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CSUF Single Subject Credential Program Admissions
- 1. Single Subject CredentialProgram Admission RequirementsCalifornia State University FullertonDr. Kristen Shand, Admissions Directorkshand@fullerton.edu
- 2. Pre-Program Preparation andAdmission
- 3. Single Subject CredentialProgram Prerequisite Courses
- 4. Enrollingin Prerequisite Courses
- 5. Verifying Subject MatterCompetency Secondary teachers must be competent and knowledgeable in the subject(s) they teach. This competency is verified by completion of a SMPP or CSET
- 6. Admission ProtocolAll requirementsfor admission must be satisfied by the application deadline:Fall deadline – February 28
- 7. Spring deadline –September 30 An extension on any admission requirement requires approval from your subject area advisor – contact them for approval Exception: Prerequisite and SMPP courses may be in progress at time of application. However, they must be complete before the start of the program.Submit all admission documents to the office of Admission to Teacher Education (CP 540).If you have admissions questions, first view the FAQs located at: http://ed.fullerton.edu/adtep/AppInfo/SingleSubject/index.htm
- 8. If you stillhave unanswered questions, please contact Dr. Kristen Shand, Admissions Director at kshand@fullerton.eduAdmission Requirements
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Editor's Notes
- #2 Hello and Welcome to the Admission Requirements presentation of the Single Subject Credential Program Overview. This presentation is designed to explain the prerequisite courses and admission requirements needed to enter the Single Subject Credential program. I’m Dr. Kristen Shand, Admissions Director for the program. Please make sure you also view the program overview presentation to familiarize yourself with the structure of the credential program.
- #3 Before you enter the Single Subject Credential Program, there is some pre-program preparation that needs to be done, and admission requirements that need to be met. In the following slides I will discuss the prerequisite courses you must take, how you verify subject matter competency in the subject area which you choose to pursue a credential, and the requirements for admission to the Single Subject Credential program.
- #4 There are four mandatory prerequisite courses and two courses we recommend you take as prerequisites. The first prerequisite course, The Teaching Experience, has a forty hour fieldwork requirement that requires on-going observations of teachers, classrooms and schools. Be sure to take this course when you have some time during the day to complete this fieldwork requirement. There is a presentation on the Admission to Teacher Education website outlining the requirements of this fieldwork component.The second prerequisite course is Adolescence and Education. The third prerequisite course is Developing Literacy in Secondary School, and the fourth course is Diversity in Secondary Schools.The two recommended prerequisite courses are EDSC 304, Personal Proficiency in Educational technology, and EDSC 410, Teaching English Learners. These two courses must taken at some time during the credential program, but not necessarily as prerequisite courses. However, we recommend you take them before you enter the program as the content you will learn in invaluable AND you will have a lighter course load enabling you to focus more on your student teaching.
- #5 There are different ways to enroll in the prerequisite courses based on your admission status. If you are a matriculated student, meaning you have been officially admitted to the university either as an undergrad or as a post-baccalaureate student, then you register for the courses through Titan Online. You access Titan Online through your student portal. If you are a non-matriculated student, meaning you have not yet been admitted to the university, you may take the prerequisite courses through University Extended Education. There are two ways to go about this. You can take our on campus classes through Open University. To do this you obtain a petition from UEE and attend the on-campus class to request enrollment from the instructor. Open University students are admitted on a space available basis. The second option is to register for our special session prerequisite courses. These courses are 100% online and begin approximately 3 weeks after the traditional semester. Registration for these classes is simple. Simply click on the link, fill in the required information, pay and you’re in.
- #6 Secondary teacher must be competent and knowledgeable in the subject they teach. Therefore, you must verify your subject matter competency. This can be done in one of two ways, you DO NOT have to do both. You can either complete a subject matter preparation program (referred to as an SMPP) or pass the appropriate subtest of the California Subject Exam for Teachers (referred to as the CSET). If you are undergraduate you will probably want to complete the SMPP in alignment with your major degree requirements. Please see your advisor soon to construct a plan to weave the SMPP courses in with your degree pathway. If you have already graduated but think you have taken all (or most) of the courses on the SMPP, meet with your advisor for a transcript evaluation. Your advisor will tell you what courses you’ve taken that are equivalent to SMPP courses, and what courses, if any, you still need to complete. If you are far from meeting the SMPP requirements you may want to consider the CSET exam. Some subject areas such as FLM, the Sciences Art, and some of the World Languages do not currently have SMPP plans so you must take the CSET in these subjects to verify subject matter competency. The CSET is a rigorous test and covers the content you would learn in SMPP courses. So please take preparation for the CSET seriously. You may ask your subject area advisor if they have any recommendations for CSET study materials. The Orange County Department of Education offers CSET test prep seminars in the content areas of English, Math, Social Science and Science. Visit their website for more information.For the sciences only (that includes biology, chemistry, geosciences and physics) a master’s degree in the subject or a closely-related subject will serve as verification of subject matter competency. If you meet this requirement you will not have to take the CSET exam, just show proof of your degree.Remember, SMPP coursework must be complete or the CSET exam must be passed prior to starting the program, so please treat this requirement with the utmost importance.
- #7 The next few slides will outline the requirements for admission to the Single Subject Credential program. The application deadline for each Fall is February 28 and the deadline for Spring is September 30. Please adhere to these deadlines and get everything in by these dates. If your file is incomplete, advisors may not consider you for admission to the program. If you need an extension on any admission requirement you need the approval of your subject advisor. We know you may be in progress with some of your SMPP and prerequisite courses at the time of application. Although we do not expect these courses to be complete at the time of application, we do expect then to be done by the start of the program. Please submit all documents to the office of Admission to Teacher Education in College Park suite 540. If after viewing this presentation you still have some questions about the program or admission requirements, please refer to our FAQs on the Admission to Teacher Education site. If your questions still remain unanswered, feel free to contact me at kshand@fullerton.edu.
- #8 The following requirements all must be met before admission to the program. For a downloadable list of the admission requirements please visit our Admission to Teacher Education website. You may begin submitting application materials 6-12 weeks before the deadline. The sooner the better. All application documents must be submitted together. We will not accept incomplete application files. First, you must apply to the university as a post-baccalaureate student with the objective of Education (credential only). You can apply online at www.csumentor.edu. If you are an undergraduate, you must re-apply to the university for post-baccalaureate admission during the final semester of your senior year. Once you graduate you are automatically dropped from the system. Therefore, to ensure you remain a continuing student, you must re-apply to the university. Please Note: Admission to the university does not guarantee admission to the credential program. Likewise, admission to the credential program does not guarantee admission to the university. It is your responsibility to research and meet all the admission requirements to the university. We do not provide guidance in this area. If you have questions about university admission, please contact Admission and Records at (657) 278-7601. If you earned your bachelor’s degree from a foreign university, you must obtain a foreign transcript evaluation from an outside agency to see if your foreign degree meets U.S. requirements. You can obtain a list of foreign transcript evaluation agencies at the Commission on Teacher Credentialing website at: www.ctc.ca.gov.Next, you must apply to the Single Subject Credential Program. This is a separate process from applying to the university. Complete the application on our Admission to Teacher Education website, print it out and bring it in in CP 540. After you complete the application you need to pay and admission and processing fee of $50. You can pay online on our Admission to Teacher Education webpage, or at the cashier’s office.
- #9 You must submit official transcripts from all the colleges and universities you’ve attended including Cal State Fullerton. The transcripts you submit to our office are separate from the transcripts you submit to the university. You must submit official, sealed transcripts to the university, but the Admission to Teacher Education office will accept unsealed transcripts and photocopies of official transcripts. Just make sure they are official. If you have not yet graduated, you may submit unofficial transcripts until your official ones arrive.The next requirement concerns your GPA. Your GPA must be 2.75 in the last 60 semester units (or 90 quarter units). If you do not meet this requirement you may request exceptional admission to the university to complete the prerequisite courses and possible SMPP courses. To do so, contact me for an appointment and we will discuss possible options for admission. PLEASE NOTE: An exceptional admission to the university due to low GPA does not nullify the GPA requirement for the credential program. Your advisor still takes GPA into consideration when making admission decisions. If your GPA is low, especially in courses directly related to the subject area you want to teach, please meet with your advisor at the earliest possible time so together you can formulate a plan to overcome this deficiency.You must also verify your subject matter competency through completion of an SMPP or CSET. CSET scores must be in by the application deadline unless you receive an extension from your advisor. Some advisors will allow an extension of a month or two, others will not. So please try to have them done by the deadline. All SMPP courses must be complete with a grade of C or better by the start of the program. You must also complete all mandatory prerequisite courses by the start of the program. You must earn an average GPA of 3.0 across the prerequisite courses to start the program.
- #10 You must demonstrate basic educational skills. This can be done a few different ways. The most common method is to take and pass the 3 subtests of the California Basic Educational Skills for Teachers test (referred to as the CBEST). Another option is to use your exemption or college ready status on the CSU early assessment program if you were part of that in high school. You may also verify basic skills if upon entering the university as a freshman, you passed both the CSU English and CSU Math Placement exams. Your transcripts will show this.You must also demonstrate proficiency in written and oral English. To do this you must write a 3-5 autobiography and submit with your application. In your autobiography tell a little bit about yourself, your background, family and such. Be sure to include experiences you’ve had that have made you want to become a teacher, and characteristics you possess that will help you in this profession. An interview will be scheduled later where your communication skills will be assessed along with your disposition toward teaching.You must also submit 3 recommendations (2 must come from university faculty, preferably within your major). Also, if you have been out of school for a while a fear most of your instructors from the past are retired, have passed on or will not remember you, you may ask faculty who teach the prerequisite courses complete a recommendation for you. Please have faculty use the faculty recommendation form located on our Admission to Teacher Education site.The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing also needs to make sure you have no felonies on your record. This requires a background check. To start the process you must complete the certificate of clearance application online and follow it with a live scan of your fingerprints. Once you have completed the application, go down to a local law enforcement agency. They will perform a live scan and send your fingerprints through the Department of Justice database to be checked. This will take approximately 3 weeks. After such time you will receive an e-mail declaring your clearance. Please print this off and bring it in for your file. If you have a misdemeanor on your record, you will still be cleared but the process may take up to 4 months, so start the process early. For all questions regarding the Certificate of Clearance, please contact the Admission to Teacher Education office at (657) 278-4028.
- #11 You must submit recent TB test results that show you are clear of tuberculosis. The test must have been done within the last 4 years. You can get a TB test at the university’s health clinic or your local physicians office. If you cannot find your immunization record, check with the university you attended, they may have your records.You also need to complete CPR training. This can done through any local agency that offers CPR certification. The course must cover infant, child and adult. You must attend a face-to-face training session. Online certification will not be accepted.You must also complete a course in the provisions and principles of the U.S. Constitution or pass an equivalent exam. If you are a graduate of any CSU then you have met this requirement as it is a graduation requirement of the CSU system. If you attended a UC or other university you may not have met his requirement. You need to browse your transcripts to see if you took a course that covers the principles of the US Constitution. If not, you need to take a US Constitution exam. You can take this exam at Cal State Long Beach or online at www.usconstitutionexam.com. If you are anticipating entering the Intern program, there are additional requirements for admission. Please refer to the Professional Track/Intern webpage for more information.
- #12 As we conclude this presentation, there are some final notes worth discussion. You may begin submitting admission documents 6-12 weeks in advance of the deadline to the Admission to Teacher Education office CP 540. You must submit all application documents together. We will not accept incomplete application packets. Please make a copy of all the documents you submit. We will not make copies for you.When taking the CBEST and CSET exams, request the scores be sent to your home. When you receive them, make a copy and bring them into us. Do not have them sent to CSUF, as the reports we receive come in bulk and only a few times a year. It is not an efficient process, so we don’t use it. We rely on you to bring us your scores.Thanks again for viewing the Admission Requirements presentation. I suggest you print out a copy of the presentation for future reference. Feel free to e-mail me with any further questions.