The University of Great Falls

MSC 526: Professional Ethics (3 credits)

Spring 2008

Class meeting time: Wednesdays from 10-11 am

Emily Hall, Technology Classroom (first floor)

 

Professor:      Dr. Molly Cox

Office:             Faculty Office Suite #104 (in the library)

Office hours:  Tuesday 1-2:15; 4-5

                        Wednesday: 11:30-1:30

                        Thursday: 1-2; 4-5

                        Friday: 2:30-4:30

Phone:            (406)791-5348  Fax: 406-791-5990

E-mail:           mcox01@ugf.edu

 

Textbooks (required):

Herlihy, B., & Corey, G. (2006). ACA ethical standards casebook (6th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

 

Remley, T. P., & Herlihy, B. (2007). Ethical, legal, and professional issues in counseling (Updated 2nd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

 

Textbook (highly recommended):

American Psychological Association. (2002). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

 

Readings:

Materials and articles may be assigned as they become available.

 

Course Description:

From the graduate catalog:

“Ethical guidelines for decision making and practice in the helping professions. Codes of ethics and legal requirements for counselors, educators, psychologists, and other professionals working with various clients. Examines the basis for ethical judgments and explores ethical responsibilities to clients, colleagues, organizations, and society.”

 

In your professor’s words:

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to ethical and legal issues in counseling, and to help students understand the implications of their professional actions. These goals will be accomplished by learning about ethics as they pertain to professional counseling, in addition to exploring possible ethical dilemmas and their solutions.

 

Course Goals:

1.      To provide participants with a broad theoretical base that serves as the basis of a personal model of counseling.

2.  To provide participants with opportunities to develop knowledge and skills necessary for self-growth and self-care for continued exemplary practice through time.

3.  To prepare students for passage of the state licensure exam as a basis for entering a professional counselor role.

4.  To deliver knowledge and skills necessary for a professional counselor as set forth in the eight common core areas of the CACREP criteria. 

5.  To prepare students to assume leadership positions in their professions and their communities.

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Know and apply psychological principles of personal, social, and organizational issues.
  2. Demonstrate the ability to weight evidence, tolerate ambiguity, act ethically, and reflect other values that are the underpinnings of counseling as a science.
  3. Demonstrate the ability to use computers and other technology appropriate to the science and practice of counseling.
  4. Communicate effectively in a variety of formats, including writing assignments and discussions.
  5. Develop realistic ideas about how to implement their counseling knowledge, skills, and values in occupational pursuits in a variety of settings.

 

Course Requirements:

Text: Students are responsible for reading all assigned materials.

 

Lecture Videos: Students are responsible for watching all assigned videos.

 

Attendance: Attendance will be taken. If a student misses class, they are required to write a 5-page paper that discusses the topics covered in that class (APA format, please). Because we only have class once a week, more than 2 absences this semester will result in a lowering of your overall grade by 5 points (If you had a 93% average at the end of the semester but missed three classes, your overall grade becomes an 88%). Please be on time to class- we only have one hour together per week!

 

Participation: I expect participation from all class members. Conversely, I expect the floor to be shared amongst all class members (no “hogging” time, please). Please be on time to class- we will start promptly at 10 am.

 

Examinations: There will be 2 examinations (mid-term and final). The final examination is not cumulative. Each examination is worth 100 points, and will consist of multiple choice and essay questions. You may email me your answers, or turn them in in person (if you are an on- campus student). Late turn ins are not acceptable.

            Mid-term exam due date: 27 February by midnight (becomes available on       February 19). We will not meet on February 27 so that you can use this time to complete your midterm.

            Final exam due date: April 30 by midnight (becomes available on April 22). We will not meet on April 30 so that you can use this time to complete your final examination.

 

Paper: Students will write a 5-page reaction paper to an ethical issue relevant to counseling. Those 5 pages are 5 pages of actual text; with the cover page, abstract, and references, your paper will be at least 8 pages long. The paper must be written in APA format. The student should include at least 5 professional, peer-reviewed sources (i.e., professional journals such as the Journal of Counseling and Development). Attach copies of your articles/resources when you email/turn in your paper (if you choose to email me your paper, you’ll need to download the articles from the internet and save them to your computer). Late papers will be docked one letter grade for each day after the turn-in date.

            Paper due date: March 26

 

Ethical Case Studies: Students will respond to 4 of any of the 20 case studies offered in Herlihy & Corey’s textbook. You are free to choose from any of the 20 case studies; ensure that you list the case number from the textbook on your cover page. Your case study should be between 1 to 2 pages long (not including the cover page). Case studies do not need to be in APA format. The goal of the case studies is for me to follow you along as you think through an ethical situation (there are no right- or necessarily wrong- thoughts). Due dates are January 30, February 13, April 9, and April 23. Late case studies will receive a zero.

 

Course Grades:

Attendance

(5 points per class)               65 points

Participation                          35 points

Exams (2 x 100)                   200 points

Paper                                      100 points

Case Studies  (4 x 25)          100 points

 

Final Grade:

450-500 points        A

400-449 points         B

350-399 points         C

300-349 points         D

 <299 points             F

 

Class Schedule (what you need to read/view for the next class period):

 

Date of meeting

Assignment to read this week

Lecture to view this week

January 16

Chapter 1 (Remley & Herlihy); peruse the ACA Code of Ethics (found in both textbooks) and on-line at www.counseling.org

Lecture 1

Lecture 2

January 23

Chapter 2 (Remley & Herlihy); Section A.1 of ACA Code of Ethics (COE)

Lecture 3

January 30

Chapter 3 and Appendix C (Remley & Herlihy)

Case study #1 Due

Lecture 4

February 6

Chapter 4 (Remley & Herlihy); Section A.2 of ACA COE

Lecture 5

February 13

Chapter 5 (Remley & Herlihy); Section B of ACA COE

Case study #2 Due

Lecture 6

February 20

Chapter 6 (Remley & Herlihy); Section A.6-A.8.b of ACA COE

Lecture 7

February 27

Midterm Examination (covers chapters 1-6)

 

March 5

No class- Spring Break

 

March 12

Chapter 7 (Remley & Herlihy); Section C of COE

Lecture 8

March 19

Chapter 8 (Remley & Herlihy)

Lecture 9

March 26

Chapter 9(Remley & Herlihy)

Paper due

Lecture 10

April 2

Chapter 11 (247-249; 252-257; 260-267 (Remley & Herlihy)

Lecture 11

April 9

Chapter 12(Remley & Herlihy); COE section E

Case study #3 due

Lecture 12

April 16

Chapter 14 (Remley & Herlihy); Section F COE- stop at section F.6

Lecture 13

April 23

Chapters 15 & 16 (Remley & Herlihy); Section H COE

Lecture 14

Case study #4 due

April 30

Final Examination

Final due by midnight

 

Policy on academic misconduct:  dishonesty, plagiarism and cheating:

The hallmark of any serious academic study is a commitment to the truth.  Students in this class are expected to meet rigorous standards of honesty.  Students are on their honor to avoid acts of academic dishonesty.  Such acts include:

·        Cheating: Use or attempted use of unauthorized material or the work of another student in any academic assignment, paper, or examination.

·        Plagiarism: Intentional representation of another's work as one's own. This includes the unauthorized and unacknowledged use of the phrases, sentences, paragraphs, ideas, illustrations, drawings, photographs, or computer programs of another.

Students who engage in these behaviors will receive a failing grade (an “F”) for this course.  Severe or repeated instance of academic misconduct will result in more severe sanctions up to and including expulsion from the university.    

 

Policy on Diversity:

University-level education is about broadening horizons and looking at academic issues from a variety of perspectives.  With this in mind, the participants in this class are encouraged to bring their own life experiences and viewpoints to bear on classroom discussions and assignments.  Along with the freedom to express one's own view comes the responsibility of race, ethnicity, age, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, martial-status, or political ideology.  In other words:  you must be kind.  Intolerance is never acceptable.

 

A Few Final Notes

This course is technology based, especially if you are a distance student. As such, you need to make sure you have the technology to fulfill the requirements of this course (video conferencing abilities, email, DVD or VHS player, etc).

 

As much as technology is a requisite of this class, please turn your cell phones off and do not text/instant mess age during class.

 

Some of the topics that will be discussed in this class are adult in nature. Therefore, children are not welcome to attend class (or “eavesdrop,” for distance students).