DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE AT CORTLAND

2008-2009 ANNUAL REPORT

Melvyn B. King, Chair June 2009

1. MAJOR DEPARTMENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The full-time tenure-track faculty of the Psychology Department during the 2008-2009 academic year were Drs. Margaret Auderson, David Berger, Michael Berzonsky, Raymond Collings, Leslie Eaton, David Kilpatrick, Melvyn Kiug, Kimberly Kraebel, Linda Lavine, John Lombardo, Paul Luyben, Michie Odie, Judith Ouellette, and Jeffery Swartwood. Courses were also taught by Ms. Elaina Alberga, Mr. Ralph Hesse, Dr. Merle Canfield, Ms. Kristin Lovelace-Ross, Dr. Kimberly McLain, and Dr. Breton Bienvenue.

The Psychology Department met irregularly throughout the 2008-2009 academic year. These business meetings addressed Department and College issues and initiatives. T. Wood was the recording secretary at all meetings. The minutes have been archived.

Personnel Initiatives

The Personnel Committee consisted of Drs. Luyben (Chair), Berger, Berzonsky and Lombardo (alternate). This committee reviewed the materials presented by Drs. Anderson and Luyben for promotion to Professor and Dr. Kilpatrick for reappointment. The committee recommended Drs. Anderson and Luyben for promotion to Professor and Dr. Kilpatrick for reappointment. These recommendations were endorsed by the Sub-school Personnel Committee, Dean, and Provost. These actions were subsequently affirmed by President Bitterbaum.

The Committee conducted an election for the Chair of the Department of Psychology. Dr. Judith Ouellette was elected chair for the 2009 - 2012 term, beginning in August, 2009.

The Personnel Policies of the Department of Psychology were considered by the Faculty Affairs Committee this year. Next year's Committee will need to consider and revise those policies in response to comments from Faculty Affairs.

Teaching

During the 2008-2009 year the Psychology Department continued to demonstrate the excellence for which it is known as evidenced by the consistently high evaluations faculty members receive on the CTEs. Faculty members continue to include writing and oral components in their classes, employ technology at a very high level, include components on diversity and international issues, and heavily address critical thinking.

Individual Supervision of Students

In addition to the regular course load faculty members routinely supervise students in out of classroom activities such as teaching and research assistantships, and field study placements. During the past academic year Drs. Anderson, Berger, Collings, Eaton, King, Kraebel, Lavine, Lombardo, Luyben, and Ouellette supervised about I 00 students in these out of classroom activities. Dr. Anderson continues

her coordination of the First Year Initiative (FYI) in Psychology. She also coordinates an internship program in the local schools with the accompanying training course. Clearly these above load activities (which are credit bearing for the students) are very labor intensive and require a sizeable commitment of hours above the normal teaching load.

Use of Instructional Technology in Teaching

Psychology Computer Laboratory

The Department Computer Lab in Old Main G 11 continues to be heavily scheduled for all PSY 101 lab sections (16 sections in each of the fall and spring semesters) and the department's specialized CAPIOO labs (three sections in the fall). In addition, a number of upper level courses (especially statistics and methodsllab) routinely hold classes in the lab to facilitate their use oftechnology in teaching.

The Cortland eLearning Systems

Technology continues to play an important role in the teaching of psychology courses as can be seen by the increasing number of requests for technology classrooms. Currently all full, and part-time faculty members in the Department include some use oftechnology in their courses. This ranges from a complete on-line course (Drs. Anderson, Collings, Eaton, Kilpatrick, King, Kraebel, OdIe, Ouellette, and Swartwood), to the Power Point Presentations used in virtually all classes. It should be noted that most of these presentations incorporate graphics, sound, animation, and video. In addition, most ofthe faculty use components of Cortland eLearning System to support their classes. Drs. Anderson, King, and Luyben continue to use the Questionmark Perception software to create and administer online testing.

PSY 101: General Psychology has a heavy technology orientation. The class uses Cortland eLearning System. The labs use an online version of the program Psychsim. Students use Questionmark Perception to take weekly online mastery quizzes. Finally, students have the option of completing web-based extra credit activities.

Most of the instruetors of online courses use the Cortland eLearning System to organize and present their course material. Dr. Anderson has constructed a series of web pages to run her PSY 50 I: Advanced Educational Psychology online section.

Contributions to the College Mission

Psychology courses playa significant role in the curriculum of numerous departments across the College. Students from programs in the schools of Education and Professional Studies as well as Arts and Sciences (both undergraduate and graduate) are required to take a wide range of psyehology courses. For example, students in Foundations and Social Advocacy minor in Psychology of the Exceptional Child. Further, many of the department's other courses enroll significant numbers of non-psychology majors.

We continue to make formal contributions to the College's writing program by offering 4-8 sections of writing intensive courses each semester. The Department also supports the College's commitment to writing through the inclusion of writing components in most of the psychology courses. In support of the Presentation Skills requirement the Psychology Department incorporated this as a component in all sections of PSY 482 (Senior Seminar). Three or four sections of statistics are offered each semester and meet the College's quantitative skills requirement. Thesc courses serve the general College population as the majority of students cnrolled in these statistics courses are not psychology majors.

Dr. Collings regularly teaches an honors section of statistical methods that has been very well received by students in the College Honors program as well as more advanced Psychology majors. This past year Dr. Eaton offered an honors section of Psychology 101: General Psychology and will continue to do so as enrollment conditions allow. Each semester Dr. Linda Lavine teaches multiple sections of PSY 210, a course in the General Education category. Dr. Eaton offers PSY 210 during the summer session. She will also offer a section in the Fall 2009 semester while Dr. Lavine is on sabbaticaL

Curriculum Initiatives

The Department supports the College commitment to the first-year learning communities by continuing to offer the Freshman Year Initiative (FYI) in Psychology which places incoming psychology majors into special sections of Psychology 101: General Psychology I (laboratory), CAP 100: Introduction to Computer Applications, COR 101: Cortland Experience. The Fall 2008 semester was the seventh year that the Psychology Department offered this program. Dr. Collings taught COR 100. Dr. Anderson taught the CAP 100 lecture and labs (as a hybrid course). In PSY 101 Drs. Berger and Odie lectured and dealt with the in-class examinations and Dr. King supervised T As , wrote laboratories, and coordinated mastery quizzing.

Curriculum Development with Other Departments

The Psychology Department continues to offer a number o( courses (e.g., PSY 231,232,331,332,333, 350,431,432,433,50 I and 533) that fulfill requirements in various other programs across the College.

The Psychology Department voted to develop a graduate program in counseling that would lead to a New York State license. A committee was established, however, no program was developed.

Other Activities and Accomplishments

Advisement

Dr. Anderson coordinated several meetings for Psychology majors and other interested students discussing graduate-school and employment opportunities in several Psychology and Psychology related fields. Drs. Berger, Collings, Eaton, Kilpatrick, Lombardo, Luyben, and Ouellette participated in one or more sessions.

Freshman advising continues to be a central, and well received, component of the department's COR 101 classes.

Participation in Scholars' Day

As in the past the members of the Psychology Department played a major role in Scholars' Day on April 17,2009. Faculty served as moderators, presented papers and posters individually and in collaboration with students. Seven faculty members, and 18 students participated in the event.

Use of Supplemental Instruction in PSY 101

For the tenth year the Department supported the use of Supplemental Instruction (SI) in PSY 101.

Other Contributions to Technology at Cortland

Drs. Eaton and Ouellette continue to serve as local SPSS/statistical consultants.

Dr. King serves on the Technology Liaison Program and represents the interests of all faculty and voices concerns related to the use of technology in teaching and scholarship.

2. SIGNIFICANT CURRICULUM - CHANGES AND INNOVATION

Major departmental accomplishments during the 2008-2009 year are detailed below, with other activities and achievements briefly summarized subsequently. Accomplishments by individual faculty members are also highlighted. Departmental year-end committee reports and individual faculty annual reports are appended to this report. Dr. Linda Lavine submitted no annual report.

Curriculum Development with Other Departments

The Psychology Department continues to offer a number of courses (e.g., PSY 231, 232, 331 ~ 332, 333, 350,431,432,433,501 and 533) that fulfill requirements in various other programs across the College.

The Psychology Department voted to develop a graduate program in counseling that would lead to a New York State license.

In addition to the regular course load faculty members routinely supervise students in out of classroom activities such as teaching and research assistantships, and field study placements. During the past academic year Drs. Anderson, Berger, Collings, Eaton, King, Kraebel, Lavine, Lombardo, Luyben, and Ouellette supervised over 100 students in these out of classroom activities. Dr. Anderson continues her coordination of the First Year Initiative (FYI) in Psychology. Clearly these above load activities (which are credit bearing for the students) are very labor intensive and require a sizeable commitment of hours above the normal teaching load.

Dr. Anderson has developed an internship program in the local schools. Students elect a credit-bearing training course to help develop the skills and knowledge that they will need in the internship placement. Only then are they allowed to proceed into the credit-bearing school placement.

3. PROGRAM REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT

Psychology Program Enrollments

There are currently 206 psychology majors. Of that number 154 are seeking the Bachelor of Arts and 52 are seeking the Bachelor of Science. There are 179 students minoring in Psychology. Of that number 49 are in the general minor and 130 are in the Psychology of the Exceptional Child. During the past year 65 students graduated as Psychology majors. Of that number 24 earned Honors (magna or summa cum laude).

a. Psychology Enrollment and Degree Data

Total Number ofMajors: Year to Year Full-time Part-time

1fT NT PT Total 200290 243 0 7 250 2Q0390 242 0 9 251 200490 243 0 9 252

246200590 ~2 0 14 200690 228 0 6 234 200790 224 0 5 229

Total Number ofDegrees Awarded

Year to Year B.A. B.S.

2002 to 2003 37 3

I 2003 to 2004 33 2

2004 to'2005 33 2

2005 to 2006 27 1

2006 to 2007 38 2

2007 to 2008 52 1

Total Number ofMinors-Gen Psychology

Year to Year 1<1 PT

2002 to 2003 20 NA

2003 to 2004 24 NA

2004 to 2005 25 NA

2005 to 2006 33 NA

2006 to 2007 34 NA

2007 to 20:: 41 NA ')(I(lQ 1-,.,. '){lj 42 NA

Total Number ofMinors- Psychology ofthe Exceptional Child

Vear to Year Full-Time Part-Time

2002 to 2003 88 NA 2003 to 2004 84 NA !

2004 to 2005 104 NA 2005 to 2006 116 NA 2006 to 2007 109 NA 2007 to 2008 115 NA 2008 to 2009 120 NA

Attrition and Retention in the Psychology Major

Attrition/Retention Trends 2001-2008 Plus Number of Majors

Entry Status Degree Earned 2001­2002

~002~ 12003 04

33 29 ~005

00U006 -00 007

30 36

'007­D008

asPSY l>SY Degree 20 30

IIEntered as PSY ~ost 42 30 43 38 29 34

Entered as Other PSY Degree 5 26 20 I ~/ 26 1

27 22

Entered as Other; Through PSY

~ost 3 8 6 7 1 10

IIEntered PSY or Became PSY l>SY Degree 25 59 49 64 56 52

Entered PSY or Became PSY ~ost 45 38 49 34 48 .)0 44

IINumber of Majors 260 245 249 249 243 231 22

b. NA

c. NA

d. Departmental Capstone Course

Psychology 482:Senior Seminar

The capstone course in Psychology is a seminar that is built around the development of a significant

paper and presentation. The length of the paper is typically of the order of30+ pages. The presentation which includes visual materials is typically 30-60 minutes in length. There is usually several

opportunities for revision or a series of shorter papers leading up to the final one. The same can be said

of the presentation. The presentation is evaluated by the class members and, of course, the instructor.

During the Spring 2009 semester 52 students enrolled in the four sections. For the Fall 2009 semester, 12 students have enrolled thus far. This enrollment pattern is typical.

e. Assessments

Senior Test

In the spring 2007 semester the Major Field Test from ETS was administered in place of the Senior Test. In the spring 2009 semester the in-house Senior Test was again administered.

Pre-tests

Pre-tests, based on selected criteria from the senior test, were again administered in PSY 202, 40 I and 482. Questions were sorted according to the course in which the information was first presented to students and the resulting tests subsequently administered to students in the next course in the core sequence. Data analysis continues to examine the cumulative effect of instruction in the program.

Senior Exit Survey

The Department added data from Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 administrations of senior exit survey to the data collected in Fall 2006 through Spring 2008. These data will be added to the data base already in existence.

4. FACULTY WORKLOAD

Total Student Enrollment in All

Courses Taught by Instructors Assigned

to Dept.

rrotal Students Taught in All Dept.

Coursesrrotal Full-Time Faculty

Total Students Taught in Courses Taught by Full-Time Instructors

Assigned to Department

Total Student !Enrollment iu Course Taught by Part-Time Instructors Assigned

to Dept.

1.928 128.5 1.347 581

This table is based on Fall 2008 data. Dr. James Starzec retired midyear. The courses that he taught were covered by part-time adjuncts. Consequently the figures for columns 2 - 4 will have different values after that. The department teaches about six laboratory classes per semester that are capped at 15. These classes require writing. Three of them are designated writing intensive (WI). The department also teaches one section of its capstone seminar in the fall and four sections in the spring. These are capped at 12 and designated both WI and presentation courses.

5. FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS

a. Awards and Honors

Reputation in the Field

Margaret Anderson, Michael Berzonsky, Raymond Collings, and Paul Luyben continue to serve on the editorial boards of professional journals in their fields such as Behavior Research Methods, Instruments and Computers, Computers in Human Services, Education and Treatment ofChildren, Identity: An International Journal o.(Theory and Research, Journal ofBehavioral Interventions, Journal ofClinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, Journal ofYouth and Adolescence, Journal ofEarly Adolescence, Pakistan Journal 0.(Psychological Research, and Law and Human Behavior, Social Advocacy and Systems Change.

In addition Drs. Berzonsky, Collings, King, and Luyben served as invited reviewers for articles, books, grants, and software in their fields.

b. Publications

Drs. Anderson, Berger, Berzonsky, Collings, Lombardo, Luyben, and Ouellette had a total of39 book chapters, journal articles, book reviews, and other sorts of reviews published during the 2008-2009 academic year.

c. Conference Presentations

Drs. Anderson, Berger, Berzonsky, Collings, Kraebel, Lombardo, Luyben, and Ouellette delivered presentations at a variety of conferences and meetings. Two of these were at an international conferences, seven took place at national conferences, one was at a state meeting, two were at regional meetings, and 13 were at local academic events. Most of these presentations included student authors.

Other Professional Activities

Margaret Anderson served as an external reviewer for the Social Science Program Review at TC3. Melvyn King continues to support Questionmark Perception. This year we rolled out the upgrade to version 4.3. Paul Luyben served as co-organizer for the 15th annual Cortland Mini-Conference on Improving Teaching and Learning. Leslie Eaton and Judith Ouellette continue to support SPSS on campus.

d. NA

e. External Grants

Drs. David Berger and John Lombardo continue to be involved as subcontractors on an NIH Rl grant proposal entitled Molecular mechanisms ofPCB and PCBD-induced ADHD and ethanol abuse liability (PI: Frank Middleton, SUNY Upstate). In addition they have been notified that the Developmental Exposure to Ethanol Research Consortium (DEARC) center grant proposal, Determination ofSensitive Periods for PCB Effects on Voluntary Ethanol Consumption and Gene Expression ofDopamine and Estrogen in Male and Female Rats (2008), has been approved by NIAAA. The funding date, originally December, 2008, has been delayed pending congressional approval of the Federal budget. Dr. Berger is the Principal Investigator, with co-investigators John Lombardo (SUNY Cortland) and Frank Middleton (SUNY Upstate Medical University). Dr. Raymond Collings submitted a grant application entitled Effectiveness of Using Extended Computer Game Playing to Improve Attention Processes among Young Adults, as a new grant through the NIH Small Research Grant Program (R03). It was not funded. Dr. Kimberly Kraebel is continuing work on her NIH grant.

f. Service

Teaching Assistants

Members of the department supervised 19 teaching assistants. These students learned the teaching side of course preparation and implementation and aided with tutoring, lab supervising, data entry, and so forth.

Research Assistants

Members of the department supervised about 44 students as research assistants or field study students. These students learned about doing research from the conceptualization stage to the data analysis stage.

Several of them were co-authors on presentations (Scholars Day, Eastern Psychological Association) and forthcoming publications.

Internships

Members of the department supervised 2S student interns. These interns were placed in the local schools, social services, Volunteer Family Counseling Services, and other similar venues. They learned about the positions in which they were placed by direct contact.

Department

In sum 12 Psychology faculty members took at least 32 Department committee positions, 20 College committee positions, 4 University service positions, and II community service positions. This included, Chair, Curriculum, Search, Personnel, Assessment, COR, Exceptional Child, Honors, and Psi Chi committees plus a number of smaller contributions.

College

The Department was well represented on committees across the College. Dr. Anderson served on the search committee for an Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences, was the TEC ad hoc member, and the Departmental International Coordinator. Dr. Berger was the Faculty Senate Treasurer, chair of the Sub­School Personnel Committee, and served on the Concerned Teaching Faculty Steering Committee, and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and the Laboratory and Studio Operations Safety Committee. Dr. Collings served on the Faculty Affairs Committee (Chair) , the Advisory Committee for the Institute for Disabilities studies, and participated in the Quality Circle Review. He also organized and facilitated a learning circle (Faculty Development Center): Teaching Students with disabilities: Best Practices from the Students' Perspective. Dr. Eaton was the Administrator of the College Institutional Review Board. She also Chaired on the Faculty Development and Affirmative Action Committees and served as an SPSS consultant. Dr. Kilpatrick served on the College Writing Committee and was appointed to the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee. Dr. King served on the Technology Liaison Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee. Dr. Kraebel served on the Honors Convocation Committee, the College Research Committee, and was a Floor Marshall at the Undergraduate Graduation. Dr. Ouellette is a member of the College Curriculum Review Committee, the Quantitative Skills Committee, and is the secretary for Phi Kappa Phi.

The Psychology Department was well represented at College wide meetings that honored students. Drs. Anderson, Collings, Eaton, King, Kilpatrick, Kraebel, and Luyben supported the Opening and Honors Convocations, and the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremonies. Many also served as marshals at those ceremonies.

g. Community Outreach and Publicity

The Psychology Department continued its active community involvement. Dr. Anderson serves on the Tompkins Cortland Community College Social Sciences Advisory Board and participated in the ACE program. Dr. Berger is on the Blue-Ribbon Committee for Cortland Cares. Dr. Collings served as a faculty mentor for a Long Island high school student (project was an entry to the 2008 Intel Science Talent Search.) Dr. Kilpatrick conducted workshops (2008-2009) for the North Syracuse School District, the New York Teaching Center, Oswego County BOCES on topics related to reading, ADHD, cognitive skills underlying academic achievement, and St. Daniel-St. Matthew's and st. Charles' Parent

Teacher Organizations on parental discipline. Dr. Kraebel is active in local and state animal rescue and with local SPCA organizations. Dr. Luyben once again served as the co-organizer of the Annual Cortland Mini-Conference on Improving Teaching and Learning in Central New York. He also serves on the Finger Lakes Land Trust and is on the Board of Directors of the Lake Como Lake Association. Dr. Odie serves as a consultant for child care professionals regarding behavior interventions for preschoolers and for area special education teachers regarding issues related to IEPs. Dr. Ouellette is active in providing data analysis assistance for community organizations including Cortland County Mental Health.

Publicizing the Department's Programs and Accomplishments

The Psychology Department continued to publicize its programs through the active participation of faculty and students at both the Fall and Spring Open Houses. Again this year a highlight of one of the Fall 2008 Open Houses was the tour offour of the Departmental laboratory facilities (Drs. Berger, Eaton, Kraebel and Lnyben). Faculty and students associated with each lab presented an overview of the research conducted in that lab.

Members of the Department also hosted visits from students from local high schools and those who are associated with the Access to College Education program. The Departmental website is slated for a major overhaul. The Departmental Brochures are continually updated to disseminate current information about the Department. In addition we now have informational "postcards" to distribute to prospective students and their parents. Posters reflecting students' academic activities are currently on display adjacent to the Psychology Department Office. Bulletin boards developed and maintained by Ms. T. Wood highlight the accompIishments of psychology students.

Outreach Activities to Alumni

Graduating seniors continue to be surveyed concerning their planned activities following graduation. This information is being compiled into a data base which will serve as the basis of a network of alumni in various occupations and graduate schools. Unfortunately some ofthe information desired comes to late for inclusion.

6. SIGNIFICANT STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Psychology Club

The psychology club with their advisor Dr. Kimberly McLain, held more than eight meetings in 130 Old Main on Wednesday evenings. They conducted a fund raiser raffle. Cortland Psychology alumna Melissa Morales, now in the Behavioral Neuroscience Ph.D. program at Binghamton University presented a talk about her experiences as a graduate student. A graduate student at Alfred University's School Psychology made a presentation about the program at Alfred.

Honors Program, Psi Chi Honorary, and Honors Convocation

The Senior Psychology Major Achievement Award was awarded to Harlee Pratt. The Psychology Academic Excellence Award was aware to Kristin White. The Junior Psychology Major Achievement Award was awarded to Joanna Verdi. The Psychology Research Award was presented to Stuart Schmitt. Finally, Carrie Eaton was the recipient of the Psychology Major Non-Traditional Student Achievement A ward.

The Psi Chi Honor Society Committee conducted the annual membership recruitment drive and Annual Banquet and Induction Ceremony this year. The honor society accepted 44 new members, 26 of whom were inducted at the banquet and ceremony. Fifty parents and friends attended as well. Drs. Margaret Anderson, Michael Berzonsky, David Kilpatrick, Melvyn King, and Kimberly Kraebel were the psychology faculty in attendance. Claire Payne and Teri Wood, secretaries of the Department of Psychology, attended as well.

The President of Psi Chi, Kristin White, and Vice-President, Harlee Pratt, conducted both the banquet and ceremony. Dr. Erik Bitterbaum, President of the College, welcomed the assemblage. Representing the Department of Psychology Dr. Melvyn King, Chair, also welcomed students, guests, and faculty.

Jennica Schuster, class of 2008, shared her knowledge and experience of the process of selecting a graduate program and described her first-year experiences in the graduate program at Oswego.

The closing remarks were given by Dr. David Berger, Professor of Psychology.

Participation in Scholars' Day

As in the past student members ofthe Psychology Department played a major role in Scholars' Day on April 17,2009. Faculty served as moderators, presented papers and posters individually and in collaboration with students. Seven faculty members and 18 students participated in the event.

7. DIVERSITY

rall2UOK Under­_. Non-responding!

bther l.-aucaSIan !Not Hi'm~nk)

(jende

Men 5 3 26 34

Women 30 16 145 191

Ethnicity 35 19 171 225

As the table shows women compose about 85% of the psychology majors. Of the 206 Psychology majors who chose to respond, 17% are from under-represented groups.

8. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

Dr. William Hopkins (Professor emeritus) continued with his development of a program for Special Education for Belize which includes the development, production, and dissemination of materials for assessment and intervention of major areas of disabilities. He and his wife visited Belize several times during the 2008-2009 academic year to meet with educators and politicians in support of the program. He is currently winding down his direct interaction with the program because he has made them self­sufficient. Drs. Berger and Lombardo continue their collaboration with colleagues in Norway, at SUNY Binghamton, and at SUNY Upstate. Dr. Berzonsky is delivering the keynote address at The 18th

Conference of Developmental Psychologists in Wroclaw, Poland.

9. CONCLUSION

Department Outlook/future Plans

Future Planning

In response to the last Program Review the Department established several goals that need to be addressed. Some of these goals could be completed within a short time frame while several others will take longer to come to fruition.

Departmental Strategic Plan: Statement of Goals for the Department of Psychology

Psychology Department Mission

The major in Psychology provides a broad base of understanding of psychology as a science. Students study the research methods of the discipline, the principles and concepts in major areas, and selected areas of application. Major areas include research methods and assessment, as well as the traditional domains of psychology (e.g. normal and abnormal development, social psychology, personality, learning and motivation, the neurological bases of behavior, cognition, and emotion, as well as several areas of applied psychology such as applied behavior analysis, counseling, educational psychology, exceptional child, health psychology, and psychopharmacology). The program provides a strong liberal arts focus for majors not going beyond the bachelor's degree as well as a strong foundation for graduate school training in psychology. Both the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science degrees are available as well as a general minor in Psychology and a minor in the Psychology of the Exceptional Child.

Faculty

The Department of Psychology currently has 14 full time tenure track faculty. Areas of expertise include: applied behavior analysis, infant/child/developmental as well as exceptional child, cognitive, counseling/abnormal, educational, health, neuroscience, personality, quantitative skills (e.g., introductory statistics, applied statistics, test and measurements) research methods, and social psychology.

Psychology Department Goals

The Psychology Department goals are to:

Increase in-class contact with full-time faculty by reducing reliance on part-time faculty through filling lines left vacant by recent retirements.

Encourage faculty scholarship (e.g., ensure faculty have access to laboratory space, equipment, human participants, animal subjects etc.; access to travel for conferences)

Continue to provide access to research experiences for undergraduates and explore more opportunities for field/internship experiences.

Examine the development of more options for undergraduates by providing varied majors and minors in psychology with specific emphasis such as, mental health, school/educational, neuroscience etc.

Explore graduate program options viable for our population of students.

Infuse inter- and intra-cultural information in courses (where applicable).

Examine methods ofmentoring and advising on a more global level, in addition to individual advising by faculty (e.g., senior majors available during office hours for advice).

Continue to foster the habits of critical thinking and within-discipline writing that will enable students to think and write about complex ideas, evaluate arguments/positions, and make judgments/suppositions that are empirically and logically valid.

Explore ways to add more interdisciplinary courses.

To: Dr. Melvyn King, Chair Department of Psychology

From: Michael D. Berzonsky, Chair ~~~ Department Assessment Committee

Date: May 28, 2009

Re: Final Report

Activities:

Major activities of the Committee included administration of Departmental Assessments Tests during the fall and spring semesters. Four different tests were given in the fall semester: a Senior Test, designed to evaluate a number of major program objectives, was administered to students about to graduate, and individual tests designed to measure concepts and principles of statistics, experimental psychology, and research methods. These latter three tests were given to students who had completed courses in those areas during previous semesters. The three individual tests were administered again during the spring semester.

Data from the two administration of the ETS Major Field Test in Psychology were converted to a SPSS format and analyzed. The ETS Field tests had been given to 52 senior Psychology Majors in the spring of 2005 and to 48 senior Psychology Majors in the spring of 2007. ETS designed these tests as a means of providing a Department with information about the effectiveness of its programs. National comparative norms based on mean performance of senior psychology students at various colleges are provided by ETS. To briefly summarize, our students scored at the 75~ percentile On the Measurement and Methodology ETS indicator, which is the major emphasis of our program. In general, however, the performance of our students compared to the seniors at the 209 institutions included in the ETS norms suggests a lot of room for improvement. As indicated on Appendix A, our seniors tended to score below the 50~ percentile on most of the individual assessment indicators.

2

Recommendations:

If the Department considers Program assessment to be important, the analysis and utilization of the data we have been collecting have to become priorities. Time has to be set aside to cull and enter student course grades, cross-check and correct student information on test forms, scan and convert answer sheets, and analyze and interpret the data in a more timely fashion. A strategic plan for the coding, analyzing, and, especially, utilization of the data needs to be established. All of this will take considerable time and effort but it is necessary if we think it is important and useful to longitudinally track student progress over their college career.

3

Appendix A: ETS Major Field Test Assessment Indicators in Psychology

(2005) (2007) ASSESSMENT INDICATORS M SEM Per M

45thMEMORY It THINKING 48.7 2.2 48 44.3 - 53.1

45thSENSORY It PHYSIOLOGY 39.7 2.1 41 35.5 - 43.9

25thDEVELOPM ENTAL 44.3 1.9 48 40.5 - 48.1

40thCLINICAL It ABNORMAL 66.2 2.0 71* 61.8 - 70.2

40thSOCIAL 62.1 2.2 68* 57.7 - 66.5

MEASUREMENT It 75thMETHODOLOGY 61.7 2.0 64 57.7 - 65.7

45thTOTAL SCORE 157.3 1.6 159 154.1- 160.5

NOTES: M =Mean; SEM = Standard Error of the Mean; Per = Percentile based on College Seniors at 209 Institutions; 95% CI = 95% Confidence Interval based on SEM for 2005 class (SEM not reported in 2007); * = Significant improvement from 2005 to 2007.

SUNY CORTLAND Psychology Senior Majors: Cohort 2005: 52 Seniors (44 Female [85% ], 8 Male [150/0]); Cohort 2007: 48 Seniors (40 Female [830/0], 8 Male [170/0])

4

Appendix B: ETS Major Field Test Subtest Scores in Psychology

(2005) (2007) ASSESSMENT INDICATORS M SD Per M SD t-value

Learning &. Cognition: Language, Memory, &.

50thThinking 56.4 12.4 56.0 12.7 <1 ns

Perception, Sensory, Physiological,

50thComparative, &. Ethology 56.6 14.3 57.6 16.0 <1 ns

Clinical, Abnormal, 45th&. Personality 56.2 12.4 59.7 12.5 1.42 ns

Developmental 45th&. Social 54.4 10.9 58.4 12.10 1.77 ns

45thTotal Score 157.1 11.4 159.2 11.9 <1 ns

NOTES: M = Mean; SD = Standard Deviation; Per = Percentile based on College Seniors at 209 Institutions; ns = Differences between the means for the two cohorts were not statistically significant.

SUNY CORTLAND Psychology Senior Majors: Cohort 2005: 52 Seniors (44 Female [850/0], 8 Male [150/0]); Cohort 2007: 48 Seniors (40 Female [830/0], 8 Male [170/0])