Important Advising Information for Psychology Majors

Submitted by Angela Draheim Academic Program Coordinator and Departmental Web Specialist
March 20, 2024 - 7:36 am
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Dear current & prospective psychology majors, 

 

With advising for FA24 courses right around the corner, we wanted you to take note of several things planned for the next academic year. Please continue reading this lengthy message carefully!

 

  1. For easy reference, psychology majors under the LEAD Curriculum should track their progress with the PSYC LEAD checklist that corresponds to their catalog year (when they started at the College): AY20-21, AY21-22, AY22-23 or AY23-24. Majors under the CORE Curriculum (enrolled prior to FA20) should refer to the AY19-20 checklist.

  2. In FA24, there will be three sections of PSYC204 Psychological Research, Analysis, and Writing I & two sections of PSYC206 Psychological Research, Analysis, and Writing II. In SP25, there will be two sections of PSYC204 Psychological Research, Analysis, and Writing I & three sections of PSYC206 Psychological Research, Analysis, and Writing II. Students should plan to begin the 204/206 sequence in their second year of study at SMCM (i.e., third or fourth semester enrolling in credits). 204 must be taken before 206.

  3. Psychology majors, regardless of entry cohort, are required to do an SMP for their capstone experience. The SMP can be completed in psychology or another major discipline or cross-disciplinary study area. Students planning to start their SMP in FA24 should have already submitted their online interest form regardless of whether they plan to do a SMP in Psychology or in another discipline. Mentor assignments will be finalized and announced very soon so if you failed to submit the form, please do so ASAP. If you plan to start in SP25, a call to officially complete the form will go out in September.

  4. Some other course notes to be aware of: [Read more about topics courses here]

    1. In FA24, PSYC310 Scientific Writing and Professional Development will have 3 sections: clinical (Dr. Ehman), developmental (Dr. Leffers), and counseling (Dr. Ikizler). In SP25, PSYC310 will have 3 sections: counseling (Dr. Ikizler), cognitive (Dr. Mantell) and developmental (Dr. Leffers). PSYC310 is required for any major who started at SMCM in AY21-22 or afterwards. Students should plan to take this course in their junior year prior to starting the SMP. If you need to co-enroll in 310 and 206, you must get approval from the department chair (Dr. Mantell; jtmantell@smcm.edu) BEFORE your advising time or you may not get a seat in the course.

    2. FA24 Lab Offerings: 

      • 5 credits: PSYC 322 Biological Psychology plus Lab, PSYC324 Cognitive Psychology plus Lab & PSYC330 Developmental Psychology plus Lab

      • 4 credits: PSYC365 Laboratory Seminar in Culture & Community [Racial/Ethnic Identity] 

    3. Planned SP25 Lab Offerings: 

      • 5 credits: PSYC324 Cognitive Psychology plus Lab,  PSYC340 Social Psychology plus Lab, & PSYC370 Counseling Psychology plus Lab 

      • 4 credits: PSYC321 Laboratory Seminar in Learning Theory [Role of Conditioning in Eating & Addiction, can see description under SP24 tab for now],  PSYC323 Laboratory Seminar in Biological and Sensory Processes [Perception, Cognition & Computation, can see description under SP24 tab for now] & PSYC365 Laboratory Seminar in Culture & Community [Racial/Ethnic Identity] 

    4. Lower-division courses that count toward breadth include: 

      • FA24: PSYC236 Topics in Biological & Sensory Processes [TBD], PSYC230 Lifespan Development, PSYC235 Physiological and Sensory Psychology, PSYC250 Social Psychology, PSYC263 Multicultural Psychology and PSYC280 Counseling Theories & Methods

      • Planned for SP25: PSYC 221 Cognitive Psychology, PSYC222 Topics in Cognitive & Social Processes [TBD], PSYC236 Topics in Biological & Sensory Processes [TBD], PSYC230 Lifespan Development, PSYC235 Physiological and Sensory Psychology, PSYC250 Social Psychology, PSYC264 Topics in Culture & Community [TBD] and PSYC280 Counseling Theories & Methods

    5. FA24 Advanced topics courses (counting as a breadth course in the new curriculum and/or as an elective in either curriculum, require completion of PSYC 204) include: PSYC484 Advanced Topics in Biological & Sensory Processes [TBD] & PSYC485 Advanced Topics in Social & Cognitive Processes [Cognition in the Real World] 

    6. Planned SP25 Advanced topics courses (counting as a breadth course in the new curriculum and/or as an elective in either curriculum, require completion of PSYC 204) include: PSYC483 Advanced Topics in Developmental Psychology TBD], PSYC486 Advanced Topics in Health & Counseling [TBD] & PSYC487 Advanced Topics in Culture & Community [Leadership and Work, can see description under FA23 tab for now]

    7. Other FA24 upper-division courses counting as breadth courses in the new curriculum and/or as an elective in either curriculum include: PSYC 396 Collaborative Research in Psychology [Psychology of Climate Change], PSYC414 Drugs, Brains and Behavior & PSYC475 Psychopathology 

    8. Other planned SP25 upper-division courses counting as breadth courses in the new curriculum and/or as an elective in either curriculum include: PSYC414 Drugs, Brains & Behavior, PSYC431 Infant & Child Development and PSYC456 Psychology of Gender.

  5. We are excited to introduce our new 1-credit [C/NC] course in AY24-25, PSYC304 Emerging Scholars in Psychology (Co-requisites: PSYC 204. Enrollment by permission of instructor; for more information, please contact Dr. Howansky). 

  6. You may find this advising day prep list and blank schedule planner useful.

  7. If you are interested in TAing for PSYC 204 or 206 to earn credit in PSYC 307, be on the lookout for more information

  8. Remember, all students planning to graduate in May MUST apply to graduate now. If you are graduating this semester or in the summer and haven’t yet done so, go to the Portal ASAP and apply. Students graduating in December still have some time to take care of this task but can go ahead and do so now. 

  9. This is a great opportunity for you to confirm with your advisor that your planned graduation semester and year as listed in the Portal reflects your current graduation path. The Portal automatically assumes 8 semesters of work for every student, even transfers, so you might need to adjust it. To do so go to My Academics > SMCM My Tasks > Graduation Application.

  10. If you don’t get into a PSYC class you want at the time of registration, do not email professors to get on a waitlist. We will send out a department-wide waitlist form for you to make your request(s).

Please discuss questions with your advisor* or ask Chair James Mantell. 

Don’t forget about the opportunity to take an online class this summer! Dr. Victória Müller Ewald will offer PSYC414 Drugs, Brains and Behavior & Dr. Yu Sun Chung will offer PSYC483 Advanced Topics in Developmental Psychology [Developmental Psychopathology]. See this list of all SMCM Summer 2024 Courses and information regarding tuition and fees.

Take care,

James Mantell & Angie Draheim

*all advisors of officially declared psyc majors have been directly emailed with this information

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