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Department of Psychology

News

Vanessa Olson
A scene from the 2008 Psychology Symposium in Miller Hall.

The Department of Psychology moved to Miller Hall on December 17, 2007!  It’s almost moving time for the Department of Psychology.  The building was dedicated on April 16, 2008.  Read about the Miller Hall Dedication Ceremony and view pictures.

Staff Changes.  We are pleased to announce that several new faculty have joined the Department of Psychology.  David Daniel has joined us, replacing Charles Huffman who has retired.  David will be teaching our large-section General Psychology classes.  Matt Lee has joined our department.  He will be teaching Life-Span Human Development, Cultural Psychology, and courses relevant to students interested in Clinical Psychology.  Ulas Kaplan will continue at JMU in a tenure-track position and Kim Duvall Early will continue, now in a full-time role.  Aashir Nasim has left JMU and is now at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Zewe Serpell has left JMU and is now at Virginia State University. A search is currently underway for an additional new faculty member in the area of Developmental Psychology.

Our graduates are successful!  We surveyed the 161 students who graduated in May 2008 and received responses from 124 students (77%). We learned that 62% were planning to attend graduate school (38% were planning to attend next year, and 24% were planning to attend sometime in the future). The May 2008 graduates who will attend graduate school in Fall 2008 indicated that they had been accepted into a graduate program to pursue one of the following areas of study:  Counseling (9), Education including Special Education (7), Social Work (6), School Psychology (5), Psychological Science (4), Behavior Analysis (3), Industrial/Organizational Psychology (2), Public Health (2), Forensic Psychology/Criminal Justice (2), Clinical Psychology (1), Human Development (1), Student Affairs (1), Law School (1), and Physical Therapy (1).
Similar surveys were conducted of May graduates in 2006 and 2007.  A total of 438 students graduated in May during these three years, and 361 (82%) responded to our survey.  A total of 149 (41%) indicated that they had been admitted to a graduate program and were planning to attend during the Fall.  The most popular types of programs for these students was: Counseling (30), School Psychology (18), Education (17), Psychological Science (12), Social Work (11), Forensic Psychology or Criminal Justice (8), Behavior Analysis (7), School Counseling (5), Law School (5) and Clinical Psychology (4).

This year, more JMU Psychology Majors conducted research and engaged in experiential learning activities, than ever before.  During the 2007-2008 academic year, 389 students were enrolled in these sorts of experiences through our Psyc 290 (Directed Studies) or Psyc 402 (Independent Study) courses.  (This is up from 378 in 2006-2007 and 265 students in 2005-2006.)   In addition, 43 students completed Field Placements (Psyc 495), and 21 students completed their Honors Thesis in Psychology.  (21 students completed Honors Thesis projects during 2006-2007 and 16 completed projects during 2005-2006.) The expansion of research and thesis activities is the result of a deliberate effort by our faculty to engage students in higher-level learning activities, and we are delighted that our students have taken up the challenge.
Our faculty are award winners!  The following awards were received by faculty during the 2007-08 academic year:

  • Kevin Apple received the 2008 Provost Award for Academic Advising.
  • Kenn Barron received the 2008 Outstanding Advising Award for Faculty Advising from the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).
  • Jessica Irons received the Wilbert J. McKeachie Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award, Division 2 of the American Psychological Association.
  • Cheryl Talley will be the recipient of the College of Integrated Science and Technology (CISAT) 2008 Distinguished Service Award.
  • Tracy Zinn received the 2007 Early Career Award through the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division 2).

Our faculty and students were productive scholars this year!  Collectively, we completed 56 publications including 1 book, 10 chapters, 11 journal articles and 9 newsletter articles and 18 additional publications are currently “in press.”  Eight students were listed as co-authors on these publications.  Collectively, our faculty and students completed 124 conference presentations, posters, or workshops in international (4), national (49), regional (42), state (9), or local (20) forums.  Sixty one of these presentations were authored or co-authored by students.  Many students authored or co-authored more than one conference presentation, poster or workshop.  The Department of Psychology awarded $10,447 to students in support of requests by 27 students (or groups of students) for funding in support of research projects or travel to conferences to present their findings.  A list of our publications appears at http://www.psyc.jmu.edu/ug/visitors/2007_2008publications.html and our conference presentations are listed at http://www.psyc.jmu.edu/ug/visitors/2007_2008conferences.html .

We brought in the funding!  The Department of Psychology faculty and students have been very active in their solicitation of funding for their work.  Six faculty members (J. Grayson, C. Harris, N. Lawrence, A. Nasim, Z. Serpell, and C. Talley) brought in a total of $199,395 in external grant funding. Four faculty (K. Barron, C. Harris, W. Evans, C. Talley), received a total of $21,625 in JMU Grants from sources external to CISAT.  Four faculty (C. Harris, J. Irons, S. Serdikoff, and C. Talley) received a total of $10,200 in CISAT Grants. Seven faculty (J. Brewster, J. Grayson, J. Irons, N. Lawrence, B. Saville, S. Serdikoff, and T. Zinn were awarded a total of $5,569 CISAT mini-grants. In total, $236,789 in funding was brought in by Department of Psychology faculty during 2007-2008.  A list of our grants appears at http://www.psyc.jmu.edu/ug/visitors/2007_2008grants.html .

We served our profession!  During June 2008, the Department of Psychology hosted the Eastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology (ETOP), a very successful regional conference that focused on best practices in teaching psychology.  Many of our faculty serve as officers or members of the directing boards of professional organizations and editorial boards of professional publications.  Highlights of the service activities of the faculty of our department appears at http://www.psyc.jmu.edu/ug/visitors/2007_2008service.html .