By Kate Hill

Staff Writer

Cazenovia College has announced the addition of a master of science in clinical mental health counseling (CMHC) to its degree offerings.

The two-year program is the first graduate degree program to be offered at the college in its 195-year history.

According to the college, clinical mental health counseling is a profession with high standards for education, training and clinical practice. The college’s new program is designed to help students meet the requirements for CMHC licensure in New York State and to develop the skills, knowledge and ethical understanding necessary to become competent counselors.

Assistant Professor Christina M. Bobesky, MS, PhD and Professor Mary Handley, PhD, LMHC, CRC will serve as program directors, instructors and student advisors.

According to Handley, the master’s program is designed to help meet the “significant need” for mental health counselors in Central New York, particularly in light of the opioid crisis.

“We really believe that this region needs good counselors,” Handley said. “The last time we looked . . .there were 69 or 70 job openings just in this area for licensed mental health counselors.”

The college also seeks to meet the needs of its students and to facilitate their professional advancement.

“There was a really strong felt need among graduates of the human services program — many of whom wanted to go on to do clinical work and needed the credential — who were lamenting the fact that they had to go somewhere else to do [their graduate work],” Dr. Ron Chesbrough, Cazenovia College president, said.

Unlike the many three-year CMHC programs throughout the northeast, Cazenovia’s program is structured to allow students to complete 60 credit hours of coursework in two years, including summers, through late afternoon/evening and online classes.

The program’s structure is ideal for commuter students hoping to earn their degrees in a condensed timeframe and to further their educations while continuing to work part- or full-time in the field.

Another highlight of the program, according to Handley, is its affordability. Its competitive tuition rate allows students to earn private college education and training at a public college price.

“Currently, if you live in Oneida and work at Liberty Resources and you want to get your clinical mental health counseling degree and licensure, you have to either drive to Albany or Oswego,” Handley said. “You could go to Syracuse, but the cost can be [restrictive].”

Additional Cazenovia College offerings include part-time graduate assistantships and a certificate program in alcohol and substance abuse counseling.

The CMHC program curriculum includes foundations of professional counseling, clinical mental health counseling courses and clinical experience.

Bobesky and Handley will teach the program’s core classes and five additional faculty members — who all hold advanced degrees in psychology or sociology — will instruct the remaining courses.

The clinical experience component of the curriculum includes a practicum and internships. The students will gain working experience at a variety of regional locations, including Helio Health, Liberty Resources and the Department of Mental Health.

“The agencies are excited about the [incoming] graduate student interns,” Handley said. “The students will have a lot of energy and new ideas, and they’ll be on the cutting edge of what’s out there today.”

Transitioning to a graduate degree granting institution required approval from New York State and the college’s accrediting body, — The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) — as well as an amendment to the school’s charter.

“It’s kind of logical and maybe even necessary growth for the college,” Chesbrough said. “It [represents] the continued evolution of the school from a two year women’s college, to a co-educational two-year college, to a baccalaureate-granting college and now to a master’s-degree granting college.”

The college is now accepting applications to its M.S. program, scheduled to begin in August 2019. The program will accept a maximum of 15 students. To learn more about the program and admission requirements, visit cazenovia.edu.

The college will hold an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, in the Witherill Room of Hubbard Hall. To register, email [email protected] or call Sherri Benedict at 315-655-7288.