Child Development and Family Science Program

Family and Consumer Science Department
College of Education and Professional Studies
Ellensburg
Michaelsen Hall, room 100
Mail Stop 7565
509-963-2766
Fax 509-963-2787
https://www.cwu.edu/academics/family-consumer/

Faculty and Staff
Chair
Sarah Feeney, PhD, CFLE

Program Coordinator
Amy Claridge, PhD, LMFT child developmentand family science program, family resource center director

Associate Professors
Amy Claridge, PhD, LMFT child development and family science
Duane Dowd, PhD, CLFE child development and family science
Sarah Feeney, PhD, CFLE child development and family science

Senior Lecturer
Katy Tenhulzen, MS, CCLS, child development and family science

Lecturers
Natalie Fish, MS, child development and family science
Olivia Powell, MS, child development and family science

Emeritus Professors
Joan Amby, PhD, family studies

Staff
Alex Lange, secretary senior

Program Information

The family and child life degree includes an advanced interdisciplinary study of interpersonal and family relationships. The graduate program has a strong emphasis on community involvement, practical application and research. Graduates are prepared for advanced career opportunities in children’s hospitals, family service agencies, parent education programs, family counseling centers, other family life education settings or doctoral study in family relations.

Graduate students in family and child life who enter the program without prior coursework needed for preparing them for the graduate degree will need to take undergraduate courses as deficiencies or demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the area. Students wishing to pursue child life specialist certification who do not have a child life undergraduate degree will develop a program of study with their advisor to address all child life council competencies required for certification.

Admission Requirements
Students must meet the admission requirements of the School of Graduate Studies, including a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and a minimum of a 3.0 GPA in all coursework attempted in the last 90 quarter (60 semester) hours of academic work.

Program Requirements
All students will complete 45 credits in the graduate program before completing the final culminating experience. As a culminating experience, students will complete a thesis, research project or comprehensive examination. The number of required credits of FCL 700 varies depending on the students’ choice for final project: Thesis (6 credits), research project (4 credits), or examination (2 credits).

Course Offerings
Frequency of course offering information can be found at the department website: https://www.cwu.edu/academics/family-consumer/ or by contacting the department directly.

Programs

Master of Science (M.S.)

Courses

Child Development and Family Science (CDFS)