This report details the efforts of the Department of Psychology to assess, evaluate,and implement improvements in its undergraduate and graduate programs during the academicyear 1995-96. The report includes sections on departmental goals, evidence as to how thesegoals are being met, improvements that have been accomplished, and future changes.
At the undergraduate level, the department's goals for its majors are that they developa broad knowledge of the content of psychology including an understanding of themeasurement and methodology procedures used in the field, that they be able to apply theknowledge and skills acquired to a variety of life situations, that they be successful inachieving jobs or entry into advanced training, and that they exhibit satisfaction intheir program of study.
At the graduate level, the goals of the graduate clinical program are that the studentshave an in-depth content knowledge of the field, that they have developed a strong levelof professional skills in assessment and intervention, that they have developed strongresearch skills, and that they have developed teaching skills. The goals of the graduateexperimental program are that the students have an in-depth knowledge of the field, thatthey have strong research skills, and that they have developed teaching skills.
A variety of assessment procedures have been used to determine if these goals are beingaccomplished. In the spring of each year the department administers the Psychology IIMajor Field Test from the Educational Testing Service to a sample of senior rnajors. Thistest provides a total test score as well as subtest scores in four key content areasincluding learning and cognition; perception, sensation, and physiology; clinical,abnormal, and personality; and developmental and social. Based on our first testing of thedepartment's content area goal (late spring, 1995), we appear to be meeting this goalreasonably well. Our sample of students (n=27) scored at the 80th percentile in learningand cognition, 73rd percentile in perception, sensation, and physiology, 72nd percentilein clinical, abnormal, and personality, and 73rd percentile in developmental and social.Overall, our students scored at the 75th percentile compared to a set of 128 institutionstaking the psychology test in the spring of 1995.
In order to determine if our students are able to apply their knowledge to lifesituations, we monitor their performance on the ACT COMP Objective Test administered bythe Office of Institutional Research. This test provides scores on how students respond intesting areas of Functioning in Social Institutions (FSI), Using Science and Technology(USCI), Using the Arts (UART), Communicating (COMM), Solving Problems (SPROB), andClarifying Values (CLVAL). Our senior students over the last 3 years have scored at the62nd percentile on FSI, 69th percentile on USCI, 70th percentile on UART, 67th percentileon COMM, 57th percentile on SPROB, and 75th percentile on CLVAL. Overall, they scored atthe 66th percentile. Thus, again our students appear to be doing reasonably well comparedto national norms. We will monitor the problem solving scale as that needs to showimprovement
Reports from the Office of Institutional Research show that 69% of 1994 graduates wereemployed (78% full time, 22% part-time), 24% were in further schooling, and 7% wereunemployed and not in school. These figures compare to college wide figures of 71%employed, 23% in further schooling, and 6% unemployed. The types of employment whichpsychology graduates show include executive roles (9%), management related (8%), socialscience (e.g., social work, urban planning, etc.) (26%), teachers and career counselors(9%), health and medical roles (14%), sales and marketing (5%), administrative support andclerical (5%), technical and production (5%), and service areas (11%). Typical job titlesincluded family therapist, social workers, day care teachers, assistant cottage manager,respite specialist, caseworker, child management counselor, production manager, disabilityclaims adjuster, juvenile sex offender counselor, student nurse, assistant sales manager,assistant property manager, proofreader, police officer, software consultant, teachingassistant, and educational opportunities consultant. Average salary reported for 1994graduates was $19,088 up from $18,300 in 1993. This was lower than the average salaryreported by other College of Arts and Sciences graduates of $22,233.
Overall, satisfaction patterns for 1994 graduates showed 10% extremely satisfied, 24%very satisfied, 48% somewhat satisfied, and 18% not at all satisfied. The number not atall satisfied grew from 12% in 1993 and is a point of concern. The department'ssatisfaction patterns are very similar to those of all majors in the College of Arts andSciences.
At the graduate level, the department has experienced a period of intense scrutiny overthe past year. The department's entire graduate program was reviewed by the Ohio Board ofRegents and the department's clinical program was reviewed by the American PsychologicalAssociation. Complete details of the assessments from these two agencies are available inseparate reports from the Board of Regents and the American Psychological Association.Generally the reports from both agencies were very favorable about the Ph.D. program. TheBoard of Regents report showed that the Ph.D. students were very active in research.Almost 85% of the graduates have published articles or made presentations by 5 years aftertheir degrees. Graduates have received major scholarly awards (e.g., NIH Research CareerDevelopment Award) or been recognized professionally (e.g., diplomate, ABPP). One sampleof ten graduates has produced 10 books, 740 articles and book chapters, over 500conference presentations, and $22 million of grants. The graduates are very satisfied withtheir training - 86% indicate they were extremely or very satisfied with their overallPh.D. training with only 2 percent indicating they were somewhat or not at all satisfied.One hundred percent of the graduates were employed in relevant positions by one year afterdegree completion and 97% of the clinical students obtained internship placement in theirhighest choices in their first year of application and 100% by the second year. Graduatesof the Ph.D. program have secured professional positions in the highest qualityinstitutions in the nation (e.g., Duke, UCLA, Indiana, Virginia), positions of leadershipin major businesses and corporations (e.g., Procter Gamble AT&T), and positions ofimportance in governmental agencies, hospitals, and community mental health centers acrossthe state and nation.
Comments from the Board of Regents site visitors about the Ph.D program werecomplimentary. They include the following: "Our team was very favorably impressedwith the quality and the productivity of the Ohio University Graduate Program inPsychology. While the faculty shows a strong commitment to teaching, they are also quiterigorous in their commitments to research and scholarship. . . . The graduate program inPsychology appears to be a strong and healthy one. " "We note that graduatestudents from Ohio University are highly productive with respect to research andscholarship. On average, the students normally complete one published article or oneconvention presentation each year."
Comments from the final Board of Regents report on the Ohio University graduate programindicate that they see the health psychology, cognitive psychology, and clinicalpsychology programs in the department as strong and the programs in social,industrial/organizational and applied quantitative as weaker. The final recommendation ofthe Board of Regents in the concluding report described the Ph.D. program in psychology assound. They recommended that the department consider a tighter focus to its programs andthat the program seek stronger ties to the medical school.
The report of the site visit team (visit, April 15, 16) for APA accreditation was verygood. The concluding statement of the report was "Overall, the program quality wasjudged to be very good to excellent. No major problems in any of the domains emerged as afunction of either the program self study or the site visit."
Finally, regarding the goal of teaching skill development, the first year studentssuccessfully completed the 793 teaching seminar which included syllabus development,content and skill training in teaching and the presentation and video tape review of twopractice classroom presentations.
At the undergraduate level, the department continues to review and modify itscurriculum. Major curriculum changes were implemented in the fall of 1993 and the firststudents under this program are now nearing graduation. The changes included
The last two changes were made to improve the quality of mathematics and sciencetraining to enhance the skills of our students for graduate school or jobs. In addition,we changed our staffing procedure for our courses so that Psychology 101 is now taughtprimarily by faculty and so that upper division courses are reduced in size (most are nowin 30-50 size sections). The department just voted this spring to terminate its honorstutorial program and to use the resources saved to significantly strengthen our regulardepartmental honors program (see below). The department is also discontinuing Psychology231 (adjustment) because we felt the course no longer played an important role in trainingour students. We believe that the changes made in the major in the past 3 years willimprove our student's training and skills in both content and methodological areas.Finally, we have implemented a faculty evaluation system for our advising activities. Webelieve that by improving our advising process we can better help students to prepare forpost college graduate training and professional positions.
At the graduate level, we have made several modifications in the clinical trainingprogram including the introduction of a therapy overview course (Psychology 753), theinclusion of a fall quarter seminar to help clinical students adapt to the clinicaltraining program, and the reordering of our assessment courses to better prepare studentsprofessionally.
During the coming year the department will be considering major changes in its honorsprogram. A committee will present recommendations to the faculty on the possibility ofundergraduate honors sections, thesis requirements, and curriculum modifications to thehonors program. By increasing the quality and profile of the honors program we hope toattract quality students to the major and motivate existing students with the opportunityto participate in the honors program.
In order to provide students with a better understanding of eventual careeropportunities with the undergraduate degree, listings of current career positions andtypes of graduate training will be created. These lists will be distributed to all facultyand students during the advising process. Feedback from existing students have indicatedthat such information could be very helpful in career planning.
At the graduate level we will be opening the new departmental clinic in the fall of1996. This clinic will allow more onset training for our clinical students and provide fora wide range of clinical experiences. In order to help graduate students interested incareers in the fast changing behavioral health area, the department is currentlyconsidering the implementation of an optional Behavioral Health Care Management Track.This track which would be open to all graduate students would provide skills that willenhance our students ability to enter into and succeed in such areas as managed care.
The department is involved in conversations with the College of Osteopathic Medicineregarding the possibility of joint training at medical clinics and expanded researchinteraction. Finally, the department has initiated consideration of tighter focus in itsPh.D. program to respond to questions raised by the Board of Regents' review.
Source: Provost's Office
