Department of Psychology Advisory Council

September 19, 2008

Members Present: Milt Ahlerich, Gail Antenen, Kelly Burke, Susan Burns, Bill Deeds, Amy Gross, Ann Hackett, John Hill, Sandy McCoy, Ken Sewell, Rebecca Sourk, and Jim Wright.

Others present: Ron Downey, Damon Fairchild, Jerry Frieman, and Jim Shanteau.

Kelly called the meeting to order at 8:32.

The Provost provided a brief welcoming talk where he summarized some of the university=s recent accomplishments. He noted that enrollment were up 100 students for the fall semester 2008, and that the enrollment of international students was up 250. He indicated the accomplishments of the university in teaching, research, and service. He said that the university in becoming a leader in the area of student leadership programs (an undergraduate minor) and in service learning. He thanked the council members for their contribution to the department and university.

Introductions were made for members present and the agenda was approved.

Ron handed out materials on internships from Career Employment Services (see attached if you did not attend the meeting).

Jerry provided a handout on the Junior Seminar [JR] (see attached if you did not attend the meeting) and provided a brief summary. Jerry explained that the JR is intended to help psychology majors to prepare for work and graduate school. He noted that students do not have a lot of experience, and he uses the class to encourage them to get involved in research and volunteer activities. In addition to the class having a wide variety of speakers, the students must prepare a resume and either a cover letter for their resume or a statement of objectives if they are planning to apply to graduate or professional school. These are critiqued and returned. The JR is offered just in the fall semester and is a one credit hour course. He noted that there is not presently a speaker talking just about internships. This semester there are 96 students in the course. He said the title "seminar" is a misnomer given the size of the class.

Jerry was asked if there was a similar course for freshmen. He said there is a Freshman Seminar in Psychology (FS), but it covered different topics and had a different purpose. The FS purpose is designed to aid students in their transition to higher education and to provide information about psychology as a career. The students in this course are pre-psychology majors. To be a psychology major a student must have completed at least 30 student credit hours (SCH) of college credit with at least 15 SCH must be completed at K-State with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5. If a student has completed an associate degree at another institution, they can become a Psychology major if their GPA is at least 2.5. Jerry mentioned the web site for DOCTOR WHIZ as an excellent resource for freshmen students (http://www.educ.kent.edu/community/DOCWHIZ/frshqst.html). This was displayed for the council members and was a source of merriment for all.

Jim Shanteau noted that the requirement for students to become majors help the department to drop out the really weak students. The number of majors for the department had continued to grow over time, and there was not enough room in the required core courses. Now only a psychology major can take the required core courses. Bill and Susan noted that Morningside College has a course similar to the JS but also includes materials on SPSS and APA format.

Ron briefly reviewed the report he provided on what students do after graduation. He noted the number of psychology majors who go directly to work and that a large percentage of these are in non-psychology areas (primarily business and marketing).

Kelly noted that Payless Shoe Source has an internship program. As it was originally structured, the interns were "gofers" (go for this and go for that). They now do "real" work. Jim W. pointed out that this age group could excel in what they do, but need guidance. The supervisor needs to talk about the needed skills that provide a path and structure to the intern. Amy said, that as part of the structure, the internship needs to be tied to the academic work. Ken said that some things can now be done with distance learning.

Ron provided a brief description of the internship process for the I/O psychological technician program (note, this program was discontinued due to limited I/O faculty resources). He said that there was a formal course that students took for the internship credit and that students had to provide a report on their internship and the supervisor had to provide an evaluation. The program was very successful.

Amy pointed out that internships are most appropriate for applied areas of psychology.

Bill noted that their surveys at Morningside College identified three skill sets employers wanted: critical thinking, computer/technical, and problem solving. Ron noted that the list often includes teamwork.

Jim W. noted that an internship could be tied to a student's current work.  He pointed out this might require an expansion of their job.

Milt indicated that materials generated from internships often were very helpful to the employer.

Kelly pointed out that Payless Shoe Source used a competency model approach. In designing an internship, a competency model would be useful.

At this point Kelly asked the group to break into three smaller groups to talk about how internships could be integrated into the current programs. The following are the reports back from each group concerning needed skill development by undergraduates.

Groups A - Susan reporting:

• Analytical skills, including research skills;
• Self motivation;
• Decision making and flexible working style;
• Conflict Resolution;
• A real sense of working; and
• Applying classroom learning to work, specificity of skills.

Group B - Milt reporting (with others). Milt noted that there are some challenges B need for pre-internship training, ability to staff internships (conflicts with faculty members other responsibilities), need for service learning, developing needed skills in the classroom (tied to course objectives), and the need for mentors (alumni, upper level students, Psi-Chi, etc.):

• Communication skills, oral and written - Rebecca;
• Team work, ability to work in groups - Ron;
• Critical thinking skills - Ken;
• Problem solving skills - Ken;
• Technology, use of effective use of common computer programs - Milt; and
• People skills, interactions with others, including supervisory knowledge (emotional IQ) - Jim W.

Group C - Jim S. reporting. Jim S. said that we need to improve how we market ourselves to students by informing them of what they get with a psychology degree:

• An ability to make sense out of chaos;
• We need to develop a GTA position that would partner with students on internship programs;
• There needs to be capstone experiences, course, internships, service learning, consulting, volunteering, mock interviews, etc.;
• Need to work on building resumes, good ones; and
• Asking potential employers what they want, model after the Manufacturing Learning Center.

It was suggested that faculty members look at ways to integrate these ideas and approaches into their courses. Kelly suggested using the Competency Modeling approach. It may be possible to talk about skills in our materials.

The group broke for lunch.

Election of new members:

A list of prospective new members was presented (see attached materials). The Council members approved these. There was a general feeling that we need international representatives and that more individuals with BA/BS from K-State be added. The attached list of potential members was general at the meeting but more will be added. Jerry and Ron will prepare a final list and an invitation letter. The chair of the Advisory Council will sign the invitation. The motion was seconded by Amy. Motion passed.

Election of Chair-Elect 2009-2010:

Bill assumed the chair and reconvened the group at 1:20. After assuming the chair, the group thanked Kelly for her service.

Nominations were sought for the chair for 2009. Ken and John were nominated. Ken was elected chair for the coming year.

Department Head's Report  - Jerry Frieman:

Jerry reported on the discussion by the faculty of what the Alumni Advisory Council suggested at it 2007 meeting that we should be doing or could be doing better (see attached materials). Jerry stressed the importance of helping our undergraduates to be successful.

Discuss ways that members who are not able to attend meetings could be supportive of the Council's goals:

There was a discussion on how to get more members of the council involved. It was suggested we make better use of technology.

Videoconferencing was suggested, but concern was raised that the dynamics would change.

The idea was put forth that we use K-State On-Line as a communication tool for the Advisory Council. K-State On-line could be used to exchange information throughout the year, house documents, and share documents.  Jerry indicated he would look into how to do this.

Are there other things the Council can ask people for help; that is, specific requests and queries? Suggestions were examples of successful internships and mentoring programs.

The question was raised as to why, when asked, people said they could not join the Alumni Advisory Council. Downey said the answers included fiscal expectations, personal/family matters, too much on plate already.

Discussion of Fall 2009 agenda items:

Bill indicated his interest in several things for the coming year. First, we need to continue our efforts at fund raising. Second, we may want to focus more on the graduate program and students. Third, he would like to know the faculty=s reactions to the Council. Fourth, he would like to develop a training unit for Alumni on the use of graduate students.

Ken asked for some more information on funding for graduate students. Jim S. noted that most graduate students are supported but many get their support from outside the department.

There was additional discussion about Council members connecting with classes.

Suggestions for next year's agenda included:

Fundraising

Graduate students - What specific challenges to they face? Example: having a fully supported, fully funded graduate program.

Connecting alumni through continuing education and web seminars (perhaps taught by graduate students; for example SPSS)

The Chair, Past Chair, Chair-elect, Downey, and Frieman will work together to select a topic for next year.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 pm and Council members attended Susan's presentation on service learning.

A dinner was held later in the evening at the Alumni Center and was attended by 40 people from the council and the department.

List of Potential Council Members

Proposed during the Meeting

Nozomu Sonda - BS 1986, Ph.D. Social KU, now in Japan.

Kim Flott - Now in Austin Texas

Nebe Sumers - Ph.D. social KSU, now in Turkey.

Jana Sumers - Ph.D. I/O KSU, now in Turkey.

Jinkook Tak - Ph.D. I/O KSU, now in South Korea.

Sarah Heller - Now in Nebraska.

Melissa Urban (Wefald) - Now in Manhattan.

Marilyn Horst - Now in Kansas.

Tony Link - BS 1974, now in Atlanta, GA.