Clinical Child Psychology

_{Psychology Department Home.}

Policy on External Training Experiences (including Voluntary Clinical Experiences)

On occasion, some students may wish to participate in external (out-of-department) experiences in order to provide breadth and depth of training. These experiences may be paid or voluntary, and may involve research collaborations, clinical (practical) training, instruction of a class, or consultation, among other professional development activities. For purposes of this policy, External Training Experience is defined as an educational or professional development opportunity conducted at an external site and supervised by a person who is not currently a faculty member in the Department of Psychology. All training activities directly sponsored and supervised by departmental faculty, conducted either in the Life Sciences Building or at external locations, are not covered under this policy.

Approval Process. Students who are interested in engaging in an External Training Experience are required to work through the DCT to arrange them. The following sequence outlines the approval process:

Identification of External Training Experiences. External Training Experiences typically are identified through one of the following ways:

Student Initiation. If a student becomes aware of a particular external training experience, the student should notify the DCT of his/her interest. In some cases, the DCT can assist the student in identifying specific external training experiences that match the student’s training needs.

Faculty Initiation. If a faculty member becomes aware of a particular training experience that would benefit a student trainee, the faculty member should notify the DCT. In many cases, the faculty member already has a student in mind for the experience. If there is no student in mind, the DCT will send a description of the experience to all graduate students to determine the level of interest for the position. In cases where there is more than one interested student for the position, the DCT will consult with the Clinical and/or Clinical Child Training Area Committees regarding which student should be selected.

External Site Initiation. Unsolicited notifications of the availability of External Training Experiences from external sites that are forwarded to the DCT are sent to all graduate students to determine the level of interest for the position. In cases where there is more than one interested student for the position, the DCT will consult with the Clinical and/or Clinical Child Training Area Committees regarding which student should be selected.

Advisor Approval. Once a student has been identified for a designated External Training Experience, the DCT will instruct the student to discuss the benefits and costs of the experience with his or her academic advisor and obtain his or her approval. Faculty advisors should only approve external training experiences for students in good standing.

Site Approval. After obtaining approval of the advisor, the student will complete an External Training Experience Agreement form in consultation with external site personnel, including the external training experience supervisor. Students may be required to participate in and interview for the position by site personnel prior to completion of the Agreement form. The Agreement form stipulates training goals and experiences, as well as various logistical details (e.g., number of hours per week, amount and type of supervision, vacation and professional leave time). Agreements with external sites typically will include some time for holidays, vacation, and professional leave (e.g., conferences, internship interviews).

Training Area Committee Approval. Once the Agreement form has been completed and signed by both the student and external site supervisor, the DCT will present it to the student’s training area committee for approval. Once the Agreement is approved, the DCT will sign the form and the supplementary external activity may begin.

Selection of students and sites. The first priority for approving an external research, clinical, or teaching experience is the students’ training needs. Other priorities will include, in order of importance: (a) seniority (i.e., more advanced students have higher priority; doctoral students in the 5th year or beyond have the lowest priority); (b) current practicum placement and prior year(s) placement(s) (i.e., students who already had an experience at a site will have lower priority; students who were assigned a less preferred site will be given higher priority); (c) preferences of students; and (d) preferences of supervisor(s). Only those placements that have reasonable evidence of being able to provide a good training experience, as determined by the Clinical and/or Clinical Child Training Committees, will be accepted as external training sites. Student’s progress in the training program, primarily progress on program milestones, will be considered in approving participation in external activities.

Possible conflicts with other activities, paid practica. In terms of the good of all students, including future students, voluntary external experiences will be cautiously arranged to avoid lessening the probability of securing paid slots at these agencies. For students who receive a stipend for other work (e.g., teaching), its scheduling will have priority over arrangements for external experiences.

Structure of External Experiences. External training experiences typically will be no more than 8 hours per week. These experiences typically will be at least one semester in duration, and may last an entire academic year or 12 month period. Students’ commitment to working at the agency will be the same as in any professional endeavor.

External Clinical Practicum Experiences. Students engaged in clinical (practical) training activities at external agencies must enroll in at least one hour of academic credit in PSYC 660 (section 1) or 670 (section 1) each semester (i.e., Fall, Spring, Summer) in which they are involved in an approved clinical training experience. Student enrollment in one of these courses enables the student to count hours accrued as part of the external training experience as "practicum" hours and assures that their activities are covered by the State’s liability coverage plan.

Expectations of external sites. Sites will provide all necessary supervision. The WVU Department of Psychology typically will not provide faculty consultation. Evaluations of the student will be completed by the external training experience supervisor(s); the student will complete evaluations of the supervisor, site, and experience as appropriate at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters.

Last modified: May 18, 2007