The Master of Arts degree requires 42 semester hours of course work and a two-year internship. The required courses consist of a 24 semester credits in CSP required courses, and 6 semester credits in research and statistics, and 12 hours of electives. Students choose electives based on individual objectives and interests and consultation with their advisor. 

Those holding internships at partnership institutions begin in the summer to lighten the academic load in subsequent semesters. 

Students with on-campus internships begin their course work in the fall and complete their degree in a two-year sequence. Depending on summer enrollment, students enroll for 4-6 semesters.

Core Requirements

CSP 6010: Foundations and Functions of College Student Personnel (3)—History, philosophy, and goals of student affairs units in colleges and universities; emphasis on practitioner roles and responsibilities. [sample syllabus]

CSP 6020:Theory and Assessment of College Student Development (3)—Examination of theories describing patterns of growth and development during the college years. Implications for the design of educational practice on the college campus. [sample syllabus]

CSP 6030: Theory and Assessment of Educational Environments (3)—Application of environmental theory to the assessment of human environments. Special emphasis on the study of select campus environments and their influence on students.

CSP 6035: Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs (3)— Emphasizes development of awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to be a multiculturally competent student affairs practitioner. Emphasis on practitioner responsibilities, challenges, and opportunities for creating and sustaining multiculturally affirming campus communities. [sample syllabus]

CSP 6040: Educational Outcomes of American Colleges and Universities (3)—Examination of the impact of post-secondary educational institutions on students; exploration of barriers to student development and the role of student affairs in reducing these barriers and increasing the beneficial impacts. [sample syllabus]

CSP 6050: Capstone Seminar (3)—This seminar is designed to promote the integration of the core curriculum and practitioner experiences of the master’s degree program in CSP and to prepare students for their transitions to professional positions within student affairs upon graduation.

CSP 6890: Supervised Field Experience in College Student Personnel (6)—Student must be engaged in supervised experience in appropriate areas of higher education and student affairs. Participation in regularly scheduled seminars dealing with analysis of issues in higher education is required.

EDFI 6410: Statistics in Education (3)—Statistics as a tool in education and research, descriptive statistics, transformation of scores, sampling and probability, linear correlation and regression, introduction to statistical inference, basic tests of significance, and effect size.

EDFI 6420: Research in Education (3)—Identification and evaluation of research problems, research designs, use of library resources, data gathering, and writing research reports.

Departmental Electives
Many of the following departmental courses may serve as electives in fulfilling the 12 semester hours of elective courses required for completion of the master’s degree:

CSP 6200: A Developmental Perspective on the Adult Learner
CSP 6220: Student Services for the Adult Learner
CSP 6300: Issues in College Student Personnel
CSP 6340: The Adult Learner in Higher Education
CSP 6450: Legal Issues in Student Affairs
CSP 6800: Graduate Seminar in College Student Personnel
CSP 6800: Service Learning in Higher Education
CSP 6800: Social Justice Training and Education
CSP 6800: Spiritual Dimensions of Student Development
CSP 6800: Students with Disabilities in Higher Education
CSP 6800: Women in Higher Education
CSP 6840: Readings in Application of College Student Personnel Concepts and Procedures
CSP 6900: Directed Research in College Student Personnel
CSP 6970: Practicum in College Student Personnel
CSP 6990: Thesis Research
HIED 7340: College and University Teaching

Additional Electives
Courses from other graduate departments and programs may also serve to fulfill requirements in conjunction with the program requirements noted above.

The Graduate Catalog provides descriptions and more detailed information on each course offered.

CSP students have recently taken electives in these departments:

• Career and Technology Education
• Graduate Business Administration
• Guidance and Counseling
• Human Movement, Sport, and Leisure Studies
• Organizational Development
• Popular Culture
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Women’s Studies
  

Required Internship
Completion of a two-year internship is a required part of the CSP program at BGSU. Internships offer the opportunity to acquire valuable professional experience and skills and to apply what is being learned in the classroom. 

All internships provide an academic year salary plus a tuition scholarship for 42 credits, provided the student remains in good academic standing. Students pay the general fee. (See Office of the Bursar website for rates.) 

The average salary is approximately $9000 for an academic-year contract and varies by position. Live-in positions provide room and board. Approximately 35 internships are available each year in a variety of functional areas and institutional settings.

Internships are available on the BGSU campus and in cooperation with ten nearby colleges and universities. Internships at these partnership institutions are structured so that students typically spend two days at BGSU in classes and three days at the internship site. These partnership internships require that you begin your academic work in June so that you have a lighter course load in your first year. We strongly recommend that candidates avoid making summer commitments until after the admission and internship processes are finalized so they will be able to consider the widest variety of internship opportunities.

Partnership institutions include:

• Ashland University, Ashland, OH
• Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH
• Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, OH
• Owens Community College, Findlay, OH
• Bluffton University, Bluffton, OH
• Owens Community College, Toledo, OH
• Heidelberg University, Tiffin, OH
• Tiffin University, Tiffin, OH
• Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Practicum Experiences
Many students in the CSP program choose an additional academic experience known as a practicum. A practicum experience typically lasts one semester and is an excellent opportunity for students to gain experience in another facet of student affairs, deepen experience within a functional area, and/or learn about practice in a different institutional setting.

Past practicums have been archived in an electronic Practicum Binder blog. In addition to providing a fully searchable database, practicums listed in the blog can be sorted by competency, credit hours, semester, and institution.