UW Regents approve another new Master’s at UW-Parkside
At the October UW Regents meeting, board members approved a new master of science degree in clinical mental health counseling at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The master’s program is the third new graduate degree added in the UW-Parkside College of Natural and Health Sciences in the past 18 months.
In April 2016, the Regents approved an online master’s in health and wellness management offered by UW-Parkside in collaboration with five other UW System institutions. In August 2016, the Regents approved a UW-Parkside master’s in sport management.
“The master’s degrees added in the college are in areas of high demand for the region,” said Dr. Emmanuel Otu, dean of the UW-Parkside College of Natural and Health Sciences. “Graduates from these programs will provide the workforce talent businesses and organizations need.”
In 2016, there were 2,500 jobs in mental-health counseling in Wisconsin. The state’s 2026 job-trend forecast shows an increase of 18.4 percent. UW-Parkside will offer students in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois the option of a high-quality, lower-cost alternative to many private institutions in the area.
“The degree program is a natural extension of the Psychology Department’s existing undergraduate certificate in mental health skills,” said Dr. Michael Gurtman, UW-Parkside psychology professor and chair of the Psychology Department.
The new master’s in clinical mental health counseling addresses an important change in licensure requirements. Beginning in September 2018, anyone applying to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Wisconsin must be a graduate from a 60-credit master’s degree counseling program. The new clinical mental health counseling degree will equip graduates with the education and clinical practice requirements to successfully petition for licensure as an LPC in Wisconsin, and other states, following completion of 3,000 hours of post-degree supervised professional counseling practice.
For more information on the new master of science in clinical mental health counseling at UW-Parkside, contact the Admissions Office at admissions@uwp.edu or call 262-595-2355.