Accreditation

Formal accreditation is not available undergraduate psychology programs in the United States.  However, the faculty of the Department of Psychology are committed to a continuous process of self-examination to ensure that we are meeting established best-practices standards.  Collectively, the JMU Department of Psychology faculty are, quite literally, writing the books on how to effectively prepare undergraduate students in psychology.  During the past 5 years our faculty have been authors of chapters in each of the following books that describe best practices in undergraduate psychology education:

• Measuring Up: Assessment Challenges and Practices for Psychology, 2004.
• Best Practices for Teaching Introduction to Psychology, 2005.
• Best Practices for Teaching Statistics and Research Methods in Behavioral Science, 2007.
• Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology: A Handbook of Best Practices, 2008. 
• Best Practices for Beginnings and Endings in the Psychology Major, 2009. 
• Undergraduate Education in Psychology: A Blueprint for the Future of the Discipline, 2009.
• Best Practices for Teaching Beginnings and Endings in the Psychology Major, 2010..

In addition our faculty have contributed to these books:

• The Handbook of the Teaching of Psychology, 2005.
• Inspiring Leadership: It’s Not About the Power, 2006.
• Thriving!  A Manual for Students in the Helping Professions, 2008.
• A Guide to Teaching Research Methods in Psychology, 2008.
• Developing, Promoting, & Sustaining the Undergraduate Research Experience in Psychology, 2008.

And our faculty include a co-author on:

• Quality benchmarks in undergraduate psychology programs, an important article that helps you know when you have a good program, published in the primary journal of the American Psychological Association, American Psychologist, 2007.

Through our commitment to developing best-practices standards, and thorough our ongoing program assessment process, we strive to be a model program for undergraduate psychology in North America.