education

January 21 2016

Higher Education in Wisconsin

Relentless Advance Advocacy budgets, education, promises, tech, uw system, Walker 1

Before Gov. Scott Walker ran for President, he tried to dramatically cut funding for the UW System. Now, he is traveling the state trying to create a collaborative partnership between the UW System and the Technical Colleges.

I think ineffective and overly saturated professional programs at the UW level should be cut. When I wanted to attend Chicago Theological Seminary, their cohort was single digits. My MSW cohort was over 30 people. However the academic system has so much control over professional licensure, that the two are impossible to separate now.

I was very nearly going to go back to school for Substance Abuse Counseling at the Technical level because my MSW didn’t carry a specialty that could strengthen my employment opportunities. Technical education is very different from University education. I absolutely loved that my classes were multidisciplinary and intersected different types of theory and practice.

There will be an education bubble that bursts just like their was a housing bubble. I wouldn’t believe a presidential candidate promising anything dealing with education or loan forgiveness.

December 28 2015

Substance Abuse Specialty vs. SAC-IT

Relentless Advance Vision AODA, CEs, counselors, credentials, education, SAC-IT, substance abuse 0

I have done a fair amount of research into the AODA certifications for WI DSPS licenses.
The Substance Abuse Specialty Authorization requires 135 course hours and 200 hours of supervision. Professionals write it in their list of credentials as SAS or SASA. I looked at several professionals’ LinkedIn profiles and most with a SAS/SASA also have the SAC-IT credential.
The head of the AODA program at Fox Valley Technical College, Greg Delaney cautioned me by saying that sometimes people run into insurance billing issues with their credential. I spoke with a woman from DSPS and she told me that she could not comment on any issues people have found because they do not communicate with insurance companies. I also sent out inquiries to some agencies about whether they had hired anyone with the specialty certificate. Those inquiries have gone unanswered during this between holidays period.
The SAC-IT however, requires 100 hours of coursework and a letter of hire from the agency that will most likely supervise your hours for obtaining the SAC credential.
A specialty certificate consists of 11 course credits while the SAC-IT consists of 8 course credits.
The SAC credential requires 360 hours of coursework and depending on your previous education, between 2,000 and 4,000 hours of supervision. A masters degree provides 2000 hours of the required 4000 hours which leaves an additional 2000 hours required. A bachelors degree is 1000 and an associate degree is 500 hours. The SAC certificate consists of 14 course credits.
The specialty certificate and license may grow to be more acceptable in future years, especially if you work for the government, however with the over-saturation of the job market, i wouldn’t waste your time or money.