This program offers a terminal Master of Science degree which serves as a foundation for students interested in pursuing doctoral training. It also provides students with the basic knowledge and skills appropriate for a range of occupations in business, government, and human services (excluding the provision of clinical services).The master's program has two goals. The first is to provide the student with sufficient breadth in the methodology and content of psychology to demonstrate competence in two major areas:(1) Core areas of the discipline of psychology; and (2) Methods of the discipline of psychology. A second goal of the program is to provide the student with sufficient information and skills to apply the knowledge of the discipline competently in their daily lives and careers. This includes course work in the theory and techniques of the application of psychological principles, and also includes a thorough grounding in ethical and professional standards of psychologists. Although the program builds upon a core of basic courses, it provides some flexibility for students (with the approval of their advisors) to shape their course of study to fit special interests and needs.
| Program Requirements | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|
| Core Requirements | 36 |
| Elective Requirements | 12 |
| Total hours required | 48 |
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Identify major theoretical concepts in psychology, trace their historical development, and integrate theory, research, and domain-specific knowledge to explain and interpret how the field of psychology currently advances knowledge.
- Critique and synthesize theoretical and empirical articles from peer-reviewed scholarly journals in terms of theory, methods, data analyses, and conclusions in order to compose novel perspectives and ideas.
- Develop testable research questions, identify the strengths and limitations of research designs and data analysis techniques, conduct appropriate research and analytic strategies, and interpret the findings to situate them within the extant research literature in psychology.
- Describe and discuss the ethical issues associated with human subjects/participant protection and the sequence of procedures needed for IRB approval of research projects, and apply these ethical practices in research.
MS Degree Requirements
Course Requirements
Students must complete at least 48 quarter hours and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00.
Core Courses
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PSY 406 | PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES | 4 |
| PSY 410 | ADVANCED STATISTICS I | 4 |
| PSY 411 | ADVANCED STATISTICS II | 4 |
| PSY 420 | QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN | 4 |
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT | ||
| EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT | ||
| SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| PERCEPTION AND COGNITION | ||
| LANGUAGE AND COGNITION | ||
| THE PSYCHOLOGY OF JUDGMENT AND DECISION-MAKING | ||
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SELF | ||
| SPECIAL SEMINAR IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE | ||
| PREJUDICE AND INTERGROUP RELATIONS | ||
| SOCIAL COGNITION | ||
Diversity Core Courses
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DIVERSITY | ||
| PSYCHOLOGY OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILD | ||
| ADVANCED PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN AND GENDER | ||
| EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT | ||
| SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | ||
| PREJUDICE AND INTERGROUP RELATIONS | ||
Graduate Capstone
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select one of the following: | 4 | |
| MASTER'S THESIS RESEARCH (empirical only) | ||
| DIRECTED RESEARCH (empirical only) | ||
Sample Psychology Elective Courses
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select three of the following: | 12 | |
| METHODS IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH | ||
| MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS | ||
| FACTOR ANALYSIS AND STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING | ||
| COMPUTING FOR THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST | ||
| SPECIAL SEMINAR IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE | ||
| PSYCHOLOGY OF WORK AND MOTIVATION | ||
| PSYCHOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP | ||
| PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT | ||
| PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONS | ||
| CONCEPTS, METHODS, AND ETHICS FOR INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT | ||
| ETHICS & HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY SEMINAR | ||
| THE PSYCHOLOGY OF JUDGMENT AND DECISION-MAKING | ||
| ADVANCED PSYCHOPATHOLOGY | ||
| PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF THE CHILD | ||
| TREATMENT METHODS WITH CHILDREN | ||
| PRINCIPLES OF CONSULTATION | ||
| ADVANCED COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT | ||
| SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | ||
| PREJUDICE AND INTERGROUP RELATIONS | ||
| SEMINAR IN ADVANCED STATISTICS | ||
| SEMINAR IN INDUSTRIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| SOCIAL COGNITION | ||
| INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY | ||
With the permission of the Program Director, students may be able to substitute other psychology or non-psychology courses for the diversity and elective requirements detailed above.
Additional Requirements
In addition, program requirements include two options for demonstrating successful completion of the program: 1) a traditional master's thesis involving an empirical study; or 2) a research study or program evaluation “Capstone” project based on the student's internship or employment experience. Upon completion of coursework, students are required to maintain active student registration status until graduation.
Time Limitation
All degree requirements must be successfully completed within a maximum period of five years.
Program Graduate Academic Student Handbook
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Minimum Grades
- The minimum grade considered acceptable for a graduate course is a B-. This applies to courses taken both within and outside of the department for psychology graduate students. Grades below that (i.e., C+ and below) indicate that the student has not mastered the relevant content of the course.
- If a graduate student earns a grade lower than B- in a particular course, the student, instructor, and advisor will discuss the situation and circumstances and a remediation plan will be required. The student, his or her advisor, and the instructor, will work together to create a plan through which the student can (a) gain competence in the course material, and (b) demonstrate that competence. The remediation plan might include, for example, requiring the student to complete additional assignments, retaking the class, taking a substitute class, completing an independent study, or pursuing other options. The remediation plan must be approved by the instructor, advisor and the program director.
- A second occurrence of a grade lower than a B- (for the same or different course) will put the student on academic probation. Once placed on academic probation, the student’s record and any mitigating circumstances will be evaluated by a Psychology Department review board comprising the student’s advisor, the program director, and the department associate chair (the department chair might be included in special circumstances). Additional remediation and intervention might be suggested by the review board.
- If there is a third occurrence of a grade below B- (for the same or different course), the student will be dismissed from the program. The student may choose to appeal this decision, in which case the Chair of the Psychology Department will appoint a committee of three tenured Psychology Department faculty outside the student's program to hear the appeal. Depending on the student’s academic record and any mitigating circumstances, he/she may be allowed to complete his/her Master’s degree but will not be permitted to continue onto the PhD (not applicable to terminal Department of Psychology MS degrees) without a successful appeal.
Academic Probation
Students are expected to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.00. If a student’s cumulative GPA falls below this minimum, the student will be put on academic probation and will have one quarter of coursework to raise it up to the minimum.
Academic Dismissal
If the student does not raise their cumulative GPA to at least a 3.00 after one quarter of coursework while on academic probation, the student will be academically dismissed from the program. If the student’s cumulative GPA falls below the minimum a second time, they will be academically dismissed from the program without a second academic probationary period.
Graduation Requirements
Students need a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20 in courses required by the program. In addition to meeting the minimum cumulative GPA requirement, lack of progress towards degree completion, and/or unsatisfactory evaluation could result in dismissal. See individual program policies for more details.
Graduation with Distinction for MS
The criteria for graduating "with distinction" are a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.75 and the recommendation of "with distinction" by the thesis committee.
Time Limitation
Students must complete their degree requirements within a five-year period from the first registration date for a course in the program.