A Message from the Department Head
Departmental Statement of Purpose
History of the Department
Majoring and Minoring in Psychology
Co-Ops and Internships
Preparing for Graduate School
Research in the Department of Psychology
Faculty Forums
Psi Chi and Psychology Club
Departmental Awards
Regional and National Psychological Organizations
Department of Psychology
Welcome to the Department of Psychology at Western Carolina University. The purpose of this undergraduate handbook is to provide psychology majors and those thinking about majoring in psychology with information about our program. As you can tell from the Table of Contents, the Handbook will provide you with information concerning the variety of courses offered in the department, degree requirements for the major, independent research opportunities with faculty members, co-op and intern experiences, preparation for graduate school in psychology, and activities outside the classroom, such as the Psychology Club, Psi Chi and faculty forums. We hope this handbook will make your life a bit easier and answer many questions you may have concerning our department. Students should also be very familiar with the University Catalogue and the Student Handbook in terms of policies and procedures associated with University wide requirements.
I wish to thank the many members of the faculty who have contributed to the preparation of this handbook. Special thanks are extended to Dr. Robin Kowalski for her hard work in requesting the data and editing the final product and to Dr. Mickey Randolph, who organized the information herein during her recent tenure as Psychology Department Head. I believe we have succeeded in providing most of the information you will need. However, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about our program. Best wishes in your educational pursuits.
Jim Goodwin, Ph.D., Department Head Psychology
Departmental Statement of Purpose
The Department of Psychology provides the state, region, and university with a center of scholarship in the psychological sciences. The most important expression of this scholarship occurs through effective instruction in the undergraduate and graduate degree programs in psychology, service courses for programs in education and other areas of study, and general education courses open to all undergraduates. The Department of Psychology sees collaborative research activities with students as an integral part of its teaching mission and funded and unfunded faculty research as an important means for faculty development. Although less central to the Department's mission than teaching and research, service that provides faculty members with opportunities to share their scholarship and skills with the university and the larger community is valued and encouraged.
History of the Department
The Psychology Department at Western Carolina University has experienced both qualitative and quantitative development over the years. It developed from a single course as part of the Education curriculum in 1919 to 36 three-hour psychology courses, a major with 39 semester hours in psychology, minors in psychology and life-span development, and a disciplinary focus area, in 1989. Currently, the department offers a Bachelor of Science Degree, a minor in psychology (24 hours), a minor in life-span development (24 hours) for students majoring in other fields, a disciplinary focus area for education students, and assumes responsibility for the administration, advisement, and coordination of an interdisciplinary minor in gerontology, the Psychology Club, Psi Chi, and three different graduate programs. WCU's Psychology Department has always been on the cutting edge in new or innovative programs prompted by a staff, faculty, and students dedicated to the concept of change. As a result, the department has been able to attract quality students and faculty from a broad background and from different geographical areas, nationally as well as internationally.
In the context of progress and change, Dr. Carl Dan Killian -- WCU's first Professor of Education and Psychology -- worked with outstanding state and regional leaders to set standards of quality for the department. He began one of the first summer programs in the country for exceptional and gifted children and their families. Killian's leadership in the development of these and other "special experimental" programs brought national recognition to WCU, and began a tradition that has been carried on by many others.
Psychology's curricula began with education as its primary focus but as the department developed through the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's, it became more directed toward the understanding and assessment of the mentally and physically challenged population and gifted children.
In 1963, the department offered a Bachelor's degree with a concentration in psychology for the first time and by 1972 WCU began its first of three graduate programs, School Psychology. Today, the department offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate degrees, concentrations, and minors and, in broad terms, a diversity of rather individualized program options through a wide range of psychology courses, topics, projects, and field experiences.
Majoring and Minoring in Psychology
A. Who Should Consider Psychology as a Major?
Students should major in a field only if they are both interested in it and reasonably good at it. A student's experience in General Psychology (Psy 150) can be used to assess these factors. If a student has sustained interest in the subject matter throughout the course, that is a positive indicator. However, if a student found only certain topics interesting and the others boring, that is a negative indicator. Further, if the student made a grade of "A" or "B" in General Psychology, he or she probably has the ability to complete a major in this field. A "C" in General Psychology suggests that a student probably can major in psychology, but it may be more difficult than for most other majors. If one's grade in General Psychology is below a C, the student should probably not consider psychology as a major.
B. What Can be Done with a Psychology Major?
This question implies that a psychology major provides the student with a guaranteed career for life. A better question to ask may be "What do psychology majors do?" Generally speaking, no liberal arts and sciences major is designed to provide the student with a set of skills to do some specific kind of work. The basic function of any major is to provide an in-depth learning experience and to help the student to compete with other educated persons for jobs requiring broadly-educated rather than technically-trained persons.
The person with a B. S. in psychology is not a "psychologist" any more than a person with a B. A. in history is a "historian." The Department at the undergraduate level does not train practitioners -- persons who are prepared to function independently as psychologists after graduation. The student who wants to become a professional psychologist must undertake graduate-level education. However, students with a B. S. degree in psychology can do psychological work (for example, working with retarded children, doing personnel work, or working as research assistants).
Many psychology majors go directly into graduate work in psychology or related areas such as counseling, social work, or special education. Others go into professional schools such as law, business administration, medicine, or the ministry. Other majors enter the job market in areas such as social service (juvenile court, social security administration, institutions for disturbed children, etc.), government agencies (Central Intelligence Agency, National Institute of Mental Health, etc.), private industry (personnel work, market research, etc.), secondary school teaching, and a variety of other jobs. Psychology majors at Western Carolina University indicate the same level of satisfaction as majors in other fields of study.
C. What is Required to Major in Psychology?
The psychology major requires a minimum of 39 credits, including several required courses. Among those courses that students must take are General Psychology (Psy 150), Research Methods I: Statistics (Psy 251), Research Methods II: Experimental Design (Psy 252), History and Systems (Psy455) and Senior Seminar (Psy 495). In addition, students are required to take at least one course in each of several different areas within psychology including Social Psychology (Psy 310, Psy 333, Psy 313), Developmental Psychology (Psy 320, Psy 325, Psy 327), Cognitive Psychology (Psy 343, Psy 440, Psy 444, Psy 448), and Clinical Psychology (Psy 363, Psy 430, Psy 441, Psy 470, Psy 474). Students may select which course within each of the above areas they would like to take.
In addition to the required courses just described, each student selects several other courses to complete the major. These may be chosen from any of the divisions discussed above or from a number of different additional courses offered by the department including Human Sexuality (Psy 331), Educational Psychology (Psy 321), Psychological Testing (Psy 360), and Death and Dying (Psy 426), to name just a few. A complete list of psychology courses is provided on the next page.
D. When Should Certain Courses be Taken?
There are no requirements regarding when certain courses must be taken. However, General Psychology (Psy 150) is a prerequisite for most of the courses offered in psychology. Thus, a few guidelines are provided below:
(1) General Psychology (Psy 150) should be taken as early as possible, preferably before the end of the sophomore year.
(2) Research Methods I: Statistics (Psy 251) and Research Methods II: Experimental Design (Psy 252) should be taken no later than the junior year as they are a prerequisite for a few courses.
(3) Senior Seminar (Psy 495) should be taken during the first semester of the student's senior year.
(4) Some courses are offered only one semester a year. Thus, students should inquire during registration regarding when certain courses are likely to be taught in future semesters.
(5) Most importantly, students should be sure to receive proper advisement throughout their education at Western Carolina. Students who decide to major in psychology and who have not yet been assigned an advisor should report to Killian 301 where an advisor will be assigned to them. Receiving proper advisement will help the student to graduate on time as well as provide a source of information regarding jobs and graduate school prospects. What is Required to Minor in Psychology?
To minor in psychology, a student must have completed a total of 24 hours including General Psychology (Psy 150), Research Methods I: Statistics (Psy 251 or equivalent), Research Methods II: Experimental Design (Psy 252 or equivalent), and 15 hours of approved psychology electives.
Psychology Course Check List:
39 hours required for major REQUIRED: Psy 150, 251, 252, 455, 495
Select one: Psy 310, 313, 333
Select one: Psy 343, 440, 444, 448
Select one: Psy 320, 325, 327
Select one: Psy 363, 430, 441, 470, 474
______ Psy 150 (3) General Psychology
______ Psy 251 (3) Research Methods I: Statistics
______ Psy 252 (3) Research Methods II: Experimental Design
______ Psy 280 (3) Research in Psychology I
______ Psy 293 (1) Contemporary Issues in Psychology
______ Psy 310 (3) Social Psychology
______ Psy 313 (3) Industrial/Organizational Psychology
______ Psy 320 (3) Child and Adolescent Development
______ Psy 321 (3) Educational Psychology
______ Psy 325 (3) Development: Early Childhood through Maturity
______ Psy 327 (3) Psychology of Aging
______ Psy 331 (3) Human Sexuality
______ Psy 333 (3) Psychology of Sex Differences
______ Psy 343 (3) Sensation and Perception
______ Psy 360 (3) Psychological Testing
______ Psy 363 (3) Behavioral Intervention
______ Psy 389 (3) Cooperative Education in Psychology
______ Psy 393 (3) Topics in Psychology
______ Psy 412 (3) Attitudes and Public Opinion
______ Psy 426 (3) Death and Dying
______ Psy 430 (3) Personality
______ Psy 440 (3) Physiological Psychology
______ Psy 441 (3) Health Psychology
______ Psy 444 (3) Language, Memory, and Cognition
______ Psy 448 (3) Human Neuropsychology
______ Psy 455 (3) Systems the Theories in Psychology
______ Psy 460 (1) Crisis Intervention
______ Psy 470 (3) Abnormal Psychology
______ Psy 474 (3) The Emotionally Disturbed Child and Adolescent
______ Psy 480 (3) Research in Psychology
______ Psy 482 (3) Internship in Psychology (9 hrs. may be counted toward major)
______ Psy 495 (3) Senior Seminar
Requirements for Graduation:
(1) Completion of a minimum of 128 semester hours, including 41 hours of General Education.
(2) Quality point ratio of 2.00 on total work attempted.
(3) Quality point ratio of 2.00 on all psychology courses.
(4) Fifty percent (50%) of the courses in the major (20 hrs.) and 40% of the total credits presented for graduation (52 hrs.) at the junior (300) or senior (400) level.
(5) Completion of a second major, minor, or concentration.
(6) Compliance with the WCU English proficiency requirements.
* STUDENTS WHO ENTERED PRIOR TO FALL 1991 MAY SUBSTITUTE 455 FOR 495.
PSYCHOLOGY 101 AND 105 ARE GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES AND MAY NOT APPLY TO THE MAJOR.
Note. STUDENTS SHOULD APPLY FOR GRADUATION IMMEDIATELY AFTER COMPLETING 90 HOURS. CHECK THE ACADEMIC CALENDAR IN THE CURRENT CATALOG FOR DEADLINES.
IMPORTANT: EACH STUDENT IS EXPECTED TO KNOW THE INFORMATION IN THE CATALOG AND TO VERIFY THAT QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PARTICULAR CLASS RANK
AND FOR PROPER PROGRESS TOWARD GRADUATION ARE BEING MET. ALL STUDENTS SHOULD CHECK OFFICIAL RECORDS PERIODICALLY TO CONFIRM THEIR STATUS. THE UNIVERSITY
DOES NOT ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE STUDENT'S UNEXPECTED FAILURE AT THE LAST MINUTE TO MEET ALL REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION, WHETHER FAILURE IS DUE TO
MISUNDERSTANDINGS OR NEGLIGENCE CONCERNING THOSE REQUIREMENTS OR TO AN INABILITY TO MEET THEM.
Co-Ops and Internships
Co-Ops and Internships in psychology offer students a unique opportunity to obtain experience in a mental health setting. This will enable the student to determine if a career in psychology is compatible with his or her interests and skills. Graduate schools and future employers look upon students with experience in "the real world" favorably. Although the benefits and requirements for Co-Ops and Internships are similar, they have different application procedures and result in different credit hours/dollars earned. Grading for both is satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Both Co-Ops and Internships may be taken during any school session, although the great majority of students register in the summer. Because placement sites are available in a wide variety of settings, many students return to their hometown to complete their placement. The following information details
requirements, application procedures, and credits available for Co-Ops and Internships.
Co-Ops
1. You must have a 2.0 GPA and sophomore status.
2. In most cases, you will earn a salary and three hours of course credit for 40 hours of work per week for a semester.
3. Co-Ops are arranged through the Co-Op office located in McKee.
4. Before the Co-Op staff can work with you, you must complete a WCU Co-Op application.
5. The Co-Op staff will assist you in locating an appropriate placement. You will need to interview for all placements you are interested in.
6. You will be required to keep a weekly journal and complete a written project report at the end of each semester.
Internship
1. You must have a 2.0 GPA, 20 hours in psychology, and three faculty willing to serve as references for you.
2. There is no salary (with rare exceptions), but you may earn three hours of credit for each 10 hours per week per semester you work. You may earn up to 12 hours credit although only nine can count toward the major.
The other three count as electives.
3. You must obtain an Internship application form from the Psychology Department and complete it at least three months prior to the date you expect to begin the internship.
4. You must interview with the faculty coordinator.
5. You will then interview with the field placement supervisor.
6. You will be required to keep a weekly journal and complete a written project report at the end of each semester.
Checklist for Preparing for Graduate School
Because an undergraduate degree in psychology is a liberal arts major, it does not prepare you for a specific job and will not prepare you to be a practicing psychologist. A minimum of a masters degree is required to
work as a psychologist. Therefore, most psychology majors who stay in the human service fields will eventually have to obtain a graduate degree. Entrance into these programs is highly competitive, so you need to be
preparing throughout your undergraduate career. Here are some of the things you can do to prepare.
Freshman - Junior years
1. Get good grades (I.e., develop good study habits and work hard).
2. Take a variety of courses in Psychology and in other areas. Consider taking courses in biology, sociology, criminal justice, child development, management or education. They may spark an interest that helps you focus on a specialization in psychology and identify a minor.
3. Get the maximum out of your general education courses. It is your basic education that will determine how well you do on the Graduate Record Examination. Learn to read with comprehension, build your vocabulary, develop strong writing abilities, and learn basic math, through college algebra and trigonometry.
4. Get involved in a research project with one or more faculty members.
5. Take advantage of special events such as attending the meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association meeting, undergraduate research conferences, faculty forums, and offerings of the Psychology Club and Psi Chi.
6. Talk with your advisor about graduate school.
7. Keep in mind, right from the beginning, that the typical person accepted into a masters-level psychology graduate program has a GPA over 3.0 (more likely, 3.4 - 3.6) and GRE scores of 1000+ (verbal and quantitative scores combined--you can extrapolate pretty well from your SAT scores
and if you don't know what "extrapolate" means, you are already in trouble). Doctoral level programs require much higher numbers. A winning personality doesn't hurt, but it won't make up for low grades or GRE scores.
Junior Year
1. Talk with your advisor about graduate school or the Directors of the programs at WCU.
2. Obtain the American Psychological Association's handbook on graduate school.
3. Obtain and use one of the manuals for preparing for the GRE.
4. Think about what you want to be doing 10 years from now. Also be realistic. The interests of many psychology students are closer to counseling and social work than they are to clinical psychology. The former are also less competitive than the latter. Even masters level clinical programs may accept one applicant in 10. Doctoral level programs may accept 1 in 100.
5. Write to graduate schools and get materials on various graduate programs in specialties and geographical areas you would be interested in.
6. Consider doing a co-op or internship during your senior year.
Senior Year
1. If you want to go directly to graduate school in the year after you graduate, you will need to apply during the Fall of your senior year. However, consider delaying going to graduate school for at least a year. You have been in school most of your life and a break may be good. If you can obtain an entry-level job working with people, you may be able to gain valuable experience and focus more on exactly what kind of graduate degree you want to get.
2. Prepare for and take the GRE in the Fall. You need an application to take the GRE, available in the Counseling Center or Killian 230. It must be sent in well in advance, so do this early.
3. Apply to a range of schools. Do not just apply to big-name or Ph.D./Psy.D. Programs. Consider non-psychology programs.
4. Choose at least three faculty members who know you pretty well to write letters of recommendations. You should give each recommender a one-or two page resume indicating what you have done, what you are interested in and your own assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. You will need to give your recommenders your recommendation forms and self-addressed, stamped envelopes for their recommendations. Make sure you give your recommenders plenty of lead time and check back to make
sure they sent in your forms on time.
5. Plan to spend a good deal of time working on your applications. Late or incomplete applications will be ignored. Also keep in mind that applying is an expensive process. By the time you have paid for the GRE, manuals, and application fees, you will have spent at least $400-500.
6. If you are serious about a school, you should arrange for a visit if at all possible. Some programs will require an interview. If they don't, you should try to visit anyway. When you visit a program, be sure you talk with
current students. Find out if students feel they are getting a good education. The work load in graduate school is significantly greater than what you have experienced as an undergraduate. The better graduate programs will require a thesis. Find out how much support students get in the thesis process. Find out whether or not students are finishing the program, including internship and thesis, in a timely fashion. If you are considering an applied program (e.g. Clinical, Counseling or School Psychology), find out about the availability of practicum and internship sites.
7. Explore the opportunities for financial aid. Keep in mind that it is unlikely that you will be able to work very many hours in a part time job. In a good full-time program, the maximum number of hours you will be able
to work, inside or outside the university, is 15-20 hours. There are part-time graduate programs. However, the bias in psychology is that graduate education should be a full-time experience.
8. Be prepared for some rejection. Few students get into all the programs they apply to. If you have prepared by getting good grades, getting a strong general education to prepare for the GRE, and have thoughtfully and
realistically applied to a broad range of schools, your chances of getting into a program should be reasonable. Just in case, have a backup planned.
Research in the Department of Psychology
The Department of Psychology has always stressed the importance of scholarly work by its faculty and students. Active research is important not only for its contribution to knowledge about human behavior, but also
as a vehicle for continued faculty development and for the training of undergraduate and graduate students.
Each year, many students become involved in research, either through volunteering to work on a faculty member's ongoing research or by becoming involved in Directed Studies (Psy 480) for course credit. Through their participation in research, students develop research and analytic skills, have an opportunity to work directly with faculty and graduate students, and, often have the opportunity to co-author research papers with faculty
members.
Many students are puzzled by the emphasis that is placed on research, questioning the importance of it for their development. The most obvious reason for the emphasis on research is that research is needed to understand behavior. Psychology has moved beyond armchair speculation about why people and animals behave as they do to a research based science that tests the usefulness of various explanations about the causes of
behavior. The material covered in courses did not appear out of thin air. It is the result of a century of research by thousands of behavioral scientists around the world. Many psychologists see contributing to our knowledge of behavior as part of their job as teachers, clinicians, or consultants.
Many students have no intention of doing research as part of their careers; some do not even plan to become psychologists at all. Even for them, a solid background in research can be quite useful. For example, for those
who go into clinical or counseling psychology, a background in research allows them to keep up with the latest developments in psychological assessment and treatment. Psychologists and others who provide psychological services are obligated to stay abreast of the research literature that deals with consulting and therapy.
Research also teaches critical thinking. We all use information every day to make decisions relevant to our personal and professional lives. We are bombarded by information from books, articles, advertisements, parents, friends, and teachers. By learning how researchers test the validity of ideas, we can learn how to evaluate information critically in everyday life. By applying the same critical approach to evaluating information in everyday life that researchers use, students can lower their chances of being led astray by misinformation.
In addition, research is educational. An excellent way of becoming an "expert" on a particular topic is to design and conduct research in the area. That is one reason why universities insist that faculty stay active in
the research process. By remaining active as researchers, faculty engage in an ongoing learning process as they stay in touch with their areas of expertise. Research can serve the same purpose for students. Students
who get involved in research become immersed in a particular area and emerge an "expert" on the topic.
A final reason why psychologists emphasize research is because graduate admission committees around the country weigh research quite heavily when admitting students to graduate school. Admission decisions
are usually based on four criteria: scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), undergraduate grades, research experience, and letters of recommendation. Thus, for students who plan to go to graduate
school, involvement in research may give them an edge over many other students at admissions time.
Faculty Forums
Several times each semester the Psychology Department will sponsor colloquiums in which Western Carolina faculty, visiting scholars, or students discuss topics of current interest in psychology. Undergraduate psychology majors are particularly encouraged to participate in these forums. Last year's colloquia included discussions on psychological perspectives on the mind-body problem, sports psychology, and the phenomenon of social blushing. Information about these faculty forums will be disseminated in class or through memos posted in the department.
Psi Chi
Psi Chi is the national honor society in psychology with chapters in over 650 colleges and universities. The purpose of Psi Chi is to recognize outstanding students in psychology, to encourage excellence in psychology,
and to advance the science of psychology. The Western Carolina chapter of Psi Chi was installed in the early 1970s.
Membership in Psi Chi is open to students with the following qualifications: (a) registration for a major or minor in psychology, (b) completion of 8 credit hours in psychology with a minimum GPA in psychology of 3.5, or completion of 12 credit hours in psychology with a psychology GPA of at least 2.0, (c) a class rank in the upper 35% of one's class in general scholarship (i.e., overall GPA). Each fall, students meeting these qualifications are identified and invited to become members. Any student who believes he or she meets the qualifications and is not contacted by November of a given year should contact the chapter president or faculty advisor. The faculty advisors are Dr. Bernard and Dr. Boan.
Cecil W. Mann Psychology Club
The Cecil W. Mann Psychology Club promotes interest in the behavioral sciences through activities that will stimulate interest in the field of psychology. Any student, regardless of major is eligible to join. For information or if interested in joining, call 227-7361.
Departmental Awards
The Psychology Department presents several awards for outstanding work in the area of psychology.
The Cecil W. Mann Award in Psychology is presented annually to the outstanding senior psychology major. The student receives a monetary award and his or her name is placed on a permanent plaque displayed within the department. All students who graduate or will graduate from the previous summer through the Spring semester in which the award will be made are eligible. All senior psychology majors and faculty members are provided in March with a list of eligible students. Voters list three students in descending order using the following criteria:
(a) classroom scholarship: overall performance in courses in psychology
(b) scholarly activities: activities outside the classroom such as involvement in research, conference participation, or other creative endeavors
(c) other psychology-related activities: internship or volunteer work, participation in the Psychology Club and/or Psi Chi, committee service, or other contributions to the department and university.
Votes are counted and a final determination of the winner is made by the Department Head, the Chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee, and the President of the Psychology Club if the latter is an active organization during the year of the award.
The Joel S. Milner Research Award is presented in some years to the psychology major who has shown excellence in the area of research. This student also receives a monetary award and his or her name on a plaque. At the same time that voting for the Cecil W. Mann Award is conducted, senior psychology majors and faculty will nominate students of the Cecil W. Mann Award also determines if any nominated student is deserving of the Joel S. Milner Research award using the following criteria:
(a) involvement in research: active involvement in research projects with one or more faculty members over at least a year's period,
(b) recognition: recognition of the student's research activities through publication or presentation of research findings at professional meetings.
The T. L. Huskins Service Award is awarded for unusual service to the Department of Psychology by a student who has a major, minor, concentration, or disciplinary focus area in psychology. The student receives a monetary award and his or her name on a permanent plaque in the department. At the same time that elections for the Cecil W. Mann Award are made, senior psychology majors and faculty members will be asked to nominate students for the award. Nominations will include a supporting statement. The committee that selects the Cecil W. Mann Award recipient also makes a decision regarding whether any nominated student's service has been unusual enough to deserve this distinction. No more than two students will be provided with the award in any one year and the award may not be given in some years.
The total record of involvement in service to the department, school and university will be considered. Consideration for this award includes an evaluation of the extent to which the student's efforts have contributed
directly or indirectly to the department, school, and university's operation, enrichment, and goals. The criteria for the award include:
(a) involvement: active service in professional affairs such as the Psychology Club, Psi Chi, other honor societies at the university, tutoring, community work, advisement, etc.
(b) volunteerism: volunteer work in the organization of the department, including maintenance of labs, classrooms, bulletin boards, the Cecil Mann library, care of plants, production of newsletters, and contact with prospective students at the department, school, or university levels.
The Linda Elaine Glenn Scholarship Award has been established to honor the memory of Ms. Glenn, who had been a student at Western at the time of her death. The Award is to provide financial assistance to female undergraduate or graduate students in psychology or education at Western. Recipients are selected on the basis of overall ability, past achievement, potential for development in the field of psychology, and other criteria that ensure selection of recipients who possess traits of character like those of Ms. Glenn.
Regional and National Psychological Organizations
All students, but particularly those interested in applying to graduate
school, are encouraged to join one or more of the regional or national
psychological associations. At the national level, students may elect to
join the American Psychological Association (APA) and/or the American
Psychological Society (APS). At the regional level, you may choose to join
the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA). Involvement in
these organizations provides students with the opportunity to attend
conferences at reduced rates in addition to receiving journals published by
the respective associations. For example, joining the American
Psychological Association entitles you to receive the American Psychologist
at no additional charge. Similarly, membership in the American
Psychological Society provides you with subscriptions to Psychological
Science and Current Directions.
At both the national and the regional level, annual conventions are held
which students are encouraged to attend. These conferences provide you
with a good opportunity to network with other students or professionals
in your field of interest. In addition, the Southeastern Psychological
Association sponsors an undergraduate research session at its annual
conference. Presentations at annual meetings of professional organizations
are looked favorably upon by graduate schools.
Beyond pursuing study in the field of psychology and paying a small fee,
no other requirements are necessary to join one of these organizations.
For information on how to join, contact Dr. Kowalski.