Five new courses in the specialized area of Forensic Vocational Rehabilitation have been added to the offerings of the Rehabilitation Counseling program. These courses were approved in May 15, 2007, and the first course (REHB 670) is being offered during Spring 2008, through online delivery using the Desire2Learn instructional management platform. The remaining courses will be rolled out in a sequenced manner over the upcoming academic terms, with all five courses planned to be in place by Summer, 2009.
A proposal for a new Post-Master's Degree Specialized Certificate in Forensic Vocational Rehabilitation is being completed for institutional and MnSCU review during the Fall 2008 academic term. Once approved by the university and an external consultant, it must then be reviewed by MnSCU (central system office) staff, recommended to and reviewed by the MnSCU Board of Trustee's prior to any decision being made regarding its' approval. It is hoped that an affirmative decision will be reached both on-campus and at MnSCU by the end of Fall Semester 2008.
The five approved forensic vocational rehabilitation courses included in the proposed program are as follows (click on the course of interest to obtain a copy of the syllabus):
A description of these courses is provided in the most current Graduate Bulletin in a numerical listing of all courses offered by the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at MSU, Mankato. Complete syllabi for each of the courses listed above will be linked as they available for release.
In order to register for any of these courses, interested students must first contact Dr. Gerald Schneck, who is developing and coordinating the program. He will be the faculty member teaching REHB 670 Foundations of Forensic Vocational Rehabilitation when it is offered for the first time during the Spring (2008) semester. It will be offered in a totally online format using Desire2Learn, the MnSCU system course management system. He can be reached at (507) 389-5438 or by e-mail at: gerald.schneck@mnsu.edu
Preferrential registration for the 25 seats available in each class offering will be available. Applicants for admission to forensic courses and the proposed graduate certificate program must meet the following admission requirements of:
(1) Completed Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling, Vocational Evaluation, or a closely related major'; which includes completion of comparable coursework in the vocational, disability, and research and measurement content areas required within current CORE curriculum standards for Rehabilitation Counselor Education programs; and
(2) Completion of not less than 3 calendar years of direct service provision to people with disabilities after completion of the Master's degree.
Since these courses are offered online, there is a benefit to person's residing outside of Minnesota and surrounding states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, as well as the Province of Manitoba, in Canada. Persons residing in each of the states and the province listed, will pay at the reciprocity graduate rate approved by their state/province and the State of Minnesota. All others located out of Minnesota, can apply on a term by term basis for a "100% Online" tuition rate, which allows registration at the in-state graduate tuition rate for that academic term. All courses enrolled for must be online during that particular term.
Upon approval of the certificate program, a "market rate" tuition rate will be set for the courses in the program, which will be at a level somewhat higher than the in-state resident rate, but not as high as the non-state resident rate. This additional tuition will go directly to the forensic vocational rehabilitation program in order to support costs not covered by regular tuition and to enable its' being self-sustaining.
An application for taking one or more courses, or the full five-course (5) series that will become the proposed Graduate Certificate Program in Forensic Vocational Rehabilitation, can be obtained by clicking here. Please also send along a copy of your current curriculum vitae (CV) with your application, to Dr. Schneck at the address for the Department of Speech, Hearing, and Rehabilitation Services. Once you have been admitted to the College of Graduate Studies, please send your Tech ID number to Dr. Schneck, so he can enter approval for you to register for your selected course(s) on the registration system.
In order to register for any of the forensic vocational rehabilitation courses, you must be admitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research (applying initially as a "non-degree seeking" student), which will not require you to pay an application fee. Once the program has been approved, you will need to reapply as a "certificate or degree pursuing" student, which will require an application fee that is paid to the university.
Once you are approved for admission, the College of Graduate Studies and Research will provide you with your Tech ID, that you can use for registering for classes, paying bills online, using library resources, gaining admission to the Desire2Learn course management platform which houses many of the online courses of the university, and other functions.
If you have additional questions, information needs, or wish to send your application or other materials, the mailing address for the Department of Speech, Hearing, and Rehabilitation Services is at the bottom of the linked page.
