Student Rights and Responsibilities
Richmont Graduate University is committed to honoring our mission and our students by setting standards of excellence in the areas of academics, clinical work, interpersonal skills, and personal growth. The university is also committed to students’ engagement in the evaluation process, which includes providing students with full information about the process, their roles and the role of the faculty.
Richmont encourages expression of ideas by students. Any official publication should be coordinated through the Vice President of Student Affairs Office for approval. Richmont students have the right of freedom of expression and the right of the presumption of innocence and procedural fairness in the administration of discipline. Students should not use official Richmont platforms or distribution lists to communicate their personal expression of ideas.
As students should know their rights and responsibilities, Richmont asks that all students review all program materials including, but not limited to, those posted on the university website, the Graduate Catalog, this Student Handbook, and Clinical Training Manual.
Personal Growth Expectations & Nature of Counselor Training
Participation in graduate level counseling courses can be a meaningful opportunity for personal and professional growth, self-awareness, increased insight and knowledge, and practice in making a difference in the lives of others. However, students should be aware that material covered may result in increased awareness of past and/or present emotionally-charged material from their own lives. At times this awareness may result in strong, overwhelming, or even negative responses. If and when an instructor observes these responses in a student, he or she will bring it to the student’s attention for immediate discussion and consultation. Students are strongly encouraged to make faculty aware of these strong or overwhelming personal reactions related to course experiences, materials, and assignments. While personal counseling is not required, students are also strongly encouraged to pursue their own individual counseling while in their graduate program.
Client & Student Confidentiality Expectation
Counselors recognize that trust is at the core of the counseling relationship. The American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics specifies that counselors must respect clients’ right to privacy and avoid illegal or unwarranted disclosures of confidential information. Counselors make every effort to ensure that supervisees, students, professional assistants, and volunteers also maintain clients’ privacy. Moreover, privacy and confidentiality are also applicable to counseling students’ efforts to avoid sharing identifying client information during class discussions, case presentations, or group supervision. This is especially relevant in courses included in the Clinical Training sequence: Helping Relationships, Applied Practicum and Treatment Planning, Group Counseling, Practicum, Internship I, and Internship II.
Writing & Research Standards
All papers are to conform to the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association unless otherwise specified by the instructor. All written documents are to reflect the highest standards of grammar, composition and style. Students are expected to have adequate computer skills to produce all course assignments and to conduct research for those assignments independently. Any student desiring assistance for the research or production of assignments (other than basic proof-reading) is required to seek prior approval from the professor.