Expanding doctoral offerings

EXPANDING DOCTORAL OFFERINGS

ST. CLOUD STATE IS EXPANDING ITS DOCTORAL OFFERINGS WITH THE LAUNCH OF ITS THIRD DOCTORATE IN FALL 2021, A DOCTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY (PSYD) IN APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS, AND A COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SCHOOL OF NURSING TO BRING A NEW PATHWAY TO A DOCTOR OF NURSING PRACTICE (DNP) IN THE FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER SPECIALTY TO CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

COLLABORATING ON DNP

The School of Health and Human Services collaboration with the University of Minnesota School of Nursing will bring a new DNP pathway to Central Minnesota with St. Cloud State Nursing faculty providing support for the St. Cloud Cohort as students do their clinical training at CentraCare Health clinical sites. St. Cloud State Nursing faculty will simultaneously work to create a dedicated DNP curriculum designed to focus on rural family nursing care that will launch at St. Cloud State in 2025.

The collaboration brings together St. Cloud State’s Department of Nursing Science and the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, to innovate on ways to prepare advance practice registered nurses to serve rural needs, while simultaneously meeting the state’s immediate workforce demands while also prioritizing education opportunities for registered nurses already working in the CentraCare Health system by allowing then to significantly expand their scope of responsibility and impact.

The field of Applied Behavior Analysis is focused on helping children with autism spectrum disorders develop and thrive.

“This is a wonderful collaboration that builds on our strong foundation of academic excellence embodied in our undergraduate Nursing program,” said Dan Gregory, St. Cloud State University provost. “It is one of many exciting new programs and collaborations that will ensure we live into our It’s Time commitment to build on our existing strengths and providing new pathways to prepare students for successful careers.”

The DNP collaborative is the second doctoral collaboration between St. Cloud State and the University of Minnesota. The institutions innovated to collaborate on the first joint doctoral program in Minnesota in 1994, when they launched the Doctorate of Education in Educational Administration and Leadership, St. Cloud State’s first doctoral program. The collaboration served the need for enhanced practitioner-oriented advanced education in the field and helped to establish a successful program that continues to serve the needs of Central Minnesota schools. St. Cloud State also offers a Doctor of Education degree in Higher Education Administration.

INNOVATING WITH ABA PSYD

The Applied Behavior Analysis PsyD is a first of its kind degree in Minnesota that focuses on preparing students to be clinicians and clinic managers as well as equipping them with research-based practices. The program also focuses deeply on licensure law, clinical directorship and clinical ownership roles.

This program will give students the effective skills in management and treatment, so they will be prepared for day-to-day clinical operations such as supervision, hiring and billing in addition to knowledge in effective treatment. It is designed to meet a need in the ABA field for clinicians who also have the business skills needed to lead, manage or open a clinic, said Dr. Ben Witts, program director.

“We believe that the ABA faculty are here to serve students; not the other way around,” he said.

St. Cloud State University is a leader in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis with the Master of Science program. The program is world-renowned in educating practitioners for its high first-time pass rates of the board certification exam. It is one of 22 graduate programs accredited by the Association for Behavior Analysis International.