicate with LWC faculty and staff via LWC (Lindsey.edu) email addresses only. Alternative email addresses should not be used when communicating with LWC faculty and staff.
Student cell phones will be off during class time unless prior arrangement is made with the instructor.
Students enrolled in the following courses cannot drop these classes during the semester: READ 0713, 0723, 0733, 0903, 1013 and 1023; STSK 1003; ENGL 0903 and 0904; and ESL 0803, 0804 and 0854. For undergraduate classes at the Columbia campus, adding a course, dropping a course, or changing from one section of a course to another section of the same course requires the approval of the advisor and the instructor for each course involved as indicated on the Add/Drop Form. The change must be reported to the Business Office and the Registrar's Office on an Add/Drop Form, which may be obtained from the Registrar's Office. For courses taught at Community sites, adding a course, dropping a course, or changing from one section of a course to another section of the same course requires the approval of the Site Coordinator for the campus. Permission to add courses will not be given after the last date for late registration. Authorization for dropping a course will not be approved after more than 75% of the instructional days for a course are completed, as outlined below:
Columbia undergraduate and
graduate full semester courses
Not later than 30 days
before the end of the semester
Courses at Community Campuses
By the third weekend of class
If changes are not properly approved and officially reported as stated above, students will receive a grade of F in the courses for which they are officially registered, and they will be charged for all such courses. Students will not receive credit for changed or added courses unless they officially register for those courses.
The Doctoral degree in Counselor Education & Supervision (CES) program and the Master of Education in Counseling are both accredited through the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). In addition, the Counseling program meets the academic licensure requirements for Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Each state licensing board sets the standards for professional counselors to follow in applying, qualifying, and maintaining licensure as a counselor. This includes additional supervised post-master professional experience, a passing score on a licensing exam, and other requirements. For the states in which the program is currently offered (Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee) the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) credentialing exam is accepted as the licensing exam. Links to licensure-related resources can be found in the School of Professional Counseling Resource Center.