Academics

Q&A with Mary Andrus, program director

How is your program operating in regards to in-person classes, online classes, and practicum?

We offer access to the art studio spaces for creation and to access supplies on campus for all AT students weekly. We offer a mix of in person (socially distanced with masks and safety protocols), fully online and hi-flex(some students in class, some online). Our practicum and internship placements also are continuing to offer services to the community, in both in person and online formats. We have adapted to meet the needs of the students and work to offer a quality learning experience despite the challenges of the pandemic.

The small, tight-knit cohort model is one of the unique and desirable aspects of our programs. How is that sense of connection still fostered within the cohorts under the current circumstances?

In some ways the pandemic has strengthened the connection of our students to one another. We have established a weekly studio space for all AT students to make art accompanied with two virtual studio spaces where students make art in the Art Therapy Process Session with a facilitated prompt, or to connect as it relates to social/political reflections in the Art for Social Change group.

We also have shifted many of our classes to work on building intimate connections through dedicated class time for activities to build cohesion and offer support. We use a variety of online tools for sharing artwork. This year we met at the beginning of the year and embellished plaster casts of our faces to reflect on the pandemic, racial inequality and stress of 2020. We are working on an art installation of the masks on campus and have a shared private space where students can show their artwork to one another. Our students also take elective classes together, bridging the three cohorts, this has been helpful in building connections across groups. Many of the students engage with one another by utilizing a private shared virtual space to pose questions and offer support to each other. The program director sends out weekly email updates to all the students in the program and is hosting weekly meetings for people to answer questions and offer support.

What barriers have been removed by being able to access education remotely?

I think the major thing people have discussed is the time spent commuting back and forth to and from campus.

What is an unexpected advantage to distance learning?

The ways that students have grown in expanding how they frame art therapy and considering how it can be facilitated through virtual means to provide more access to clients . Students also have found that they have learned how to cope with loss, the value of regulating oneself during a crisis that transfers to how to manage your own stress so you can be available to support others.

Q&A with Lana Kim, program director

How is your program operating in regards to in-person classes, online classes, and practicum?

Currently, all of our classes are being taught in a virtual format. However, the decision to do this has been in response to the majority of students’ preference and needs for virtual classes. We are keeping both the safety of our community and quality of instruction at the forefront of our programming. As the pandemic evolves, we will continue to explore students’ preferences/needs related to instructional format, and the possibilities given the status of the pandemic at any given time. In-person instruction will be determined on a class by class basis. In terms of our internship courses, students are receiving virtual telesupervision and providing virtual telemental health in their practicum classes at the Lewis & Clark Community Counseling Center and in many of their externship placements. However, some students are also doing in-person clinical work at their externships.

The small, tight-knit cohort model is one of the unique and desirable aspects of our programs. How is that sense of connection still fostered within the cohorts under the current circumstances?

Our family therapy program models a relational approach and we strive to build positive, working relationships with students and help them do so with one another. In terms of our programming, we try to keep class sizes small by offering multiple sections of each core course to allow for plenty of discussion and interaction. In addition, many classes have implemented creative uses for Zoom, including small group discussions in Zoom breakout rooms. Faculty are available for Zoom meetings outside of class. In addition, there are three primary ways in which cohort connection has been facilitated outside of classes: (1) Faculty host a zoom check-in meeting once a semester with each cohort and the Program Director hosts an alumni/student mixer; (2) Each cohort has elected cohort representatives who take an active role to facilitate ways for the cohort to connect and develop relationships; and (3) the graduate school has made Zoom accounts available to students so that they can meet for group work and collaboration. There is also designated space on-campus for small group work for students who wish to meet with one another in-person.

What barriers have been removed by being able to access education remotely?

All MCFT core courses are being taught virtually to ensure inclusion of those who cannot participate in-person. The graduate school provides tech support for students to become versed in programs such as Zoom and Google suite, to support their virtual classes. If instructors decide to offer certain courses in-person, they will offer them in a hyflex format to include virtual learners, or designate specific sections of the course for virtual instruction.

What has been an unexpected upside to distance learning?

We have discovered that Zoom enables us to maintain an active teaching approach in a virtual space. Instructors and students have also reported that teaching in a virtual space has paved the way for pedagogical strategies such as prerecorded screencast lectures that students can review at their own pace which would not be possible with traditional classroom lectures.

Q&A with Stella Kerl-McClain, co-program director

How is your program operating in regards to in-person classes, online classes, and practicum?

We have been offering both Hyflex and online-only courses. The Hyflex courses meet in person but have a remote option as well for students who are not able to do not feel comfortable coming to campus for class. The majority of courses have been online-only due to higher demand for online courses. Practicum clinic has been all online (telehealth) as well.

The small, tight-knit cohort model is one of the unique and desirable aspects of our programs. How is that sense of connection still fostered within the cohorts under the current circumstances?

I expected there to be less connection, but in reality I haven’t noticed it in my classes at all. Perhaps it’s a different kind of connection: the students have been using slack and they talk to each other all the time! They all seem to know each other and have even met in person (with physical distance) on their own on campus. The group projects have been excellent so far.

What barriers have been removed by being able to access education remotely?

Students who have underlying conditions or live with vulnerable populations have been able to participate freely and fully. Students who were not able to move to Portland at this time were also able to participate. Students who are more introverted have been able to participate more and with more depth than they might in in-person classes.

What has been an unexpected upside to distance learning?

It has challenged me to be especially creative for the asynchronous activities. I used to assume that in-person was all-around best but when I go back to in-person I don’t want to give up most of the activities that I have designed for the asynchronous portions of my courses. There is so much variety now: the recorded lecture, the slides without lecture, the readings, the videos, the forums, and the activities (i.e., drawings, photographs, songs and other music, meme challenges, haiku/limerick/free verses to comment on readings or videos) and synchronous activities (role-plays, discussions, sharing out of activities, self-compassion group exercises, etc). Plus everything is organized and neatly available online.

A message from Heather Hadraba, program director

The school counseling program continues to deliver a comprehensive and personalized program plan for all students. Currently, the school counseling program is primarily online however we look forward to moving towards more hybrid and in person classes while prioritizing student safety and health. The unique features of the program, such as small class sizes, individualized student attention, social justice and antiracism remain the hallmarks of the program.

We are immersed in the various models of current K-12 school education and have supported flexible internship requirements.

We strive to be responsive to student needs beyond their school life and are constantly supporting the priorities within our L&C school counseling community.

We commit to providing an exceptional graduate school experience and we are grateful for our amazing students!

Q&A with Elena Diamond, program director

How is your program operating in regard to in-person classes, online classes, and practicum?

Currently, the majority of our classes are online only with a few classes running two sections (one section on campus/ one section online) and one class is running hyflex (instructor and some students on campus while the rest of the class zooms in). For classes that had an on campus option, students were given the option to choose between online and on campus.

This spring all of our classes will be online only. Summer TBD.

Practicum and internship are both online at this time as well. All of our students have placements and supervisors like they would in a typical year. Local schools are virtual so most service delivery at this time is virtual, but some buildings are open so some students have been able to go to their site to meet with their supervisor, review materials, zoom in together to meetings, etc. Some students have also gone with teams to do home visits to check in with students and families, deliver resources, etc.

The small, tight-knit cohort model is one of the unique and desirable aspects of our programs. How is that sense of connection still fostered within the cohorts under the current circumstances?

Although everyone can’t be together at this time, there is something intimate about zooming into the classroom. In some ways, students are more connected because you can see all the faces on the screen together, rather than needing to scan the room when talking in class. We can also quickly move into breakout rooms to have smaller discussions and then return to the class to debrief and share out.

Cohorts are also able to lean on each other at this time because they are all experiencing the pandemic and online learning together. We take time in class to acknowledge challenges and identify needed supports.

There have also been virtual socials outside of class that have aided in the community building of the cohorts and program.

What barriers have been removed by being able to access education remotely?

Some students are currently living out of state and did not need to move to Portland to attend class. Further, students who live somewhat local and typically commute to campus (+/- 1 to 2 hours) no longer need to commute at this time.

In some classes some material is asynchronous and students are able to access this on their own time. One student shared that she re-listened to lectures while running as a way to study.

We recently had our 6th annual alumni event (first virtual alumni event) and alum were able to join from across the country. Because the event was virtual alum were able to attend who otherwise would not have given the distance. Our students attend this event as well, and they were able to hear from psychs across districts and states to hear how the roles were similar and different. Almost 100 people zoomed in!

What has been an unexpected upside to distance learning?

Many faculty have completely revamped their curriculum in response to online learning and agree that these changes make their classes stronger. Activities, lectures, and how class is conceptualized overall has shifted and in many ways these changes will remain even when campus is fully open again.

Also, practicum students are able to attend many more meetings and observe more opportunities at their sites than they typically would because everything is virtual. It is easy to zoom into a meeting that is not a “typical” practicum day (practicum students only spend about 10 hours a week at their sites across one or two days). If everything were on campus it is unlikely that a student would drive to their practicum site just for that meeting, but with everything virtual, these learning opportunities are much more accessible.

We pivoted quickly in the spring and took time to plan over the summer. As we spend more time online we become more efficient and find new ways to integrate more technology and creative learning strategies.

Q&A with Brenda Valles, program director

How is your program operating in regards to in-person classes, online classes, and practicum?

The SAA Program has been online. Practicum is about to begin and the majority of these will be remote experiences.

The small, tight-knit cohort model is one of the unique and desirable aspects of our programs. How is that sense of connection still fostered within the cohorts under the current circumstances?

To foster connection, the SAA Program has utilized accessible software like flipgrid to create student profiles and post resources and updates for students. Students from the cohort that graduated during the beginning of the pandemic had a Program happy hour and we also had a virtual graduation party. This fall we have hosted a teach-in with all students as part of the #ScholarStrike and brought the program together for a dialogue about Black Lives in higher education and what our program needs to do to improve inclusion and access. We are also planning a virtual game night for this fall. This is all in addition to increased one-on-one time with students as well as built in-class time to have one-on-one time with students.

What barriers have been removed by being able to access education remotely?

Students that had to leave the state due to financial constraints brought on by our context have been able to continue and participate in the program uninterrupted. We can have collective and group work safely.

What has been an unexpected upside to distance learning?

There is an increased amount of one-on-one time with students.

Q&A with Linda Griffin, program director

How is your program operating in regards to in-person classes, online classes, and practicum?

The elementary MAT program has operated with classes in a distance learning format since the start of the program in June. Each course consists of a purposeful combination of synchronous class meetings via Zoom and asynchronous course activities using a wide range of online teaching tools. The college is set up for a hyflex or fully in-person delivery of classes, but in periodic surveys our students have voiced a strong preference for distance learning.

Our distance learning delivery mirrors the modality for all of the schools in the Portland Metro area, where K-12 students are receiving their instruction in a distance learning mode. This means all of our teacher candidates are engaged in student teaching in distance learning classrooms. In some cases, the teachers are delivering instruction from the school classroom, and in those situations the student teacher joins the mentor teacher at the school.

The small, tight-knit cohort model is one of the unique and desirable aspects of our programs. How is that sense of connection still fostered within the cohorts under the current circumstances?

Our program recognizes the importance of the cohort structure and has deliberately and intentionally provided opportunities for relationship building. This started prior to our Zoom-based orientation in June when we used FlipGrid videos as a platform for students to introduce themselves to each other. Instructors frequently use breakout rooms during class time which affords students the opportunity to interact in a more informal setting.

In addition, we have organized regular on-campus social gatherings for the cohort. When these occur, we gather (masked and socially distanced) on the lawn outside Rogers Hall for conversation and personal sharing between students and faculty.

In addition, our students have created their own social connections. They created a Slack channel which they use for sharing about a wide range of topics (e.g. assignments, social events they have organized, discussion about student teachers, etc.)

What barriers have been removed by being able to access education remotely?

Students who need to travel or live outside of Portland for any reason are able to continue their studies. We have had several people who had to go out of town (for such things as funerals or to assist family members) and have been able to join their LC classes and their student teaching classrooms from a remote location.

It has also been possible for our students who are parents themselves to remain in the program while supporting their school-aged children who are in remote learning. If our classes were in person, this would have created a hardship (childcare) for them.

What has been an unexpected upside to distance learning?

As a program we can be much more flexible and responsive in distance learning. For example, it takes just a couple of clicks to set up a help session for our students via Zoom, without constraints and logistics of finding a classroom space that is available.

Distance learning has pushed all of the LC faculty to “up our technology game.” We have all learned new technology tools that allow us to engage students in our content in innovative ways.

We have also used distance learning technology to provide outside experts such as past grads of the program and other guest speakers. The virtual space means we have fewer constraints when considering who might be available to speak with our students.

Q&A with Liza Finkel, program director

How is your program operating in regards to in-person classes, online classes, and practicum?

The Secondary MAT program is currently offering all of our classes online, with the understanding that we will revisit this decision periodically to make sure it continues to meet our needs and be the best response to the pandemic. Teacher candidates are all placed in local school districts in middle and high school classrooms with experienced mentors and are teaching online in some combination of synchronous and asynchronous lessons.

The small, tight-knit cohort model is one of the unique and desirable aspects of our programs. How is that sense of connection still fostered within the cohorts under the current circumstances?

Our candidates are grouped into two cohorts and have been working together in these groups since the start of the program in June. From the very first class, Writing and the Writing Process, all of our instructors work to help candidates connect with one another through opportunities to share their experiences, hopes, and concerns in writing and through discussion. Classes all use a variety of groupings, from whole class conversations to small group discussions and projects. In addition to meeting in cohorts, Secondary candidates attend some classes in content area groups, and some classes with all of the other candidates in the Secondary MAT Program. This variety of groupings helps candidates form connections both within and beyond their cohort. We are also continuing to support candidates with one-on-one meetings with content area coordinators (who teach the content area methods classes) and with seminar instructors (who lead our cohorts). Holding Zoom office hours, and opening Zoom classes a bit early, in addition to formal one-on-one meetings, provide candidates the chance to connect with program faculty more informally and learn more about one another.

What barriers have been removed by being able to access education remotely?

One thing that I have noticed is that we can no longer take it for granted that all of our K-12 students are engaged with the learning only because they are in a desk in the classroom. The online setting makes K-12 students’ lack of engagement easier to identify and pushes us as teachers to learn more about each student as we work to plan teaching that engages them all. I also think that teaching online has required all of us to pare our teaching down to the essentials – the idea of teaching fewer topics more deeply is one that I have ascribed to for a long time, and I honestly feel that, maybe for the first time, I am really doing that. Finally, teaching online in ways that engage K-12 students also supports our giving them more opportunities for independent work and to choose among different ways to access content or demonstrate their understanding. This is another dimension of good teaching that has been highlighted in the online setting.

What has been an unexpected upside to distance learning?

One unexpected upside to teaching in Zoom or Google Hangouts is the ease with which we can invite guests into our classrooms to meet and work with candidates. Of course, we could have done this before, but now we have the technology at our fingertips and in our classrooms. Another upside is the increase in teacher collaboration. Instead of planning and teaching alone, more teachers are planning together and collaborating to develop new lessons and activities for their K-12 students. This is great for the K-12 students in their classrooms, for the teachers themselves who benefit from the collegiality and professional collaboration, and for teacher candidates who will come to see this way of working as normal and expected.