New counselling course leads to increase in applications
Avondale is now the only higher education provider in the Hunter to offer a specialisation in counselling. The new course may be partly responsible for an increase in applicants—from 16 to 34—for the Bachelor of Arts degree.
Credit: Colin Chuang.
Sara Thompson
Public relations assistant
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
New and refreshed courses offering a wider range of units with more options have led to an increase in applications for the arts degree at Avondale.
The number of applicants for the degree as of February 18 is 34, up from 16 this past year.
Part of the appeal may be that Avondale is now the only higher education provider in the Hunter to offer a specialisation in counselling. Students who complete the course will graduate as registered counsellors. The course includes two units of clinical placement, which equates to 150 hours of practical experience.
“Counselling is central to Avondale’s core business of ministry to the community,” says Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Theology. “Ministers and teachers can add some units of counselling to their degrees. While this won’t make them qualified counsellors, it will improve their ability to deal sensitively with people.”
The counselling course is complementary to the chaplaincy course, which Avondale introduced this past year. Avondale offers chaplaincy as a major in three degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Ministry and Theology.
The structure of the Bachelor of Ministry and Theology has changed this year, making it a more flexible degree. Students can now complete up to eight elective units from any of the other courses offered at Avondale, allowing them to complement their ministry focus with skill in their own areas of interest. The biblical languages units have also been revised with the help of a software program called Logos, which aims to make these languages more accessible. “The program allows students to ask the questions, ‘What does it mean?’ and ‘Why does it matter?’ rather than memorising the mechanics of Greek and Hebrew,” says Daniel. “It means they’re more likely to use the languages after they graduate.”
PhotoMedia is the latest major added to the Bachelor of Arts degree. The course teaches digital, studio and web-based photography from a fine art perspective and gives students practical experience through six weeks of work placements.
Other courses added to the degree include a minor in ancient history, which Avondale incorporated because of high student demand.