Navigating the route to an advanced degree is a challenge that tests all those who undertake it. Providing more opportunities and assistance to individuals willing to make such a commitment is a sure way to help smooth the path to a promising future.
As the start of a new academic year approaches, La Verne is offering new academic programs aimed at graduate students and will open a center that will provide tutoring in writing and statistics, thanks to a $2.8 million Title V grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The university has been awarded the five-year grant under the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (PPOHA) program.
Three new degree and certificate programs will be funded by the $2,875,000 grant: a Spanish Bilingual Bicultural Counseling Certificate; a Certificate in New Learning Technologies and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) with a cultural emphasis. The grant will also pay for a Graduate Success Center that will offer tutorial help and provide support for a career/placement counselor for graduate students.
“This grant will provide significant resources for our University to develop innovative and relevant programs for our students and community,” said Title V Director Mike Ramos.
The graduate certificate program in Spanish Bilingual Bicultural School Counseling will address the needs of Southern California school districts with high Hispanic enrollment. The program will provide candidates with the skills and certification to provide invaluable counseling support for Hispanic students.
La Verne faculty members are excited about implementing the program.
“This is important because at this point in time, the Latino population is the largest minority and preparing our candidates to work with these demographics in a way honors the change in demographics in our schools,” said Adonay Montes, assistant professor of Education and co-director of the Spanish Bilingual Bicultural Counseling Program.
“The program will prepare candidates to undertake the complexities and cultural factors of diverse student families and communities as well as really prepare them to be advocates and effective leaders in the community,” he said.
Students accepted into La Verne’s Master’s of Science in Educational Counseling program can apply for the certificate. The program requires an additional 11 semester units in four courses.
Candidates in the certificate program must also take bilingual versions of four specified education courses, satisfy a Spanish language assessment, attend two human relations training retreats and complete 300 hours of required fieldwork using bilingual bicultural skills.
Heidi Coronado, co-director of the Spanish Bilingual Bicultural Counseling Program, said that the rising needs of the multicultural population, especially in the Latino community, call for counseling practices that will ignite conversations and interactions with local communities.
“School Counseling candidates accepted into the BBCP will take several core counseling courses bilingually, providing candidates with a culturally enriched experience as well as the ability to understand the nuances of counseling in another language,” said Corondo. Candidates will conduct action research and work hand in hand with students, families and the Latino community, she said.
The Certificate in New Learning Technologies will prepare leaders in the field of online education and course design. Candidates for this program include K-12 online educators, community college instructors, and corporate trainers. Graduates of the program will be prepared to teach exemplary online courses and compete in the field of curriculum design in diverse educational or business settings. Between 12 and 18 students are expected to begin the program in the fall; this certificate can be completed in two semesters.
“Now people are realizing we can actually embed good pedagogy into the experience,” said John Bartelt, professor of Education and Technology. “You can’t just take what you were doing in the classroom and move it online and make it work. If you do it right, it’s pretty exciting for students.”
More and more high schools are requiring that students take at least one online course and educators need to be prepared, he said. One study found that 75 percent of responding public school districts had one or more students enrolled in a fully online or blended course; of school districts with one or more students in online or blended courses, 66 percent said they expected their online enrollment to increase.
The technology learned in the class will also be helpful for educators who teach in classrooms who can incorporate smart boards, clicker systems and other technology into their instruction. Student enrolled in the Master of Education (Special Emphasis) program may complete their elective requirement using the certificate program as part of their advanced degree coursework.
The College of Business & Public Administration is developing the Master’s of Business Administration with a cultural emphasis. Felipe Korzenny, director for the Center for the Study of Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University, will provide professional development to La Verne faculty and will guide efforts to develop the degree program. The degree initially will focus on the Hispanic culture and then expand to other predominant cultural groups in Southern California.
Full implementation of the degree program is expected in fall of 2012.
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