Deeya Gupta & Jordan DelFiugo
USF is considering ending its Clinical Psychology Doctoral (PsyD) program due rising financial concerns. In February, the School of Nursing and Health Professions proposed to eliminate the program but on March 20, the Joint University-Wide Curriculum Committee voted to reject the proposal. At the time of print, the program’s future remains uncertain.
Kellie Samson, USF spokesperson said that the School of Nursing and Health Professionals conducted a multi-year review and analysis of enrollment, attrition and completion trends in the PsyD program. “After communicating the findings to students, faculty, and staff, a formal recommendation to close the program has been made by school leadership.”
Dr. Alette Coble-Temple, director of the PsyD program, said that in November 2020, the leadership of the School of Nursing and Health Professions instructed the PsyD program to increase its financial contribution, with all programs being asked to meet a 40% contribution budget. At the time, the PsyD program’s contribution was just 7%.
In an effort to address these financial concerns, Coble-Temple said she proposed making changes to the program though “restructuring the courses, restructuring workloads, units and working to secure funding outside of the program.”
She continued, “I was working with the association every week, I would come into the meeting with different ideas, and then I was told to stop generating ideas. That I needed to focus my time elsewhere.”
According to Samson, “Since 2022, the SONHP leadership has collaboratively engaged the program in addressing concerns associated with ongoing sustainability through strategic curricular and other program administration modifications,”
She continued, “However, the findings of the Fall 2024 sustainability assessment still clearly show that the program continues to require substantial resources beyond the revenue generated to meet the needs of future students.
Dr. Miguel Frank, a 2018 graduate of the PsyD program and now a counselor at San Jose State University, expressed concern about the impact the program’s closure would have on the local community.
“I think it would be catastrophic,”Frank said. “A lot of these organizations[…] their resources are stretched thin. If you take that away from them, I wonder, these programs, will they be able to continue existing without the support from our graduate students?”
Reflecting on how the program has been essential to his own career and his work in underserved communities, Frank said, “I worked in Bayview-Hunters Point, providing counseling and mental health services at a local middle school. Without the program, those communities wouldn’t have had access to those services,” he continued, “That experience really solidified my commitment to serving marginalized groups, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.”
Frank was one of 3,556 who signed the Change.org petition “Petition to Preserve the PsyD program at the University of San Francisco” that was started by the PsyD program faculty and staff. The petition, which closed on March 14 ahead of the Joint University-Wide Curriculum Committee meeting, called on the University to “Reconsider and deny the recommendation to close the PsyD program.” The petition also read, “We remain committed to working with the administration to explore sustainable alternatives that will preserve this vital program and continue its legacy of excellence and service.”
Samson said, “We recognize that this news is very disappointing to so many at SONHP, especially given the critically important clinical contributions the PsyD program and its graduates have made to patients and families.”
She continued, “The PsyD program has contributed in important ways to the lives and professions of our faculty, students, staff, and alumni, as well as to the community, profession, school, and university. We are fortunate and grateful that USF has additional programs which also contribute to the mental health needs of diverse communities in the Bay Area and across the nation.”
As discussions about the program’s future continue, Coble-Temple said she is committed to ensuring that current students can complete their training if the program does eventually close.
“First of all, I want to be clear that the program hasn’t collapsed and they have pointed out that the program is fully accredited,” Coble-Temple said. The program was first created in 2013, receiving ten years of accreditation from the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2023. The ten-year term is the highest level of accreditation given by the APA. “If the decision ultimately becomes that the program is officially set to close, we will offer a teach-out for the students.”
She said that in this event, PsyD faculty would seek alternative ways to provide students with valuable experiences, “We remain committed to working with the administration to explore sustainable alternatives that will preserve this vital program and continue its legacy of excellence and service,” Coble-Temple said.
“Following university policy and procedures, the final decision on the program’s closure will be made by the university provost,” Samson said. “Current students will be notified of the decision, and if the university decides to sunset the doctoral program, USF stands by its commitment to teach out the program and students will be counseled on the options for successfully continuing their course of study.
The University has not yet disclosed a timeline for a final decision on the program’s closure.
Editor-in-Chief: Jordan Premmer, Chief Copy Editor: Sophia McCrackin, Managing Editor: Jordan DelFiugo, News Editor: Deeya Gupta, Sports Editor: John Lindroos
