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The
DCTs position is almost universally one of great responsibility.
The amount of authority associated with the role varies widely among
programs and individual DCTs. In
established programs, there is usually an existing hierarchy for authority in
the Department and Clinical program. The
DCT position, however, has been likened to “herding cats,” (Wisocki et al.,
1994)in that one attempts to organize, shape, and otherwise cajole highly
independent creatures (i.e., faculty!) who do not want to be controlled in any
way. Office
Hours It
is recommended that the DCT maintain weekly office hours for clinical students
to visit and discuss various matters, including curriculum and other training
issues, career planning, relationship with faculty members, personal problems,
and the like. Timeline It
may be useful to develop a timeline, by month or date, indicating when specific
duties are to be carried out. For
example, if practicum evaluations need to be sent out at the end of each
semester in time for them to be returned prior to the assignment of grades, then
it may be helpful to indicate November 15, April 1, and July 15 as dates for
them to be sent to clinical supervisors. Surveys In
recent years, DCTs have literally been bombarded with surveys from fellow
psychologists and students seeking to evaluate various aspects of clinical
training. Responding to some of
these surveys will be made tremendously easier by having a data base for student
information, which is discussed in section 5 (“Students”) of this manual.
Each DCT has to decide which surveys to which she or he will respond, as
it will be almost impossible to respond to them all. The
important surveys and mailings that must be attended to include the annual
accreditation report to APA and CUDCP’s biennial survey.
DCTs may also want to preferentially respond to requests for information
about their programs that appear in publications undergraduates consult in
choosing programs to which they will apply (e.g., APA’s Graduate Study in
Psychology). Recommendation
letters and certification of status There
is a large amount of paperwork that is inherent in the DCTs functioning.
Not the least of these duties is responding to requests for letters of
recommendation, which are often required of the program’s training director.
In applying for internships, there is a large volume of letters and
certification forms for the DCT to process for each student.
APPIC has been using a standard internship readiness form
(“Verification of Internship Eligibility and Readiness”), that must be
completed and then signed by the DCT. It
is recommended that the DCT establish a policy and procedures for students to
provide information (e.g., on computer disk), including names and addresses to
which letters are sent, to promote efficiency in this time-consuming process.
Letters of recommendation to organizations that can provide funding for
graduate students are frequently required, as are references for postdoctoral
fellowship applications. Additionally,
as former students are licensed, there are requests to complete forms from state
licensing boards, detailing students’ academic and clinical curricula.
Many of these forms must be notarized, so it is important to establish
access to a notary public. Responsibility
and Authority In
most departments, the DCT role has a great deal of responsibility associated
with it, but relatively little authority. DCTs
may or may not control any portion of budgets for the clinical program or the
departmental clinic. There may be
some authority over the assignment of faculty to teach clinical courses, but
that may be like “herding cats,” as previously mentioned.
Much of the decision-making in the clinical program is conducted by the
faculty as a whole or committees (e.g., admission of students, hiring of
clinical faculty, promotion and tenure decisions), so any “power” the DCT
has is often based on his/her persuasive abilities with fellow faculty. Nevertheless, the DCT role is one that students and fellow
faculty may perceive as having great power, and so may be threatening to the
Chair, other administrators in the department, and fellow faculty. Intra-University
Relationships It
is important that DCTs maintain a relationship with other mental health-related
programs at the university (e.g., Counseling Psychology program).
Such contacts are desirable so that professional issues of mutual concern
(e.g., state licensure laws) can be discussed, as well as to allow for the
possibility of students taking courses across the programs.
These relationships can also be important in terms of coordinating
efforts across programs in securing practicum sites, avoiding competition if it
would be disruptive to training. In
some localities and states, the training directors of mental health-related
training programs (e.g., psychology graduate programs and internships) meet
periodically to discuss matters of mutual concern. State
Psychological Association and State Licensing Board Maintaining
lines of communication between the Clinical program and the state’s
psychological association is necessary for a variety of reasons, including the
state association’s link, in many states, with the licensing board.
As state associations make recommendations about licensing board
membership, and changes in the state’s licensing law, it is important for the
Clinical program to be connected with the state psychological association. While the DCT will want to be a member of the state’s
psychological association, it is not necessary for him or her to be the one
primarily responsible for maintaining the liaison. Here, again, delegation of tasks such as this one can make
the DCT’s job manageable. |