Graduate Program Booklet

Welcome to the Graduate School of the University of Connecticut, and to the Graduate Programs in the Department of Human Development & Family Studies. This handbook is designed to provide you with basic information concerning what we have to offer, and what we expect of you. It is in your interest to read it carefully, and to consult with your major advisor or the Director of Graduate Studies about any unclear points. Students in the Marriage and Family Therapy clinical program may also wish to direct questions to the Director of the clinical training program. We hope you will feel free to ask questions as they arise, so that you can avoid unnecessary complications.

This handbook is not meant to displace or in any way void the Graduate School catalog. All University of Connecticut graduate students are held to the basic requirements and regulations of the Graduate School as designated in the catalog. Various programs adopt requirements that apply in addition to the overall Graduate School requirements, and this Handbook includes certain requirements that we have added.

In entering this program, you are joining a field that is being created at the present time. The career you make for yourself at the University of Connecticut and beyond will depend largely upon your own resourcefulness and initiative as you choose from the range of available options. Course requirements are oriented toward presenting you immediately with a content overview, a range of alternative academic and professional directions from which you can choose, and basic research skills. After that, the range of options available to you will depend largely on your choice of directions. Our programs are small enough to be tailored to your personal needs and goals, yet large enough to provide considerable diversity and exposure to a variety of perspectives.

We look forward with excitement to our mutual association, and hope that both you and we may find it a challenging experience.