Degree Requirements
The student must complete at least 120 credits of approved doctoral course work while in residence at Widener. In the first three years of the program, students must register each semester for a minimum of 12 credits of PsyD courses. In years four and five of the program, students must register for a minimum of 12 credits, at least 9 of which must be PsyD courses.
A student must maintain a B average each semester. Students who earn a semester GPA of less than 3.0 will be put on academic probation. Pending a faculty review and the student’s obtaining a GPA of 3.0 or above the subsequent semester, the student may be taken off probation. If a student earns below a 3.0 GPA in any semester subsequent to the probation, he or she will be reviewed by the faculty. In this review, the faculty will discuss the student’s performance and may dismiss the student from the program. This decision is made only after careful consideration of the student’s overall performance in the program and allowing for due process, including the student’s response to such academic concerns.
If a student earns a grade of B- or below, the course may be repeated only once. Both grades will re-recorded on the transcript, but only the most recent grade will be used in calculating the grade point average. However, when a student is found to have violated Widener’s academic fraud policies, that student is prohibited from exercising the repeat-of-course option to remove the F grade (given as result of fraud) from the GPA calculation.
The student must provide evidence of good interpersonal functioning in professional relationships. A student who demonstrates conduct inconsistent with the ethical and professional standards of the discipline may be dismissed from the program or placed on probation after a faculty review. In the event the student is placed on probation, a remediation plan will be implemented. Following a second faculty review in the subsequent semester, the student may be taken off probation. If the student is put on probation for behavioral concerns in any semester subsequent to the initial probation, he or she will be reviewed by the faculty. In this review, the faculty will discuss the student’s performance and may dismiss the student from the program. This decision is made only after careful consideration of the student’s overall performance in the program and allowing for due process, including the student’s response to such behavioral concerns.
All third-year students must clear any grades of Incomplete by the end of the spring semester in order to be reviewed in the Comprehensive Student Review Process. This review process includes a review of the student’s attainment of minimum levels of achievement in all milestones across the first three years of the program, including course grades, the Statistics/Research Methods comprehensive exam (given at the end of year 2), the Assessment and Intervention Modules (academic assignments given during the summer of year 2), practicum evaluations, and annual student reviews. Students who pass the third-year Comprehensive Student Review are awarded their master’s degree, are elevated to doctoral candidacy, and are formally admitted to the Internship Training Program..
A student must have a cumulative 3.0 grade point average at graduation and must pass all PsyD courses to graduate. The student must have successfully completed candidacy, (i.e., the Comprehensive Student Review Process), and must subsequently complete the dissertation (including the dissertation oral defense), pass the Final Clinical Oral Examination, and complete two internship rotations.
Program
Model of Training
The full-time program is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA: 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; phone 202-336-5500) and offers five years of intensive professional training in psychology leading to a PsyD degree. The over-arching goal of this program is to train students to be excellent generalist clinical psychologists. In the service of this goal, the program embraces the Standards of Accreditation of the American Psychological Association and the Educational Model of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP). The program’s theoretical approach is eclectic, and students are exposed to a number of orientations, including psychodynamic, cognitive/behavioral, interpersonal, and family systems.
During the first three years of training, students are presented with the scientific, theoretical, and methodological foundations of professional psychology and are acculturated to the values of the profession. Students are exposed to the nine areas of competency which, according to the APA model, represent the scope of contemporary professional psychology: research; ethical and legal standards; individual and cultural diversity, professional values, attitudes and behaviors; communication and interpersonal skills; assessment; intervention; supervision; consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills. In the final two years of the program, students have the opportunity to pursue areas of special interest through the selection of a curricular cluster.
Didactic and experiential components of the instructional program are combined in a curriculum that is designed to achieve a balance between classroom instruction and practical applied experience. Required areas of instruction are paralleled by relevant supervised clinical experience through a system of practicum and internship experiences that facilitate the integration of theory and research with practice.
Program Outcomes-
https://www.widener.edu/sites/default/files/2020-10/psyd-student-admissions-data-2020.pdf
Internship:
All students in good standing receive an internship position in Widener’s IGCP Internship Training Program that is accredited by the American Psychological Association (750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; phone: 800-374-2721).
Internship Statistics for the Past 10 Years:
https://www.widener.edu/about/at-a-glance/accreditations/internship-admissions-support-initial-placement-data-psyd