Department of Mind-Body Medicine

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Department of Mind-Body Medicine Academic Progression Policy

Assessing Basic Academic Writing Skills

As a fundamental program learning outcome, MS and PhD MBM students are expected to compose original, grammatically correct, coherent, concise, and well-articulated written work in APA style. Throughout the program, students have many opportunities to develop and refine their critical thinking and writing skills as summarized in Stages 1-4:

Stage 1: Writers at this stage are:

· Developing grammatical and syntactical skill

· Familiarizing themselves with the concept of scholarly voice

· Distinguishing among different audiences and tailoring their writing accordingly

Stage 2: Writers at this stage are:

· Communicating ideas consistently and logically within paragraphs

· Articulating rhetorical arguments and supporting them with evidence within paragraphs

· Developing skill in paraphrasing and citing

Stage 3: Writers at this stage are:

· Sequencing and transitioning logically and smoothly in lengthier narratives

· Analyzing external sources critically and accurately

· Synthesizing themes and trends across sources

· Conversant in scholarly terminology and concepts

· Able to explain what theories and models do and do not do

Stage 4: Writers at this stage are:

· Recognizing and accounting for different theoretical and conceptual perspectives

Creating knowledge

As a general expectation, during the students’ first years of their program, prior to the mid-program review, students are expected to demonstrate proficiency with Stage 1 and 2 level writing skills. The following points define required steps of remediation.

a. Applicants who are judged on admission to exhibit deficient academic writing skills will be admitted with the condition that they will complete MBM 5507 Graduate Academic Writing within the first semester. If students do not pass MBM 5507, they will have only one opportunity to retake it the following semester. If students receive less than 80% on the final paper, but passed all other assignments, they will pass MBM 5507 and be enrolled in MBM 5507c Graduate Level Academic Writing Continuation in the subsequent semester.

b. Students will be assessed on their writing skills at the end of their first academic term and/or semester. If two of their faculty members identify deficiencies, the student will be required to take MBM 5507 Graduate Academic Writing in the next semester.

c. Faculty members may recommend the MBM 5507 Graduate Level Academic Writing class or refer students to Saybrook’s Center for Writing and Academic Success at any time. However, if two faculty members concur that the student’s writing skills are below expectations, MBM 5507 will be mandatory.

d. Faculty members may refer students to Saybrook’s Center for Writing and Academic Success for tutoring at any point during their program.

PhD Degree Mid-Program Review

As part of the PhD MBM programmatic review and progressions audit, all doctoral students with or without specializations will participate in a mid-program review of their academic performance and scholarly writing skills. The following courses are prerequisites to the mid-program review:

· MBM0505 Mind-Body Spirit Integration Seminar

· MBM5710 Mind-Body Therapies and Practices

· MBM5690 Complementary and Integrative Medicine

· MBM5500 Ethics in Healthcare

· MBM5681 Psychophysiology of the Human Stress Response

· Minimum of two practice courses

· RES2100 Research Foundations for Practitioners

· RES2300 Qualitative Research and Data Collection

· RES2500 Quantitative Research and Statistics

By year three, students will be enrolled in a zero credit, semester long Mid-Program Review course before they proceed to the advanced research sequence. If a student has not completed these courses by their third year, the Mid-Program Review will be delayed.

Two MBM faculty members will be assigned to review each student’s submitted work. Students must provide evidence, validated by the assigned faculty members that they satisfactorily meet the following program learning outcomes (PLO):

PLO 1: Explain the influence of biopsychosocial factors on general health and wellbeing and the implications for individuals, organizations, and/or communities. 

PLO 2: Describe and apply the foundational values, ethical principles, and best practices of the field to oneself and others. 

PLO 4: Articulate the application of self-reflection and self-care skills.

PLO 5: Assess and synthesize evidence, theories, and established practices in integrative healthcare. 

PLO 7: Compose original, grammatically correct, coherent, concise, and well-articulated written work in APA style.  

Key Assignment 1: Scholar-Practitioner Statement (3-4 pages, APA 7th)

Describe how you position yourself as a scholar-practitioner. Among other things, address:

· How has scholarship informed your studies in the MBM program?

· How are you applying (or plan to apply) the MBM knowledge in your professional work?

· Describe and apply the foundational values, ethical principles, and best practices of the field to oneself and others.

A PLO rubric will be used to assess student performance. Faculty will provide feedback to help guide their forward progress in the program.

Key Assignment 2: Scholarship: Academic Research Paper (8-12 pages)

Choose an academic research paper from a previous course that best represents your critical thinking skills and scholarly writing. The paper must include all feedback and recommended edits from the faculty member who taught the course. Submit the original paper which contains the faculty feedback, and a second version of the paper after incorporating the feedback. Ensure you have carefully proofread the second version, and turned off all track changes.

The minimum grade to move forward in the doctoral program must be a minimum of 82% (B) and proficient ratings on the grading and PLO rubrics for the academic paper. Students will be expected to demonstrate proficiency with Stages 1 through 4 writing skills:

Stage 1: Writers at this stage are:

· Developing grammatical and syntactical skill

· Familiarizing themselves with the concept of scholarly voice

· Distinguishing among different audiences and tailoring their writing accordingly

Stage 2: Writers at this stage are:

· Communicating ideas consistently and logically within paragraphs

· Articulating rhetorical arguments and supporting them with evidence within paragraphs

· Developing skill in paraphrasing and citing

Stage 3: Writers at this stage are:

· Sequencing and transitioning logically and smoothly in lengthier narratives

· Analyzing external sources critically and accurately

· Synthesizing themes and trends across sources

· Conversant in scholarly terminology and concepts

· Able to explain what theories and models do and do not do

Stage 4: Writers at this stage are:

· Recognizing and accounting for different theoretical and conceptual perspectives

Creating knowledge

By the second to third year in the program, the faculty members understand students are still learning the critical thinking and writing skills necessary to produce independent research; however, an essential component in the process is to implement faculty feedback. This review process is designed to evaluate the students’ ability to reflect on the feedback, incorporate the learning, and improve the quality of their written assignments.

Students who earn scores between 70% to 81% will have only one opportunity to retake the course and implement the faculty members’ feedback. Students will not re-enroll in the mid-year assessment if they receive a score less than 70% on the academic paper. If students do not receive an 82% or higher by the end of the second attempt of this evaluation process, students will have the option of transferring to the master’s degree program and completing a capstone seminar in Mind-Body Medicine or withdrawing from the doctoral program.

Assessing Dissertation Proposal Readiness

Students must pass RES 3500 Research Design and Scholarly Writing and RES3xxx Advanced Research Method before progressing to RES 7000 Dissertation Proposal. Students must pass these research courses within two attempts. If students do not meet the standard expectations of the key assignments, they may be required to repeat one or both courses and/or enroll in RES 6900 Dissertation Preparation (3 credits).

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