TPC_Journal_10.4_Full_Issue

464 The Professional Counselor | Volume 10, Issue 4 Carnegie Classification The final theme represented participant viewpoints regarding the role of Carnegie classification (i.e., The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education) in doctoral program delivery. Participants held a range of views related to Carnegie classification, often stemming from their own institutional work. Participants believed that high-quality programs reflected the classification of their institution, as aligning with the institutional mission was associated with institutional support (similar to the mission alignment theme). There were two dimensions within this category: institutional type and Carnegie classification, and focus areas impacted by Carnegie classification. Institution Type and Carnegie Classification Participants acknowledged that a variety of doctoral program types exist in CES. As one participant stated, “When you talk about a doctoral program in counseling, you can have a doctoral program in a heavy research university with a Research 1 Carnegie classification. You can also have a more practiceoriented PhD.” Participants perceived that doctoral program types often reflect the type of institution where the doctoral program resides. Doctoral programs that emphasize research primarily exist at research universities, whereas doctoral programs that emphasize teaching primarily exist within teaching institutions. Carnegie classification seemed important in determining the type of doctoral program that was offered at the institution. Participants at high and very high research-intensive universities (i.e., R2 and R1 Carnegie classifications) typically reported that their institution offered research-oriented doctoral programs, whereas participants working at doctoral/professional universities and master’slevel universities reported that their institution typically offered teaching-oriented doctoral programs. Carnegie classification thus was a strong influence on the type of CES doctoral program offered at the institution. As one participant said, “I think the Carnegie classification is actually pretty critical. Because the Carnegie classification, alongside state politics, determine where the ship of the institution is heading. And the counseling program needs to mirror the ship.” Participants reported that the university’s expectations for faculty promotion and tenure were influenced by institutional type and Carnegie classification. These expectations shaped faculty activities. One participant explained that “at a Research 1 university, there’s a huge expectation for securing grants and publishing and refereed journal articles. At a lower level there’s less pressure to do that. And then at a teaching university, there’s hardly any pressure.” University expectations for tenure and promotion thus shaped faculty activities, which in turn affected the program faculty’s approach to training doctoral students. For example, faculty members who were more involved in research seemed more likely to value research training in the doctoral program in which they worked: “So what we are good at is preparing students to be researchers. There’s a sense of trying to focus hard on helping students develop research competencies, because that is what the program faculty is focused on.” This mirroring between the institution’s classification and the doctoral program type is important to securing institutional financial support in the form of faculty lines, student assistantships, and so forth. Without this mirroring, the program is at risk of lacking institutional support, which would have an impact on its quality. Thus, the quality of the program is predicated on the program’s alignment with the institutional mission (as mentioned in the earlier theme of mission alignment), and the institutional mission is itself associated with the institution’s Carnegie classification.

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