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DEPARTMENT REQUIREMENTS - GRADUATE PROGRAMS

Full Time Status

The psychology doctoral programs are full-time programs; part-time students are not admitted. The faculty believes that significant professional socialization occurs via interactions with professors and other students both inside and outside the classroom. A full-time student presence is necessary for this process to occur.

Full-time status is defined in the APPG as 12 credits per regular semester. This means 4 courses per semester (excluding summer terms) for the first 3 years. Externships and practica (internship) are necessary requirements for all programs and are defined as either 3-credit or non-credit courses. During the second and third years, eligible students may enroll in one of the following with approval of academic advisor.

Credits Required

Graduate students admitted into the program in 1994 or later must earn 81 credits for graduation.

Transfer of Credits

Students with previous graduate course work in psychology should discuss their course of study with their program director. If previous work is used to waive a requirement or to be transferred, a form must be completed by the program director and signed by the student. After approval of the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, it is sent to the Associate Graduate Dean for final approval. Students should check with the program director about 6 weeks after the form is submitted to see if the request has been granted.

Seminars

PSGA 8015

Identification of Child Abuse Seminar. Training in the identification of child abuse is a curriculum requirement of all New York State registered professional programs, and ALL students must complete this requirement prior to taking the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exams. Students who complete this training in State-approved seminars outside of the department must submit documentation to the Psychology Office. PSGA 8015 meets the state requirement. Although it carries no credits toward completion of the Ph.D. degree, it does appear on your transcript, providing documentation of the training. The course is open to students in their second year of training and beyond. The seminar is three hours in length and is generally offered one evening every year. Students should register for the seminar at the time they pre-register for other classes.

PSGA 8025

Research Colloquium. The Psychology Department's Research Colloquium series exemplifies our commitment to being a community of scholars. The opportunity to discuss our research activities, and that of researchers outside Fordham, enhances our professional development while contributing to the professional efforts of our colleagues. The presentations illustrate the breadth of the field of psychology and provide a valuable supplement to the course work of students and continuing education for the faculty. Moreover, meeting as a group facilitates communication among and between faculty and graduate students. As we know more about the research activities occurring within our department, we can communicate more clearly our department's identity to the rest of Fordham and to the larger academic and professional community.

Four semesters of the course associated with the colloquia (PSGA 8025) are required for graduate students. Two semesters must be completed during the first year; the faculty has agreed that 75% attendance each semester should serve as a minimum requirement. The primary intent of first year presentations will be to expose students to research being conducted within the Department, although presentations will also be made by invited speakers who will offer additional perspectives on research possibilities. During the second year, students are required to attend a maximum of three presentations by invited speakers per semester. The primary intent of the second year requirement is to provide students with exposure to material and/or perspectives valuable to their continued development as a professional psychologist. It will be the responsibility of the Department to ensure that a minimum of three invited speaker presentations will be available each semester. Some students ask to be excused from Research Colloquium for reasons of conflicting schedules, etc. In such cases, students may be allowed to satisfy a portion of their colloquia requirement during their third year. As with other pertinent performance indicators, colloquium attendance records are added to students' permanent files and considered in admitting students to doctoral candidacy and recommendations for fellowships, etc.

Elective Course Work

Although the departmental and program curriculum requirements will constitute the bulk of course work, graduate students have some choices available to them. The best listing of elective courses offered by the department is found in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Bulletin. Thisbulletin is updated biannually. As a general rule,required courses in any of the three programs are offered annually and electives are offered every other year. Thus, some advance planning is necessary if there are particular elective courses that you want to take. One elective option - Independent Research - is discussed below. Graduate students may also want to take advantage of courses offered through the New York Doctoral Consortium (see "Consortium Registration" in the APPG).
PSGA 8999: Independent Research. The University policy on Independent Research courses is found in the APPG under the antiquated heading "Tutorials". The official Psychology Department policy amplifies these guidelines.

Purpose

The main purpose of a reading or research course is to allow students to pursue in-depth a topic about which they have obtained basic knowledge from an introductory course.

Maximum Credits

A maximum of two Independent Research courses (6 credits) may be taken for credit toward the Ph.D. degree. With the exception of the first-year independent research taken by Developmental students, the faculty recommends that these courses be taken in the third year.

Topics

Except in extraordinary circumstances, a student may not request a reading course if the subject matter of the proposed course is substantially covered in a regularly offered course. Students may not use a reading or research course to help in the immediate preparation of their predoctoral research project or doctoral thesis.

Faculty

A faculty member may conduct only one reading or research course at a time. If two or three students are interested in the same topic, they may take the reading or research course together. The topic of the reading or research must be compatible with the faculty member's established program of research and teaching. Faculty teach reading and research courses as additions to their regular teaching schedules, hence they are not obliged to offer reading or research courses.

Approvals

Students must prepare a description of the course (including a reading list and method of evaluation) and obtain the written approval of the instructor, their advisor and their program director. After the approvals are obtained, the description is given to the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies for consideration by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee, which consists of the Chair and both Assistant Chairs, has the right to grant or refuse the request.

Deadlines

Requests must be filed by April 1 for either summer term, May 1 for the fall semester, and December 1 for the spring semester, or by the time of preregistration, whichever is earlier.