Home » EKU Board of Regents approves new doctoral program in clinical psychology

EKU Board of Regents approves new doctoral program in clinical psychology

RICHMOND, Ky. (June 10) — The Eastern Kentucky University Board of Regents approved the University’s fourth doctoral degree program.

A Psy.D. program in Clinical Psychology is an applied doctoral degree designed to prepare clinical psychology practitioners. Based on the practitioner-scholar training model for clinical practice, endorsed by the National Council of Schools of Professional Psychology, the program emphasizes the preparation of clinical psychology practitioners who are sophisticated consumers of research and who ground their practice in the empirical research literature.

EKU logoThe new program, which awaits final approval by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, will focus on preparing practitioners to work in underserved rural areas. The curriculum will provide opportunities for specialized training in substance abuse, mental health administration, school-based mental health, and working with traditionally underserved populations, including veterans and their families, adults and children with developmental disabilities, and individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. Additional specialized training opportunities will include forensic psychology and applied behavior analysis.

This will be the first such program based at a public university in Kentucky. The only other Psy.D. program in the commonwealth is housed at Spalding University in Louisville.

In other business, the Board:

·         Authorized President Michael Benson and Barry Poynter, vice president for finance and administration, to negotiate and finalize a long-term lease for Grand Campus at Yorick Place on the condition that the private student housing complex across from campus at the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Barnes Mill Road can become part of the University’s housing inventory and students can move in this fall.

·         Approved a 2014-15 operating budget of approximately $342 million (including auxiliary and restricted funds), up approximately 3 percent from the previous year.

·         Also approved a post-doctorate certificate in Nursing Practice for Neuroscience APN.

·         Elected David Tandy, Louisville, as board secretary, replacing former Staff Regent Steven Fulkerson. Ernie House, London, and Poynter will remain vice chair and treasurer, respectively. The position of Board chair, now held by Craig Turner, Lexington, was not up for election.

·         Welcomed to the Board Fulkerson’s successor, new Staff Regent Bryan Makinen.

·         Approved resolutions thanking Fulkerson and outgoing Student Regent Sarah Carpenter for their service on the Board.