Departmental Degree Requirements

The requirements for the Ph.D. are as follows: (1) the satisfactory completion of all requirements for the M.A.; (2) a major qualifying examination; (3) a total of 54 credits of course work (including those presented for the M.A. but excluding non-topical research and practicum); (4) work experience in the form of teaching and internship; (5) a dissertation.

The psychology department has no formal foreign language requirements. However, the advisory committee for any graduate student may require evidence of professional skills beyond psychology courses as part of the student’s degree program. Each student is required to teach, participate in research, and/or acquire training in a clinical or community setting during each semester that the student is in residence.

Graduate Programs   The purpose of the graduate programs in the Department of Psychology is to prepare the student for research, both basic and applied, and teaching. The department offers Ph.D. programs in seven areas of psychology: clinical, cognitive, community, developmental, psychobiology, quantitative, and social. Various combinations of these specialties are possible, depending on students’ interests and professional goals.

Departmental Facilities   The Department of Psychology is located in Gilmer Hall. The air-conditioned, five story building provides the department in excess of 50,000 square feet for offices, laboratories, and classrooms. The department is well endowed with computer equipment, including laboratories with IBM-compatible and Macintosh computers. Most of the computers in the department have links to the University’s local area network and to the Internet. Also located in Gilmer Hall is a branch of the University Library which houses current psychological journals and a large collection of relevant books, a shop for machine, wood, and electrical work, and a wide variety of laboratories for both human and animal research.

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