Your academic advising team works together to keep you informed, on track for program completion, and supported throughout your program. Here is some information about the roles within the team.

Academic Advisors:

• Art Gonzalez - Academic Success Advisor

• Chelsea Overstreet - Academic Success Advisor, Sr.

• Dawn Koths - Academic Success Advisor

• Samantha Francois - Academic Success Advisor, Sr.

• Tiffany Huggins - Academic Success Advisor

As the core members of your advising team, we will interact with you most frequently. We are experts on your program requirements and are available to assist with program related questions. We are also familiar with ASU and MLFTC resources and will refer you, as appropriate, to ensure you are fully supported.

Other members of the advising team:

• Max Gutierrez - Student Support Specialist

Max works primarily with new students. If you have questions about items on the new student checklist, registration, or submitting your first draft of the Plan of Study (iPOS), he can assist you. 

• Christie Martin - Academic Success Coordinator, Sr.

Christie coordinates advising-related functions, working mainly behind the scenes, though you may hear from her occasionally.

Program structure and time commitment

The courses in this graduate program are rigorous and accelerated, composed of online and offline activities, as well as team projects and meetings. Each course will require students to allocate 15-20 hours per week to view videos or interactive online modules, read supporting materials, complete quizzes, and engage in live (video/audio) discussions with peers. Courses in this program are not self-paced. Each course is organized into modules, ranging from 5-7 days in length.  All readings, assignments, meetings and activities must be completed during the scheduled dates of the module.  

Live discussion and offline activities

Courses include a required live, synchronous discussion component, in which students will arrange meeting times with peers/team members throughout the course. Each meeting will last approximately 1 hour in duration. It is important to plan to allocate sufficient time for ‘offline’ activities such as written assignments and reading. The amount of time spent on offline activities and independent study will vary by student and course, but can be significant.  

Assignment completion for mastery of content

Students are required to complete all assignments within each module, during the dates scheduled for the module, mastering course content prior to moving onto the next one. Falling behind in one module may negatively impact your ability to integrate feedback and be successful in subsequent modules and the course. The goal is content mastery, not simply course and program completion. To ensure that students demonstrate competency with each of the objectives of the course and program - regardless of total points accumulated on assignments within the course, each individual assignment must be completed in order to receive a passing grade for the course. 

Consult with instructor with questions about course content and/or expectations

Review the course syllabus and schedule for course specific details. Consult with your Course Instructor (CI) and/or Lead Instructor with questions about course content and expectations.

If you started the program this summer, you were admitted to the 2024/25 school year. Since the summer program schedule includes new coursework for the 2025/26 requirement year, we request that you complete the Course Schedule Form (summer admit only). Completing the form will allow the advising team to 1) submit a request for you to complete the 2025/26 course requirements (SPE 528, 529 and 530), and 2) to pre-fill your iPOS with the courses and schedule.

This fall (September), please look for an email message from ABAadvising@asu.edu with information about submitting your iPOS for approval. If you submit it before then, the iPOS will be returned since the request to complete the 2025/26 courses cannot be made until this fall.

Due to these changes, the iPOS will not be due until the end of your second semester in December. Thank you for your patience during this transition.

The iPOS will require you to complete the following 5 pages at a minimum, in the order listed:

1.  Welcome page - Check the acknowledgment box stating you will abide by the Graduate College Policy Manual and academic integrity.

2.  Degree Requirements page - Acknowledge the 21 credit hours requirement by clicking 'Save.'

3.  Courses > Course Admin page- Use your Course Schedule to determine which courses you will take or have completed and add the courses in the Required Core section of the Course Admin page, along with the semester the course is planned for.

4.  Advisors > Faculty Committee page - Input Dr. Samuel DiGangi as the Faculty Committee and list him as 'Chair' once prompted. 

5.  Summary/Submit - Check the acknowledgment box stating you agree to act with academic honesty and integrity, and then submit your iPOS. 

An approved iPOS must be on file before applying for graduation. It is used by the graduation office to determine if all requirements for your program have been satisfied before awarding your certificate.

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Spring 2025 (Session A, January)

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Spring 2025 (Session B, March)

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Summer 2025 (May)

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Fall 2025 (Session A, August)

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Fall 2025 (Session B, October)

Course Sequences for programs not listed will be available on/around the date that registration opens for the related semester per the ASU Academic Calendar. 

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Spring 2024

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Summer 2024 

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Fall 2024 (Session A, August)

• Graduate Certificate in ABA - Fall 2024 (Session B, October)

Please begin by completing these required action items, in order:

1)  Self-enroll in Canvas - Click here to enroll and complete Modules 1-3. You must be logged into your MyASU account to access Canvas.

• Modules 1 and 2 remain open all year. The survey in Module 3 opens approximately 6 weeks before the registration deadline of each semester. 

2)  Register for Course - If approved to move forward after completing the modules, you will receive an email from your advising team with permission to register. It is important to register by the deadline to secure a space. 

3)  Complete ASU Acknowledgment - Once registered, a team member from Community Education Services (CES), will send directions to your employer on completing the Acknowledgment. The acknowledgment should be finalized before the course starts to maximize the accrual of hours. If not finalized by the Tuition and Fees Refund deadline, consider withdrawing to avoid being held responsible for payment of tuition and fees.

Important Notes:

• If you wish to continue with the course after graduation, it is important to apply as a 'non-degree' graduate student during your last semester to be eligible to register. Click here for details.

• SPE 580 is a dynamically dated course, so does not follow the traditional start/end dates on the Academic Calendar. Find the exact start and end dates, along with other important dates, on Class Search.

• If you are taking SPE 580 during your final semester, keep in mind that your degree cannot be awarded until after the last day of SPE 580, which is dynamically dated and does not always align with the end of the semester. For example, if the conferral date for summer is August 9 but the last day of SPE 580 is August 28, then your degree will not be awarded until after August 28. (The conferral date will reflect as August 9.)