Program Overview

Adolescent Italian (Advanced Certificate) Program

The Adolescent Italian (Advanced Certificate) program is a post-master’s program designed for applicants without prior New York State teacher certification in Italian 7-12.

Academic Plan

• The program code for certification is 31897 – ADOLESCENCE EDUCATION: ITALIAN 7-12.
• The academic plan includes a sequence of courses in both Education and Italian.

Total Credits

• For Fall 2024 Admits and Beyond: 25 credits
• For Admits Prior to Fall 2024: Earn at least 23 credits

Program Advisors

• Jenny M. Castillo, Faculty Advisor
• Arisa Baksh, Certification, Graduation and Administrative Advisor
• Julissa A. Diloné, Clinical Placement Specialist

Program Sequences

• Students complete a sequence of courses in both Education and Italian.
• The program sequence provides a suggested order of education courses for the program based on start date.
• It also includes when to take certification exams and apply for clinical experiences in addition to other important non-course requirements.

Program Sequence for Fall 2024 Admits and Beyond

• Program Sequence

Program Sequence Admits Prior to Fall 2024

Fall Start

• 4 Semester Course Sequence and Program Tracker
• 8 Semester Course Sequence and Program Tracker

Spring Start

• 5 Semester Course Sequence and Program Tracker
• 7 Semester Course Sequence and Program Tracker

Transfer of Credits and Waivers

Transfer of Credits

• A matriculated student may request a transfer of credit for a graduate-level course completed at another institution.
• To be eligible, the course must have been taken within the past five years and closely match the content of a required course in the student’s Hunter College program.
• The request will be reviewed by faculty for equivalence.
• Each program sets the courses for which a transfer will be considered.
• Graduate students in advanced certificate programs are limited to 9 transfer credits.

Waivers

• A waiver of a course requirement may be granted to a student who has completed an undergraduate course at another college or a graduate course taken over five years ago with the same or similar content as a Hunter College course required in your program.
• Not all departments approve the use of undergraduate courses for use in waivers.
• A waiver requires you to take an approved elective course of at least the same number of credits at Hunter to replace the waived course.

Clinical Experiences

• Students participate in Developmental Clinical Experiences (Clinical Block 1 and Clinical Block 2) and Student Teaching or Supervised Teaching.
• A Developmental Clinical Experience is a classroom experience in a New York City Public School in conjunction with a block of courses.
• These blocks require a minimum of 50 hours of fieldwork.
• Student Teaching or Supervised Teaching is the culminating clinical experience and requires five full days per week for one semester in a school.
• Students are observed by Hunter College Clinical Supervisors throughout the semester.

Certification and Licensure

• The Adolescent Italian (Advanced Certificate) program leads to New York State certification to teach Italian in grades 7-12.
• Students must wait to apply for certification until they receive an email from the School of Education indicating their recommendation has been entered.
• This usually occurs six to eight weeks after the conferral of their degree.

Types of Certification

• Students are recommended for both initial and professional certification:
  • The Initial Certificate is the entry-level teaching certificate and is valid for five years.
  • The Professional Certificate is an advanced certificate.
  • Once teachers have completed three years of full-time, paid teaching experience including one year of mentored teaching, they can apply for professional certification.

Application Checklist

• Review Your Fingerprint Status
• Take Required Certification Exams and Workshops
• Apply for Graduation
• Apply for Certification

Review Your Fingerprint Status

• All students in programs leading to New York State certification need to have their fingerprints cleared by the New York State Education Department (NYSED).

Take Required Certification Exams and Workshops

• Exams:
  • Educating All Students (EAS)
  • Content Specialty Test (CST) – Italian
• Workshops:
  • School Violence Prevention and Intervention
  • Prevention and Child Abuse Identification and Reporting
  • Dignity for All Students (DASA) workshop

Apply for Graduation

• In order to be recommended for certification, all students in all programs including advanced certificate programs, must complete their program and apply for graduation.

Apply for Certification

• Certification candidates must wait to apply for certification until receiving an email from the School of Education indicating their recommendation has been entered.
• This will occur six to eight weeks after the Hunter College conferral dates of June 1 for spring grads, September 1 for summer grads and January 1 for fall grads.
• Candidates will be recommended for Initial and Professional certification.
• There are 4 steps in the application process:
  1. Create/Log in to your TEACH Account
  2. Verify/Update Profile
  3. Select Certificate(s)
  4. Complete application (sign affidavit, sign application, make payment)

Graduation

• Graduation is the official completion of your program and conferral of an academic degree.
• In order to graduate, students must apply for graduation using CUNYFirst the semester before the semester of their planned graduation and complete any outstanding requirements by the stated deadlines.