UCF student sounds the alarm that School Psychologist training program lost accreditation

A University of Central Florida student is raising the alarm that the university’s school psychology program lost its accreditation, a change the student warned carries enormous consequences.

The student was critical of UCF’s handling of the situation and warned that the program losing its accreditation will damage UCF’s reputation, make it harder for new graduates to get jobs and hurt future enrollment into the program.

The student’s anonymous ethics complaint was released to Florida Politics following a public records request.

“I am reaching out to express serious concerns regarding the current leadership and management of the program. Over the past 2-3 years, our program director(s) knew we were at risk of losing accreditation, but thought they knew better than to take feedback and attempt to fix areas that were lacking in our program and needed improvement,” the student wrote, noting that the school psychology program is no longer an accredited program.

“This affects our ability to get a job outside of Florida upon graduation. Especially those including myself who are in our final year who will have no way of graduating from an accredited institution at this point. The failure of transparency and negligence will affect us the rest of our lives.”

The student then pushed for changes.

“We sincerely hope that the university and program leadership are taking immediate and transparent steps to restore accreditation. At a minimum, current students deserve clear communication about what happened, how it will affect our standing, and what actions are being taken to rectify the situation.”

What exactly happened? It’s not clear.

UCF, a public school funded by taxpayer dollars, has ignored a Florida Politics request for an interview and failed to respond to questions in writing last week.

School documents said UCF Senior Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Timothy Letzring interviewed students about the school psychology program, then wrote a February email about his review to explain what’s happening to the program going forward.

On July 15, Florida Politics requested that email and records from his student interviews. Three weeks later, UCF failed to produce any records despite repeated questions from Florida Politics.

The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) declined to say why UCF is no longer listed as an accredited school on its website or say when the school officially lost its status.

“Programs themselves are responsible for communicating changes to their accreditation status with current and prospective students and the public,” NASP spokesperson Seth Lipkin told Florida Politics in an email.

Currently, more than 220 graduate programs in school psychology nationwide are recognized through either NASP accreditation or NASP approval, including six in Florida. Those six are the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of South Florida, Florida International University, Nova Southeastern University and Barry University.

“Accreditation signifies that a graduate program meets rigorous national standards for preparing future school psychologists,” Lipkin said. “It provides students, employers, and the public with confidence that graduates receive high-quality preparation, including coursework, supervised field experiences, and training aligned with the profession’s national standards.”

Getting accredited can take years. 

“Programs submit extensive documentation demonstrating that they meet NASP’s standards for graduate preparation. The review includes evaluation by trained peer reviewers, a site visit, and a decision by the Program Accreditation Board,” Lipkin said. 

There is currently a national shortage of school psychologists. 

The UCF student whistleblower said several of the students would have gone to another school if they had known UCF would lose its accreditation in the middle of their education. The education specialist program is housed in UCF’s College of Community Innovation and Education.

“When choosing where to apply and whether or not to apply to UCF, NASP accreditation was one of the primary reasons why we all chose this program. Accreditation signifies a program’s commitment to meeting rigorous national standards in training, ethics, and practice. It assures students and future employers alike that graduates are well-prepared for the demands of the profession at a national level,” the student wrote.

“Most importantly, graduating from a NASP-accredited program allows students to pursue the Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) credential in a more streamlined manner, which is a certification that enhances job mobility, increases employment opportunities across states, and reflects our years of dedication and hard work at a national level. … This certification opens many opportunities for us as future school psychologists and for the University as a whole.”