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Date/Time: June 8th, 2012, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Presenter: Todd Creager, LMFT, LCSW

Description: Partners in long-term relationships want nothing more than to have a loving, passionate relationship. However, past hurts, early childhood patterns and a lack of role models can lead partners to unintentionally create obstacles to having the very kind of relationship they crave. Their self-protective behaviors often seem to sabotage any chance therapists have of leading these challenging couples to meaningful improvement in their relationships.

This presentation provides you with ideas, tools, approaches and techniques to help these couples address the areas in which they are resistant to change. You will learn: ways to motivate couples to change; how to re-frame couples’ problems so that they become less prone to blame; techniques for helping clients expand their limited expectations of their partner and of themselves; and how to teach couples practical and effective ideas to promote romance and healthy, vibrant sexuality, among many other concepts.

Bio: Todd Creager is a licensed marriage and family therapist and licensed clinical social worker who specializes in couples with a sub-specialty in sexual issues. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Long, Hot Marriage, which has been endorsed by experts including Harville Hendrix and John Gray. He has conducted numerous trainings for physicians and mental health practitioners on the topics of hypoactive sexual desire and re-kindling passion in couples.

Creager has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows, most recently as a guest relationship expert on the Fox morning news show in San Diego, as well as Playboy Radio. He is an adjunct lecturer at his alma mater, the USC School of Social Work, where he teaches the graduate-level Human Development and Mental Health, among other courses.

Please click below to register:

Captain Kenneth Okeze is an extraordinary human being. A deeply religious man, he immigrated to the United States from his native Nigeria to do missionary work, reaching out and ministering to drug addicts on the streets of Los Angeles, California.

Okeze also pursued his formal divinity studies, eventually earning a BA from Summit Bible College. His future was beginning to take shape. But it would have to wait.

Okeze decided to enlist in the U.A. Army. He saw an opportunity to provide spiritual support to service members. But equally important for Okeze was the chance to give back to the country that he believed had given him so much opportunity, so much hope.

Captain Okeze is now stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, a chaplain in the 113^th Combat Stress Control Unit. He’s also enrolled as a student in CalSouthern’s Master of Arts in Psychology degree program and is continuing his studies while deployed.

CalSouthern recently caught up with Captain Okeze by telephone. Following is just a portion of his remarkable story.

California Southern University: Can you please describe the role of a chaplain working in combat stress control?

Captain Kenneth Okeze: The chaplain provides special emotional and religious support to casualties and military staff in the combat zone. I am part of a combat stress control unit which is a behavioral health medical detachment with a team of psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, psychiatrist doctors, and behavioral health specialists, in addition to a chaplain.

CalSouthern: What are some of the most common sources of stress that impact service members?

Capt. Okeze: Relationship issues are common. Deployment puts a great strain on service members’ relationships with spouses and other family. It might be surprising to learn that financial issues are very common, too. And of course, combat exposure—dealing with the emotions that combat invokes: responding to injury, witnessing friends being injured or killed—is enormously stressful.

CalSouthern: How is the chaplain’s work coordinated with that of the psychologists and other mental health professionals in theater?

Capt. Okeze: A chaplain needs to recognize when a soldier’s problem extends beyond our training, in which case it is our responsibility to refer the solder to a psychologist or other mental health professional. We facilitate the introduction and initial conversation, to minimize the stress of the referral and to help the caregiver do his or her job as effectively as possible.

CalSouthern: Is there still stigma attached to a service member seeking help to deal with mental or emotional issues?

Capt. Okeze: Unfortunately, yes, although I believe it is getting better. I do have soldiers come to me in secret out of worry that they will be seen by their commanding officer as “weak.” But things are improving. The military is working to ensure that those who seek help will not see their military careers suffer as a result. Also, soldiers are being educated to see mental health support not as a sign of weakness, but as a form of training that will make them stronger, more effective soldiers. Also, commanding officers are increasingly understanding that we are there not to send their soldiers home, but to prepare them to be ready for combat or to effectively deal with stress so that they can better do their jobs.

CalSouthern: What are some of the highlights of your deployment in Afghanistan?

Capt. Okeze: I know that I have given hope to combat-exposed soldiers who were struggling with feelings of hopelessness. Others have had suicidal ideation, and I believe I have helped some service members decide not to take their lives. It’s been a blessing and I believe God has sent me here to help these soldiers. We—chaplains—are privileged that some service members are comfortable enough with us that they will speak when they will not speak with anyone else. It is a great privilege that comes with a great responsibility.

CalSouthern: May we ask why you chose to come to immigrate to America from Nigeria and what ultimately led you to enlist in the army?

Capt. Okeze: I came to the U.S. as a religious worker, a missionary. I settled near Los Angeles and did a lot of outreach work, especially among drug addicts. I also enrolled in college to study divinity.

I enlisted in the military, not only for the opportunity to provide spiritual support to service members, but also as a way to pay back the country that has done so much for me and that has given me so much hope for my future.

CalSouthern: You are continuing your studies while on deployment. Has that been as challenging as it sounds?

Capt. Okeze: In order to succeed in life, there’s always a price to be paid. Our work hours can be long—12-, 14- or even 18-hour days—but eventually you have some free time, and then I can get to my laptop and do my schoolwork. Maybe I sacrifice a little sleep or the opportunity to have a bit of fun, but I know I am doing something of great benefit to my future. I also like the example it sets for some of the younger soldiers over here who watch me study. I encourage them to do the same. I tell them that if they have the time to play around and be on Facebook for hours, they could be doing something to better their future.

Also, my schoolwork makes my deployment go faster and keeps boredom from setting in. I look forward to it and find myself thinking about my next discussion board post or assignment. Then, I do my work when I can. Next thing I know, a week has gone by. Now I’m in my deployment’s 15^th week—it’s gone by relatively quickly, and I know that having my studies to concentrate on has helped me get through it.

CalSouthern: What has your experience at CalSouthern been like?

Capt. Okeze: It’s been great. I have had experience with an on-ground university and with another online university and I’ve never found the kind of support I get at CalSouthern. Faculty and staff treat students as being part of the family. If I have an issue or question, I’ll send an email and then, when I wake up the next morning, I’ll have received an answer. At my other online school, it would sometimes take them two weeks to solve a problem. CalSouthern has been a blessing. My mentors support me when I struggle and celebrate me when I succeed. It’s given me the morale support to continue on despite the challenges I face.

According to a document posted online ahead of next week’s UC Board of Regents meeting, the 10-campus system is contemplating a six-percent tuition hike in the fall unless they receive additional funds from the state, which is highly unlikely given the fact that California is again facing a massive budget deficit, not to mention the fact that the state has consistently relied on cuts to higher education spending as a way to close budgetary gaps and the fact that state revenues have fallen approximately $3 billion below expectations.

If the increase is approved, it will mean that UC students will now pay double the tuition rate of just five years ago.

The bad news doesn’t stop there. If Governor Brown’s proposed tax initiative is not passed this November, UC will consider yet another cut—this time in the double-digit range!—and/or drastic reductions to campus programs and staff, according to the document. Brown has indicated that if the initiative fails, both the UC and California State University systems stand to lose an additional $200 million—each—in funding.

We’ll keep you posted as details unfold.

California Southern University was founded in 1978 with the vision of providing affordable education of exceptional quality to non-traditional students who are often working adults. CalSouthern tuition is $250/credit for undergraduate-level courses and $330/credit for graduate-level courses. These tuition rates are “locked in;” a student will never face a tuition increase as long as he or she remains enrolled.

A Thought-Provoking Article Suggests a Re-Thinking of Traditional Learning and Assessment Methods

I recently came across an extremely insightful and forward-looking article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In “Stop Telling Students to Study for Exams,” David Jaffee, a professor of sociology at the University of South Florida, bemoans the cram-for-exam-and-then-immediately-forget culture of “learning” that pervades college campuses today—and which has done so for decades.

Jaffee asserts what most of us who’ve pulled all-nighters suspect, at least on a subconscious level: short-term memorization may produce positive results as measured by exam scores, but most of the material is not retained more than two weeks after the test. In other words, cramming has very little to do with learning.

Jaffee blames it on an attitude of “instrumentalism” where everything is a means to an end. “You go to college to get a degree to get a job to make money to be happy. Similarly, you take the course to meet the requirement, and you do the coursework and read the material to pass the course to graduate to get the degree.” The point of studying is to pass the exam, not to learn and to understand.

Real learning, he says, occurs when we retain and apply (Jaffee uses the term “transfer”) the material, when we use the concepts or theories to solve a problem we might actually encounter as a practitioner in the field. He also suggests that this (applying concepts to real-life scenarios) is both an effective way to learn as well as a better way to assess learning (far better than, say, asking students to memorize facts and then regurgitate them during the course of an exam).

This struck a chord with me; it’s certainly an apt way to describe the way I learn best. To use a somewhat absurd example, I could study relatively simple driving directions for hours, diligently committing them to memory. I’m pretty certain that, 10 days later, there’s no way I would be able to drive myself successfully to the particular destination. But if I were to learn the directions and then actually drive the route a time or two, I bet I could successfully drive to that same destination years later, without the need for directions.

A less strained analogy: I studied extremely hard in law school and made good grades. Now, 20-plus years later, the only intricate legal principles I can remember are those that I actually used to complete law-school projects, or in practice during my short career as an attorney.

This discussion about learning also resonated with me because it so perfectly reflects what we try to do here at CalSouthern.

Consider the role of our faculty mentors. Unlike professors at traditional institutions, their role is not to design courses and dispense theory and academic concepts via lectures. Instead, the student progresses through the course, which is designed by a team of subject-matter experts and which uses the same materials as traditional institutions. The mentor (an experienced practitioner in the field, as well as an educator) is there to answer the student’s questions. The mentor gets to know the student’s academic and professional goals and life experiences, and helps him or her relate to the material and then—most important—apply it to real-world challenges in the student’s field of interest.

We think it’s an extremely effective way to learn. And it’s a learning style that is absolutely fundamental to CalSouthern. It’s why we offer applied, career-relevant degree programs, as opposed to research-oriented courses of study. It’s why we do our best to tailor each student’s academic experience to their particular interests and goals.

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Date/Time: May 11, 2012, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Presenter: Sharon Jablon, PhD

Description: This two-hour presentation will focus on the requirements for licensure in California, with an emphasis on the two examinations that licensure candidates are required to pass: the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) and the California Psychology Supplemental Examination (CPSE).

Dr. Jablon will outline the nuts and bolts of the EPPP and CPSE, including the application process, test administration and scoring, areas of test emphasis, and upcoming changes to the tests. Discussion will also focus on strategies for test success as well as resources for test preparation.

Bio: Dr. Jablon is a licensed psychologist and the founder and president of PSYCHPREP, Inc., a test-preparation company established in the early 1990s, specializing in helping licensure candidates pass the EPPP and the CPSE.

Dr. Jablon also has worked as a clinical psychologist in the field for 20 years, primarily with the veteran population. She currently divides her time between the Veterans’ Administration’s Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Clinic in downtown Los Angeles and PSYCHPREP, where she and a team of educational consultants continue to develop, revise, and improve the test-preparation programs.

She teaches PSYCHPREP workshops, and provides one-on-one consultation for prospective test-takers.  Dr. Jablon also provides training seminars on law and ethics to psychology professionals.

Irvine, California—April 13, 2012—California Southern University has announced that its 34^th annual commencement ceremony will return to Cheng Hall at the Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California. The event will be held on Saturday, August 4, 2012, at 2:00 p.m.

Each year, graduates of CalSouthern—an accredited online university located in Irvine, Calif.  offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, psychology, and law—gather to attend the commencement ceremony, with many traveling from across the nation and around the world.

In 2011, approximately 500 people attended the event, including CalSouthern graduates, family and friends, along with faculty and CalSouthern administration, who all gathered to celebrate the graduates’ accomplishments. The graduates—ranging in age from 22 to 75 and representing the full spectrum of ethnic and economic backgrounds—included successful entrepreneurs, groundbreaking marriage and family therapists, a recipient of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Medal of Patriotism, and even a sitting judge, among many others.

The 2012 commencement promises to be an even more impressive event.

“Commencement is the single-most important event of the year at CalSouthern,” says University President Dr. Caroll Ryan. “It gives the deans, faculty, and other university staff the opportunity to honor the students that we have worked with so closely and come to know so well as they’ve progressed through their academic careers. Without fail, it’s a wonderfully moving and inspirational ceremony.”

This year marks the third consecutive year the event has been held at the spectacular Barclay Theatre, a nationally acclaimed and imaginatively designed performing arts showcase. The 750-seat Cheng Hall is renowned for its superb acoustics and intimate feel.

Details and registration information about the 2012 California Southern University Commencement Ceremony can be found online at www.calsouthern.edu/commencement.

Established in 1978, California Southern University is a premier online university offering accredited degree programs at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels in psychology, business, criminal justice, and law to an international student body, utilizing a proprietary online learning system. CalSouthern is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council. The Accrediting Commission is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency and is a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

In 1940, less than five percent of Americans age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher. By 2010, that figure had climbed to 28.2 percent, and all indications are that that statistic will continue to rise.

So what does this mean? It means that an undergraduate degree is increasingly becoming table stakes in the American workforce. In other words, we’re rapidly approaching the point where a college degree is less a point of distinction or a competitive advantage than it is a prerequisite for success. It’s essentially—well—essential.

A corollary to this trend is that earning a graduate-level degree is a more effective way to truly distinguish yourself from the competition in a crowded workforce. Statistics bear this out, as well. While almost a third of the population has a bachelor’s degree, less than eight percent have a master’s degree and only three percent have earned a doctorate, according the Census Bureau’s report “Educational Attainment in the United States: 2011.”

And these advanced degrees pay off, as well. Another census study reveals that the median earnings of full-time workers who have a bachelor’s degree is $57,026 (those who have attended no college earn an average of $34,197). Those with a master’s degree have an average salary of $69,958. And individuals with a doctorate earn $88,867.

It turns out your parents were right: when it comes to education, it pays to aim high!

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Presenter: Dr. Linda A. Fischer

Description: In academia, there is perhaps no greater challenge than to overcome the dubious title of “All But Dissertation.” Across the nation, doctoral candidates are faced with the daunting challenge of negotiating the demands of a doctoral project while balancing family responsibilities and work requirements. Coursework is generally not the problem for doctoral students. It’s the unstructured work that follows and the isolation associated with the doctoral project journey, coupled with a lack of organization or strategic planning to complete the project that often results in lengthy time to degree completion or even attrition. Dr. Fischer’s presentation will deliver insights, strategies, and practical advice to help the doctoral student through this difficult, yet rewarding process.

Bio: Dr. Fischer is the writing advisor for the Doctoral Support Center of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. She is committed to helping doctoral candidates succeed in the school’s EdD and PhD programs. Prior to joining USC, she served in the United States Army for more than 20 years, retiring in 2003. While an army captain, she earned a master’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Oklahoma, and completed the USC EdD program (with a higher education concentration) in 2005 as a member of the Hawaii cohort.

Originally from Texas, Linda has lived all over the world, including 10 years in Hawaii. While a member of the Hawaii community, Linda was selected as a Pacific Century Fellow, Class 2003 and served on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Drug-Free Hawaii. Her research interests include sexual harassment and sexual assault on campus and in the workplace. She is the author of Ultimate Power: Enemy Within the Ranks, the story of Dr. Fischer’s triumph over a sexual assault she suffered while an officer in the military.

 
Please click below to watch a recording of the live video stream of this lecture:
 

New Reports Deliver More Sobering News on Nationwide Higher-Education Debt Crisis

The dire news about America’s student debt crisis just keeps on coming, seemingly on a weekly basis. Here’s a small sampling of a few of the alarming nuggets appearing in a collection of recently issued reports:

• According to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, total student loan debt in the U.S. now exceeds $1 trillion—not surprisingly, a record high. Students took out $117 billion in federal student loans last year alone;
• The interest rate on Stafford Loans is set to double to 6.8 percent on July 1, 2012 if Congress doesn’t act;
• If the interest rates do, in fact, double, students who borrow the maximum $23,000 will be forced to pay $5,000 more to service that debt under the 10-year plan. That figure jumps to an $11,000 increase under the 20-year plan, says the U.S. Public Interest Research Group; and
• According to a survey conducted by the not-for-profit Young Invincibles, undergraduate and graduate students who had recently taken out student loans did not understand the terms and conditions of the loans. Two-thirds did not understand the difference between private and federal loans options and another two-thirds were surprised by their repayment terms, their monthly payments, or their interest rates.

Since no one is expecting tuition rates and/or salaries to take dramatic turns in favorable directions, here are a few strategies for avoiding, minimizing, or successfully managing student debt:

• Shop for grants and scholarships. Don’t assume that these are impossible to obtain or exclusively reserved for certain demographics. There are more grant sources available for the average college student than you might expect;
• If you must borrow, try to stick to government-sponsored Stafford loans rather than typically more expensive private loans (which may come with a variable interest rate);
• Live frugally and don’t borrow more than you have to. This may seem obvious or simplistic, but many succumb to the siren song of seemingly easy money and use student loan money to pay for living costs or even entertainment expenses. A good rule of thumb is to avoid borrowing more than you can reasonably expect to make in your first year of employment upon graduating;
• Read and understand your loan’s terms. Run the numbers to determine how much it’s going to cost to repay the loan. The Student Loan Advisor tool at FinAid.org can help you determine the monthly repayment figure and will even suggest a maximum manageable debt amount based on a projected salary.

Our strongest suggestion is to “shop smart” when deciding whether and where to go to school. You shop around and carefully consider value when making other important purchasing decisions; don’t abandon these strategies when exploring your higher education options. There is value in higher education if you do your research and keep an open mind.

Of course, we hope you’ll consider CalSouthern when you’re making your decision. We were founded upon the notion of making higher education of exceptional quality affordable and convenient for non-traditional students. That’s why we offer reasonable tuition that will never increase as long as you remain a student, along with interest-free payment options that make it possible to graduate with little or no debt.

Again, value does exist in higher education.

Ziad Mazboudi, an MBA student in California Southern University’s School of Business, has been awarded the Outstanding Branch Officer of the Year Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), California Region, in recognition of his outstanding service to the ASCE during his term as president of the Orange County branch.

Mazboudi’s career has spanned more than 25 years. He has worked in both the public and private sectors, specializing in capital improvement programs, development, and environmental engineering. As president of the ASCE’s Orange County branch, Mazboudi worked hard to provide job opportunities in a difficult economic climate for the chapter’s membership, and significantly reduced the branch’s expenses. He also contributed to a variety of civic and humanitarian projects, including partnering with an Orange County-based organization called Great Opportunities to help educate at-risk youth with the goal of keeping them from affiliating with local gangs, as well as building homes for impoverished families in Tecate, Mexico.

Mazboudi was presented with the award February 28, 2012, in Sacramento, at the ASCE California Region’s Annual Award Ceremony.

“I am quite honored to receive this award,” says Mazboudi. “Mine is a true American dream story. I moved to California from Lebanon with $1,000 in my pocket, lots of positive energy, and my father’s encouragement to be the best I can be and to make him proud. I believe that I have done that and I was very happy to share the news of this honor with him, my wife, and the rest of my family.”

Mazboudi enrolled in CalSouthern’s School of Business with an eye toward returning to the private sector. “I hope to retire from local government in five years, when I turn 55,” he says. “My goal is to start my own company, perhaps in the field of emergency preparedness and disaster response. I decided to pursue my MBA in order to change the way I think, to better understand how to make money, as opposed to saving money, which has been so central to my current work. Also, since I hope to do work overseas as well as in the U.S., I am taking a number of international business courses.”

In addition to his work in Orange County, Mazboudi has been very active with ASCE on the state and national level. Mazboudi currently serves on a national committee on critical infrastructure and has chaired the California Disaster Preparedness Committee.

“On behalf of the entire university, I would like to congratulate Ziad on receiving this honor,” says Dr. Caroll Ryan, university president. “Students like Ziad make immeasurable contributions to CalSouthern and help make the university such an outstanding environment in which to learn and to share knowledge and experiences with other distinguished professionals and adult learners. We are extremely proud of his accomplishments and wish him continued success in his professional and academic endeavors.”