Saybrook Graduate School

Graduate Programs in Psychology, Human Science, and Organizational Systems

San Francisco, California

DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM

For more than thirty years, Saybrook Graduate School's mode of education has been at-a-distance learning. Because of the unique mix of mentorship, on-site residential programs, and online classes, the Saybrook model encourages close contact between faculty members and students and among students. Programs are structured to meet the personal and professional needs of adult learners and persons not able or willing to travel to traditional classrooms.

DELIVERY MEDIA

Learning takes place through one-on-one mentorships with faculty members in small cohort groups, online courses, and seminars at residential conferences. Using learning guides, students complete course work, which is evaluated by faculty members who communicate by phone, letter, fax, or computer or in person at conferences.

PROGRAMS OF STUDY

Saybrook Graduate School offers programs in psychology, human science, and organizational systems. Students may pursue an M.A. or a Ph.D. in any program. Within each program, students select an area of study, which includes humanistic and transpersonal psychology, health studies, consciousness and spirituality, social transformation, and organizational systems.

Saybrook's psychology degree program prepares its graduates to be scholars and researchers in the broad domain of human experience. Saybrook is an institute providing alternative education that conscientiously challenges many of the axioms of mainstream medicalized and industrialized psychology and offers an emancipatory alternative. Saybrook offers the course work necessary to take the licensing exam for both the marriage and family therapy license and the psychologist license in most states.

The human science program provides an opportunity for a humanistic, action-learning approach to group, family, public and private organizations, and community and global spheres of life. The Saybrook approach combines responsible action with scholarly reflection, exploring transformative change that respects human dignity and creative possibilities. The human science program consists of a set of perspectives pertaining to the human condition in historical, contextual, cross-cultural, political, and religious terms. It employs perspectives such as feminism, post-structuralism, critical theory, existential phenomenology, and postmodernism. The human sciences are a collective understanding of the common condition and contribute to the ongoing story of social improvement and consciousness evolution.

The organizational systems program is designed to develop leaders, scholars, and practitioners who are capable of addressing the challenge of building organizations and communities with greater capacity to deal with the increasing turbulence, interconnection, and diverse frameworks of interpretation of the information age/knowledge era. The mission of the organizational systems program is to educate leaders to become adept at changing and designing organizations that reflect the highest human ideals.

Since 1971, Saybrook has been educating mid-career professionals in humanistic values relevant to the work place and the community. Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center's graduate education prepares scholar/practitioners to take effective leadership roles, develop the consciousness to realize the immense possibilities of these times, and minimize the potential for social and individual suffering. Saybrook provides a unique learning-centered environment based in an emancipatory humanistic tradition. Advanced studies in psychology, human science, and organizational systems are offered. Programs are designed for professionals seeking an opportunity to engage in serious scholarly work, and who wish to develop the necessary research skills, scope of knowledge, and intervention skills to become more effective in their chosen sphere of work.

Approximately 500 students are currently enrolled at Saybrook, ranging in age from the mid-20s to the 60s and representing more than forty states and many countries. Saybrook is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

STUDENT SERVICES

It is Saybrook's intent to be responsive to student and institutional needs, to provide programs and services in support of the mission, to assist students in achieving academic success, and to enhance the overall learning environment.

FACULTY

Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center is proud to have an internationally recognized faculty of scholars and practitioners, all of whom hold a doctoral or terminal degree in their field. In addition to teaching, faculty members have extensive experience as researchers, practitioners, consultants, authors, business people, and organizational leaders. They are committed to Saybrook's ideals and values and are supportive of students' personal and scholarly growth.

ADMISSION

Saybrook requires that all applicants seeking admission into a master's program must hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution. The minimum expected grade point average (GPA) requirement is 3.0 from the last degree-granting institution; however, exceptions may be made with the approval of the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Doctoral degree applicants must have an appropriate master's degree from a regionally accredited institution. Candidates wishing to pursue the doctoral degree but who lack a master's degree should apply to one of Saybrook's M.A. programs and, upon graduation from the master's program, apply for the Ph.D. program and transfer a maximum of 31 Saybrook credits toward Saybrook's Ph.D. degree.

All candidates whose first (native) language is not English must meet an English language proficiency requirement to qualify for admission. This requirement may be met in a number of ways, including the submission of results from a recent TOEFL exam (Saybrook's TOEFL number is 9007). Prospective students should contact the Admissions Office for details or consult the 2004–05 Catalog.

APPLYING

Students are admitted in September and March. For the September start date, all application materials should be received by June 1. For the March start date, all application materials should be received by December 16. Applications completed after this deadline are considered on a space-available basis or, with the applicant's permission, held for the next enrollment period.

Applicants are evaluated on writing ability, past academic record, and professional background. They should be a good match with the distance learning format, research interests, and Saybrook's mission and values. New students attend a four-day Residential Orientation Conference (ROC) held in the San Francisco Bay area.

Saybrook welcomes admissions application materials from international students with degrees from accredited post-secondary colleges and universities (or equivalent schools). Transcripts created in languages other than English must be submitted as literal translations prior to admission and must be sent for evaluation to the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) at AACRAO, Office of International Educational Services, Southwest Regional Office, PMB 606, 15029 North Thompson Peak, Suite B111, Scottsdale, Arizona, 85260, U.S.A. Students should visit the Web site at http://www.aacraosw.org/ for more information. AACRAO issues a Basic Statement of Comparability that is sent directly to Saybrook. All other admissions documents should be submitted in English.

TUITION AND FEES

Tuition for the 2004–05 academic year is $15,800. Fees for attending two Residential Conferences (RC) per year are also required. These fees include the cost of registration, meals, conference materials, and meeting space.

CONTACT

Dean of Admissions
Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center
450 Pacific Avenue
San Francisco, California 94133-4640
Telephone: 415-433-9200 800-825-4480 (toll-free)
Fax: 415-433-9271
E-mail: admissions@saybrook.edu
Web site: http://www.saybrook.edu

FINANCIAL AID

U.S. citizens or eligible permanent residents may borrow up to $18,500 per year through the Federal Stafford Student Loan Program. Saybrook offers limited tuition assistance to qualified students.