october 2001

the psychology newsletter

GRADUATION 2001

A total of 118 students majoring in Psychology were awarded Baccalaureate degrees at the 2001 WSC Commencement in May. Of these 80 formally earned their degree in May while the remainder had completed their programs the previous August or December.

One Psychology major, Valerie Wright, graduated summa cum laude (3.9-4.0 QPA). Six more--Sophia Beland, Donna Davisson, Andrea Long, Tisia Lewandowski, and Jennifer Robbins--graduated magna cum laude (3.7-3.89), and six graduated cum laude (3.5-3.69). Thirteen Psychology majors were listed in Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

 COMPUTER LAB

Students are encouraged to use the computer lab in A-104A. The lab is open Monday through Friday 8:00-4:00. The machines are equipped with word processing and statistical programs. There are two lab assistants available to help you. Their hours are posted on the bulletin board outside of the lab.

 SENIORS!!!!!

If you are planning to graduate in May you must submit your Intent to Graduate form to the Registrar’s Office by the end of December. If you are planning to graduate in spring or summer it is a good idea to submit your Intent to Graduate form as soon as possible. This form leads to a review of your transcript so that any problems meeting graduation requirements are identified. A review now may reveal the problems before you register for the spring semester.

All seniors should open a Placement File with the Career Development Center in the Student Center. This will hold your letters of recommendation and other papers for the future. 

REMINDER

The last day to make up Incomplete grades from Spring or Summer 2001 is November 2. The last day to declare or change your major or minor is October 15.

PUBLICATION & PRESENTATIONS

Dr. Mosher-Ashley has recently published an article with WSC graduate Ed Lemay who is currently a doctoral candidate in Social Psychology at Rutgers University. The article entitled "Improving Residents' Life Satisfaction" appeared in the May issue of Nursing Homes.  

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP

Dr. Chris Marco is a co-investigator on a multi-site study of sleep in middle school students. The study involves investigators, students, and consultants from WSC, Holy Cross, Brown University, and a school district in Maryland. A conference presentation of pilot data for this project was just awarded a commendation from the Association for the Advancement of Behavioral Therapy (AABT). 

Dr. Marco also has some students working with her on a study of WSC Freshman students’ experiences during their first semester. Finally, if any students are interested in research or careers in health psychology, Dr. Marco would like to have them stop by and talk with her about options in the field.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

June Allard taught master’s courses on research in Managua, Nicaragua in June and in Istanbul, Turkey in July. Recently, Dr. Allard was made an honorary member of Phi Eta Sigma, a national scholastic honor society for freshmen. 

Dr. Allard, Dr. Joline Jones and Dr. Gordon Matheson also attended the 109th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association held in San Francisco, California in August. 

Dr. Emily Soltano and Dr. Chris Marco spent a week this summer at “Project Kaleidoscope”, a national program designed to improve teaching and student assessment.   

GRAD SCHOOL REMINDERS

• Seniors who are planning to go to graduate school next year should already have investigated their alternatives and requested applications from the schools. Watch deadlines carefully and remember that deadlines for financial aid are often earlier than deadlines for admission. 
• Juniors should use this year for investigation and planning.
• Visit the schools you like, both to gather information and to increase the chance they will pay serious attention to your application.
• Tailor your application to the individual school. Try to mention specific professors you would like to work with (and their areas of research).
• Don’t use on-line applications. The graduate schools tell us they do not get as much attention.
• Prepare for and take the GRE General Test.
• Pick up the three-part guide to getting into graduate school available at the Psychology Office and read all three parts.
• Watch the Psychology Bulletin Boards for information on graduate study and for announcements of meetings on preparing for and applying to graduate school.

NEPA

The New England Psychological Assn. will hold its annual meeting October 19-20 at Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT.  Student on-site registration is $10. This conference is a wonderful opportunity to meet students from other colleges and to choose among dozens of presentations, many of which are designed for undergraduates. Featured speakers include Robert Sternberg, Carol Dweck, Lewis Lipsitt and Edward Diener. Presentation topics include: feminist research in health, crib death, the psychology of positive people, aggression in children, and careers for psychology majors. A full program is available in the Psychology Office. 

WANTED: AMBITIOUS STUDENTS

Psychology and allied health majors who would like to present a paper at a professional conference are encouraged to consider the Psychology of Aging course offered in the spring semester. This course, taught by Dr. Mosher-Ashley, features a writing project that can lead to professional presentations. Seven students have had projects that were developed in the course accepted for presentation at the joint conference of the American Society on Aging and National Council on Aging in March, 2002 in Denver, CO. 

ON-LINE RESOURCES

The WSC Library has its databases on line. These resources can help you search for books and journal articles for term papers and other assignments in Psychology courses.

 You can access the databases from home if you have a bar sticker for the library on the back of your college ID. Once you have the bar code, go to the WSC home page and get to select the database you wish to explore. At this point you need to enter your password (the number on the bar code). You can then conduct your search of the literature. PsychInfo is a comprehensive collection of information in Psychology. Also, check out PsycLit, which permits you to examine abstracts of articles published in Psychology journals and chapter listings of books.

Additional databases include CINAHL (nursing, allied health & health sciences), MEDLINE (medicine, psychiatry), Eric (education). Medline is also available free of charge on the internet at: www.nlm.nih.gov. 

PSYCHOLOGY WEB PAGE

The department web pages are available from http://wwwfac.worcester.edu/psychology.

SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

 A new brochure on school psychology, discussing the responsibilities of a school psychologist and the preparation for that career has recently been published by the Massachusetts School Psychology Assn. Copies are available in the publications area inside the door to A103.

This area also has materials on major requirements, recommended courses for double majors, graduate school information, and career information. 

CAREERS

Many people think that “psychologist” is synonymous with “counselor” or “therapist”, but a majority of people with degrees in Psychology are not in those fields.

Psychologists work in business and  industry assessing and placing job applicants, designing training programs, program assessment in public service and health agencies, planning company reorganizations, and helping workers plan for retirement. They  work with marketing and advertising, or with product design, or focus on assistance pro-grams such as stress management. Industrial-Organizational psychologists may work in the private or public sectors in jobs such as: personnel management, organizational planning, engineering design, test design, and research. Dr. Kimball will be glad to discuss the growing I-O field with you. 

If you enjoy research you should know that in recent years students with bachelor’s degrees in Psychology have found their training in designing and analyzing research can be the ticket to well-paid jobs in biotechnology and drug manufacturing. Others have been hired to write grant applications for community agencies or design assessment programs.

The bulletin boards on the first floor of the Administration Building have information on a variety of Psychology careers and subsequent newsletters will discuss some additional fields. 

JOB OPENINGS

These are a few of the jobs recently advertised in Central Massachusetts for which a bachelor’s degree in Psychology would be appropriate preparation. Some of them would also require experience or special skills such as a foreign language.

Workshop coordinator – provide career related services such as resume preparation, job search skills, job readiness, and planning for training and education programs.
Assessment counselor – evaluate at-risk youth and help plan education and employment.
Residential counselor – for emotionally disturbed children in a group home.
Outreach mental health counselor –serving people with mental illness, addictions and PTSD.
Case manager – design service plans for elders and coordinate services.
Grant coordinator - for after school program .
Direct service advocate –provide support in parenting skills, advocacy for teen parents.
Protective service worker - investigate elder abuse and neglect, provide intervention.
Domestic violence program coordinator - coordinate assistance and advocacy for victims, encourage collaboration among agencies.
Wilderness counselor - work in innovative prep school for at-risk youth

| Psychology Department | scorey1@worcester.edu | 508.929.8159 |