Gannon Knight News

     Gannon University’s master’s degree program in community counseling has climbed by leaps and bounds.
     The program recently received the Outstanding Counselor Education Program Award from the Pennsylvania Counseling Association (PCA), just months after achieving accredited status from the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) in July 2009.
     David Tobin, Ph.D., director of the community counseling program, said that the PCA award ranks Gannon as one of the state’s best of the 40 eligible counseling programs.
     “Being chosen for the PCA’s Outstanding Counselor Education Program Award is a tremendous accomplishment for Gannon University and for the program and its faculty, students and alumni,” said Tobin, an associate professor.
     Since the program began in 1964, Gannon’s program has had a history of scoring above national averages on certification and licensing exams, a strength that helped the university earn the award.
     In 2009, Gannon students scored more than 14 points above the national average on the Counselor Professional Comprehensive Examination and nearly 27 points above the national average on the National Counselor Exam. Gannon students also have a 93 percent first-time pass rate on the National Counselor Exam.
     The program’s success also led to its recent accreditation, an achievement that will help the university and its students as well.
     Matt Durney, a graduate student in the community counseling program, said that he was glad the university had received the recognition from the council.
     “It gives the program more stature, and when future employers see that you’ve graduated from an accredited program, it means much more,” said Durney, who also works for the university as the director of the Catholic House.
     “It also helps with your national certification – you only have to do a certain number of actual practice hours, where if it weren’t accredited you’d have to do more,” he said.
     Durney said that he thought the program had many strengths.
     “One strong point is definitely the faculty,” he said. “They’re always willing to meet with you on the side and help. It’s a very close-knit program.”