Psychology Graduate Studies Metrics 2008v.6

The two-day schedule includes meetings with individual faculty and current students and research presentations by current advanced doctoral students.. Quality of Departmental Leadership,

Graduate Studies Metrics 2008 Department of Psychology

Dan Lapsley Director of Graduate Studies danlapsley@nd.edu

I Overview of Enrollment and Graduation

Enrollment No Incoming Students Graduating No.

Development

II Quality of Incoming Graduate Students

Appropriate recruitment strategies

The Department of Psychology conducts on-campus interviews of prospective students The two-day schedule includes meetings with individual faculty and current students and research presentations by current advanced doctoral students The program includes an orientation to the department and

graduate studies presented by the DGS, the department chair, and by

representatives of the Graduate School Prospective students tour the

departmental facilities and campus, and take meals with the program faculty and students We are able to offer stipend increases for qualified applicants,

so that we can match competitive offers

Diversity Information

The diversity status of incoming students is indicated in the following table:

Developmental 1 (Canadian)

The Department made offers of 3 diversity fellowships to incoming students One student elected not to accept our offer of admission The remaining two students did accept our offer, although only one was awarded a Diversity Fellowship

GRE Scores and Undergraduate GPA

GRE scores and undergraduate GPA of incoming students is indicated in the following table, by program area

Verbal Quant V + Q Analytic V + Q +

A

Development

Dept

Incoming Students from Leading Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges

Fifty percent (50%) of incoming students who received their undergraduate education in the United States are graduates of leading universities Two students who received their undergraduate education in the Peoples Republic

of China are graduates of its premier universities (Beijing University,

Guangdong University) Across all students, 61% are graduates of leading universities The following table summarizes these undergraduate

institutions

Undergraduate Institution N

Florida State University 1

Baylor University 1

University of Notre Dame 2

Michigan State University 2

University of California-Los

University of Colorado, Boulder 1

The Ohio State University 1

Beijing University 1

Guangdong University 1

Not included in the above calculation are two incoming students who are graduates of top 100 liberal arts colleges

Number of Applications per Enrolled Student, Acceptance Ratios and Yield

Total Number of Applications: 147

Number of Offers: 27

Acceptance Ratio: 18%

Number Accepting Offer: 18

Universities Selected by Applicants who declined an ND Offer

We have information on 4 students who declined our offer They accepted offers, respectively, from The Ohio State University, Michigan State

University, MIT and Columbia University Clearly we are competing with top-tier universities for the most talented students

III Placements of Graduates at Leading Institutions

Program Area

(with ’08 Graduates)

2008 Graduates Counseling Developmental Quantitativ

e

N securing post-doctoral

positions

N securing T & R positions 1 2

% securing T & R positions 50% 50%

N securing T & R positions

at 100 research universities

or top 50 liberal arts

colleges

1 (Columbia)

1 (Connecticut College)

N securing post-docs at top

100 research universities (Vanderbilt & U.2

Pittsburgh)

% accepting T &R or

post-doc positions (all

institutions)

sector)

The Department graduated 7 doctoral students in 2008 One student will enter the private sector Of the remaining 6 graduates, all of them (100%) secured a T & R position or post-doctoral position

Three graduates secured T & R positions, two of which are at top 100

research universities (Columbia University) or top 50 liberal arts colleges (Connecticut College), which are distinctive placements, indeed

Three secured post-doctoral positions Of these three, two post-doctoral positions were at highly regarded research universities (Vanderbilt and the University of Pittsburgh) The other post-doctoral position was with the

Counseling and Psychological Services unit at Cal State-Fullerton This is a staff position

IV Quality of Departmental Leadership, Graduate Studies

Evidence of recently implemented initiatives and their impact, at the

graduate student level

Evidence that the department recognizes its weaknesses and is working toward addressing them

Specific plans for improvement and enhancement with clearly defined targets and assessment strategies

Program areas undertook initiatives to address certain perceived weaknesses

in graduate studies For example, the Cognitive Program conducted a

curriculum review that resulted in a revised curriculum organization that strikes a better balance between breadth and depth for students In addition, the Cognitive Program undertook a new set of course requirements that are more in line with the recently revised total number of hours for the doctoral degree A third initiative was a survey and interview of Cognitive Program graduate students The purpose of this effort was to get feedback on the way(s) the program could be improved As a result of the feedback, the program intends to implement initiatives that are responsive to the needs expressed by students For example, a student representative will be added

to program meetings; and specific procedures will be identified to provide feedback to the Program and Department A second initiative is to have one

or more occasions where program faculty and students can interact in less formal social situations A third initiative is to provide appropriate extra-curricular professional development opportunities for students A follow-up survey will be conducted near the end of AY ’08-’09 to gauge the success of these initiatives Finally, the Cognitive Program added a new element to the department’s annual Interview Day for prospective graduate students The program added a new afternoon tour of laboratory facilities to the schedule Feedback from students and faculty was that this tour was a worthwhile addition to the schedule Perhaps coincidently, the Cognitive Program also enjoyed a very strong recruiting class this year

The Developmental Program also implemented initiatives in response to

perceived weaknesses in the program It revised the reading list as well as the study questions for the comprehensive preliminary examinations It expanded the range of prelim options (written examination questions, a grant application, and a substantial scholarly review of the literature suitable for publication) It formalized the aforementioned Developmental Studies Group weekly ‘brown bag’ colloquia Moreover, with wide consultation with students and faculty, the program faculty will explore possible changes to how the weekly meetings are run (e.g., to include more presentations by faculty, graduate students leading discussions of articles, multiple presentations, etc.) The program has made it a policy that those who read prelim exams must provide written feedback; and that advisors must evaluate their

students in writing within a month at the close of the spring semester The program has begun a bi-monthly social gathering to facilitate interactions

among students and faculty outside of the formalities of classroom and

laboratory The reaction to these initiatives has been positive Students are pleased to have more consistency and predictability with respect to the prelim questions and readings Moreover, a Developmental Studies Group website now exists on which all major prelim documents, all of the

Psychology Department and Developmental Program documents, as well as updates of faculty and student accomplishments are posted This has eased graduate student anxiety and is making the prelim process more transparent

The Quantitative Program, in consultation with its graduate students,

decided to change the format of its preliminary examinations, primarily by replacing one written component with an oral component The oral

component will consist of open questions by current quantitative faculty members, which the program believes will better evaluate a candidate’s knowledge and preparation The program also updated the reading list,

primarily to reflect changes in faculty expertise The program has also begun

a conversation about how to enhance the quantitative curriculum with the impending arrival of new faculty next fall

The Counseling Program undertook a number of initiatives this past

academic year For example,

it voted to move the first practicum from the 2nd year of the program into the

3rd year, in order to solidify student research programs before embarking on clinical training (there are a number of issues to resolve before this gets implemented) It made a number of curricular revisions, including the

decision to offer the Research Methods in Counseling Psychology course every year rather than every other year; and making the major paper project

in that course culminate in a master’s thesis proposal Because this course is

in the 2nd year of the curriculum, that assures a completed master’s proposal

by the end of fall semester of the 2nd year of the program

The Counseling Program also altered the dissertation proposal deadline Whereas the program used to permit students to apply for internship (~ October 31) with an “adviser approved” dissertation proposal, we now require

it to be formally approved by their dissertation committees before applying to internship

This year two Program “Town Hall” meetings were convened each semester These are agenda-free meetings between faculty and students for the

purpose of discussing student-nominated topics, primarily concerning

program requirements, documenting clinical cases and hours, the future clinical program and how that will affect current students, confidentially accessing the graduate student Counseling Center mental health benefit, and the like Many misperceptions were cleared-up with these meetings The students cancelled the final meeting of the year because they had no

concerns at all!

The Program initiated conversations with the APA Commission on

Accreditation about how to convert the APA-accredited Counseling program

into an APA-accredited Clinical program This conversation will culminate in a action plan and timeline being set next year

Using George Walker et al.’s “Importance of Intellectual Community” from the Chronicle of Higher Education as an impetus, we have begun a Program-wide discussion about how to create a “Research Community”, by getting students and faculty to more job talks, creating journal clubs, meeting regularly (like Developmental’s Brown Bag), and recognizing/rewarding research

achievements more often This discussion will continue through next year The Program successfully petitioned the Department to accept the Program’s Research Methods course as satisfying the Department’s Research Methods requirement It is in the process of revising the prelim exam review paper option, to disallow the grant application format and to specify what it means

to be “broad and comprehensive.”

The program added “Professionalism” to its student evaluation rubric

The Program successfully petitioned the Graduate Studies Committee to create a “General” program in the Department, through which students removed from a specific program can pursue a doctoral degree

Finally, the Program is working with the Counseling Center to increase the ratio of direct service hours to total hours achieved by our practicum students there

V Quality of Graduate Experience

Effective, clearly articulated and up-to-date graduate manual, with

appropriate strategies for orientation of new students.

Each program has written their curriculum, standards, and evaluation

procedures into a formal program document The department also provides a written General Requirements Document The program documents and General Requirements Document are frequently updated and are kept

current Program and departmental requirements documents are provided on the departmental website for easy and immediate student and faculty

access The program and department documents provide comprehensive and clear descriptions of behaviors and standards so that Graduate Students know what is expected An orientation packet is mailed to incoming students during the summer before their arrival on campus A “welcome packet” is also sent to students to assist their transition to South Bend (finding

apartments, restaurants) and to Notre Dame (getting a net ID, parking) We also conduct a formal orientation and welcome during the first week of

classes in August

Evidence of high-quality educational opportunities and professional

development

The goal of the Department’s graduate training is to develop academics that function well in all areas of academic evaluation, including research

productivity, teaching excellence and service

The professional formation of graduate students is based on intensive

laboratory-based mentorship and matriculation through a well-defined

academic curriculum Students learn to conduct high-quality research under the guidance of their mentors and in collaboration with laboratory colleagues They gain experience in all areas of the research process, including scholarly publication, presentations at professional meetings, and the grant submission process

Induction into research training occurs in the first-year In addition to

participating in on-going research in one’s lab, each student is required to complete a first-year project that is presented to the department the

following year

Educational opportunities for professional development are also formalized by program-based “studies groups” (e.g., Cognitive Studies Group,

Developmental Studies Group, Quantitative Studies Group, Counseling

Studies Group) that meet regularly (often weekly) and take the form of

“brown bag” colloquia and reading groups At these meetings students present their on-going research, proposals for masters or doctoral research;

or they practice delivering conference papers or job talks

Studies Group meetings also provide a forum to discuss new and cutting edge research The Studies Group meetings of the four programs are open to the whole department, so that students and faculty from all areas can have exposure to the work of the various labs In addition, each program area also sponsors at least one colloquium that features nationally prominent scholars

In practice, there are typically several more additional colloquia of this type offered by the Department during the year In all of these events graduate students are given significant opportunity to meet with the distinguished guests in both formal and informal settings to advance professional

socialization and networking opportunities

The Department funds graduate student travel to conferences and

workshops; and there is a supportive culture for students to attend

conferences

There is substantial evidence of the effectiveness of the Department’s

commitment to professional formation For example, 88% of graduate

students (49/56) reported a scholarly publication, or a conference paper or a paper submitted for publication in their annual report for AY 07-08 Hence the culture of scholarly research and publication within the Department is pervasive It is also deep, as illustrated by the quantity of scholarly work produced by our graduate students in the past year (see table below, with qualification)

Psychology Graduate Student Productivity for AY 07-08 1

(Across all currently enrolled students) Articles/Chapters Conference Papers Ms Submitted for

Publication

1 These numbers were compiled from student CVs submitted for their annual AY 07-08 report; and are simply a count of ’08 publications As such, the data under-reports actual level of

productivity insofar as Fall ’07 activity is not represented in the count

In addition to research, graduate students have many opportunities to

engage in teaching and teaching-related training, including service as a

Teaching Assistant or Instructor of Record We encourage students to seek Certification in Teaching through a collaborative arrangement the Department has established with the Kaneb Center (whereby the Department offers

courses on teaching)

This year four doctoral students were recognized for their teaching

excellence:

Greg Davis: Kaneb Outstanding Graduate Student Award for

Excellence in Teaching

Brad Dobrzenski: “Striving for Excellence” Teaching Certificate (Kaneb

Center)

Diane Lickenbrock: Certificate in the Practice and Philosophy of Teaching

(Psychology Dept)

Nick Lynchard: Kaneb Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Teaching

VI Efficient Use of Resources

Number of Graduate Students Supported by External Grants

14 graduate students are supported by external grants:

Students Supported by External

Grants in AY 07-08

Tina Merriless Marcia Braun Naomi Ekas Jody Nicholson Beth Blodgett Brad Dobrezenski Chrystyna Kouros Stephen Tueller Xiaoling Zhong Stacey Scott Lori Peterson Carolyn Heitzmann Melissa (Ward) George

Andrea Tamplin

Evidence of Effective Use of Tracking Procedures for Quality Control of

Graduate Students

Each program in the department conducts annual evaluations, with more frequent formal evaluations as needed for students who are having difficulty All programs provide specific written feedback as part of their annual

evaluations; and the Developmental Program requires written feedback on preliminary examinations

Each program has written their curriculum, standards, and evaluation

procedures into a formal program document The department also provides a written General Requirements Document The program documents and General Requirements Document are frequently updated and are kept

current Program and departmental requirements documents are provided on the departmental website for easy and immediate student and faculty

access

Each program maintains specific deadlines which conform to a 5-year plan of training The department’s Graduate Curriculum Committee has approved each program’s documents and deadlines In 2006, the department instituted the “3rd year invitation to the PhD” gate as a departmental requirement Each program conducts a specific formal evaluation of a student following the successful defense of the Master’s Thesis This evaluation ordinarily occurs within weeks of the Master’s defense, and the goal is to determine if the student should embark on work specific to the PhD, including preliminary examinations The evaluation occurs no later than the end of the third year Ultimately, the goal of this requirement is to facilitate early departure of those not suited for the PhD

Attrition: % and Average Year of Attrition

Attrition and Average Year of Attrition, by Program: 2003-2008

Cognitive Counseling Developmen

tal Quantitative

Average

Year of

Attrition

N (%)

withdraw

with

Masters

2 (40%) 2 (100%) 2 (100%) 3 (50%)

Fifteen students left their respective programs from 2003-2008 To provide context, the department typically has 60-70 enrolled doctoral students per year Across all programs 60% of graduate students who withdrew did so after earning a Masters degree An examination of withdrawal by year is informative:

Attrition by Year of Withdrawal and Program

Developme

Quantitativ

In the Cognitive Program, 80% (4/5) students withdrew over this time period

in ’06 and ’07 In the Quantitative Program, 67% (4/6) withdrew over this period in ’07 and ’08 In both programs the years that saw the most

withdrawals were associated with faculty transitions; with students leaving to accompany their mentors to new positions

Average Time to Degree

Average Time to Degree, by Program, 2003-2008

Cognitiv

e

(N = 3)

Counseli

ng (N = 14)

Developme ntal (N = 23)

Quantitat ive (N = 6)

Joint (N = 8)

Departmental/S

ocial (N = 2)

Our time-to-degree statistics are consistent with disciplinary standards Note that Counseling and Joint Counseling/Developmental students need to

complete a year of nonresident internship before graduating with the PhD, thus these are at minimum typically 6-year programs

Contribution to Teaching

Distribution of Assistantship Assignments AY 07-08

al

% of Total

Typically, about half of our students serve as TAs each year Our students also serve as statistical and computer consultants, and as the departmental

administrative assistant On average, about 4 students serve as instructor of record each year