Standards on Education and Training

Question 1

7.01 Design of Education and Training Programs

Answer 1

• Have an obligation to establish relationships of loyalty and trust with their institutions, students, and members of society who rely on academic institutions to provide the knowledge, skills, and career opportunities claimed by the specific degree program
• Responsible for administering academic programs must ensure that course requirements meet recognized standards in the relevant field

Question 2

Reasonable steps

Answer 2

Despite a program administrator’s best efforts, there may be periods during which curriculum adjustments must be made in reaction to changes in faculty composition, departmental reorganizations, institutional demands, modifications in accreditation or licensure regulations, or evolving disciplinary standards

Question 3

7.02 Descriptions of Education and Training Programs

Answer 3

• Keep program descriptions up-to-date regarding
• The required coursework and field experiences
• The educational and career objectives supported by the program
• The current faculty or supervisory staff
• The currently offered courses
• The dollar amount of available student stipends and benefits, the process of applying for these, and the obligations incurred by students, interns, or postdoctoral fellows who receive stipends or benefits
• Ensure that prospective and current students, externs, or interns are aware of program requirements to participate in personal psychotherapy or counseling, experiential groups, or any other courses or activities that require them to reveal personal thoughts or feelings

Question 4

Reasonable steps

Answer 4

Ensure up-to-date information may be constrained by publication schedules for course catalogues, webmasters not directly under the auspices of the department or program, and other institutional functions over which psychologists may have limited control

Question 5

7.03 Accuracy in Teaching

Answer 5

• Teaching psychologists provide students with accurate and timely information regarding course content
• Required and recommended readings, exams, required papers, or other forms of evaluation, and extra-classroom experiences if required
• Keep web-based references accurate and appropriately updates
• Modifications to course content or requirements do not violate this standard as long as students are made aware of such modifications in a clear and timely manner that enables them to fulfill course requirements without undue hardship.
• The pedagogical obligation of psychologists to share with students their scholarly judgment and expertise along with the right of students to receive an accurate representation of the subject matter enabling them to evaluate where a professor’s views fit within the large discipline.

Question 6

7.04 Student Disclosure of Personal Information

Answer 6

Prohibits psychologists from requiring students or supervisees to disclose

• Clear identification of Requirements: teaching and supervisory psychologists may require disclosure of information about sexual experiences, history of abuse, psychological treatment, or relationships with significant others only if the admissions and program materials have clearly identified that students or supervisees will be expected to reveal such information if admitted into the program
• When students’ personal problems may interfere with their ability to competently perform professionally related activities or pose a threat of self-harm or harm to others

Question 7

7.05 Mandatory Individual or Group Therapy

Answer 7

• Addresses the privacy rights of psychology students enrolled in programs that require individual or group psychotherapy
• Does not prevent programs from instituting a screening and approval process for practitioners outside the program whom students may see for required psychotherapy
• Does not apply to postdoctoral programs
• Protects a student’s right to keep personal information private from program-affiliated practitioners
• Protects the student from grading or performance evaluation biases that might arise if a faculty member who serves as the student’s psychotherapist is also involved in judging his or her academic performance

Question 8

7.06 Assessing Student and Supervisee Performance

Answer 8

Psychologists must inform students and supervisees

• When and how often they will be evaluated
• The basis for evaluation
• The timing and manner in which feedback will be provided
• Fairness and justice require that academic and supervisory evaluations should never be based on student personal characteristics that have not been observed to affect their performance or that are outside the established bounds of program requirements

Question 9

7.07 Sexual Relationships With Students and Supervisees

Answer 9

• Having sexual relationships with students or supervisees is specifically prohibited
• Applies to sexual relationships between graduate assistants and students when assistants are either student members of the American Psychology Association or their department has adopted the APA Ethics Code in its policies and procedures