Our Crowdfunding Groups
Counseling Psychology Doctoral Student Research Support
Previously, the Fretz family generously contributed $30,000 to create the Dr. Bruce Fretz Memorial Research Endowment. This fund provides annual support for students who are conducting research on counseling psychology in the Department of Psychology and College of Education at the University of Maryland. Throughout the six-year program, Doctoral students conduct both a master's level thesis and a dissertation as required by the program. Currently, students often restrict themselves from conducting worthy research projects because of the lack of available funds. The Counseling Psychology program would like to provide funding to support the research of each student working on their thesis or dissertation as well as send students to professional conferences.
To encourage additional support, the Fretz family is offering to match, dollar for dollar, additional gifts up to $15,000. If the goal is reached, an additional $30,000 would be added to the Fretz Memorial Research Endowment for a total of $60,000.
Counseling Psychology is one of the oldest APA-accredited programs in the United States and consistently ranked as the #1 program in the country. We have trained roughly 400 counseling psychologists and almost all of the students have gone on to prestigious careers in academia, private practice and Veterans Administration hospitals after earning their PhDs, making considerable contributions in terms of their research, theorizing and leadership in counseling psychology.
The late 1960’s were a crucial time for the program's development. Dr. Fretz came into the program when it was distinguishing itself from clinical and community psychology in the department. Although just recently out of graduate school, he stepped up to take on the leadership role and brought the program to the national renown it still enjoys. Dr. Fretz not only served as an incredible director of the program and an instructor particularly of introductory psychology, but he was also a known nationally for his research and leadership in the field of counseling psychology.
For more information about the Counseling Psychology program, please visit the following website:
http://www.counselingpsychology.umd.edu/counsel2.html
Gifts in support of the University of Maryland are accepted and managed by the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Inc., an affiliated 501(c)(3) organization authorized by the Board of Regents. Contributions to the University of Maryland are tax deductible as allowed by law. Please see your tax advisor for details.
Your gift will support expenses tied to doctoral research such as local travel, printing services and other administrative costs.
We want to ensure that our doctoral students are well prepared to transition into their professional careers. Your gift will cover the cost for them to attend professional training and development programs. These programs will help students formulate clear career goals, be introduced to a variety of academic and nonacademic career possibilities, and learn skills needed for managing post-PhD careers.
Your generosity will offset costs associated with travel, lodging, and/or registrations for conferences. Conferences provide valuable opportunities for doctoral students to present papers, observe top scholars in counseling psychology, attend panels relevant to their research and network with members of their field.
Preparing for and conducting the research necessary for a top tier thesis is time consuming and can be costly. Your donation will cover the cost of purchasing data sets, audio / video equipment rentals for interviews, or the purchase of general supplies needed for a thesis defense.
You generosity will defray the costs incurred by doctoral students who are engaged in dissertation research. This will relieve much of the financial constraints often associated with the purchase of key software or compensation for research study participants.