Date: October 27, 2009
Contact: Deanna Smith, Coordinator
Academic Outreach Office
417-255-7931

    WEST PLAINS, Mo.– Officials in the Department of Counseling at Missouri State University in Springfield will offer a new cohort of classes at Missouri State-West Plains for students interested in the Master of Science in Counseling degree with the Elementary Education option.
    The classes will be offered through Missouri State’s Academic Outreach office on the West Plains campus beginning with the Spring 2010 Semester, Academic Outreach Coordinator Deanna Smith said.
    Nearly all of the classes required for the degree will be available on the West Plains campus, either through on-site instruction or via interactive television, Smith said.  Four of the required classes will need to be taken on the Springfield campus, she added.
    Area residents interested in the Secondary Education or Community Agency option will still be able to take some of the core classes that are required for all three options on the West Plains campus, Smith said.  The remainder of the classes specifically required for those options, however, will need to be completed on the Springfield campus, she added.
    Students may enroll in up to nine hours of program study during the spring semester before applying for official enrollment into the program and going through the selection process, Smith said.  The next deadline for admission to the counseling program for the Summer and Fall 2010 Semesters is Feb. 1, 2010, she added.
    Smith said it is imperative for students who have not completed the program’s admission process to do so by Feb. 1, if they want to continue the program after the Spring 2010 Semester.
    Area residents without teaching certification who would like to become elementary school counselors also can complete additional education courses on the local campus to fulfill requirements needed to work in the schools, Smith said.
    For more information about the Master of Science in Counseling degree and its three options, as well as admissions procedures for the program, call Academic Outreach Coordinator Deanna Smith at 417-255-7931 or e-mail Smith at deannasmith@missouristate.edu.  Spring 2010 Semester classes begin Jan. 11, 2010.