Psychology Student Wins National Fellowship

Psychology student Becky Grossman has been awarded the national Leslie W. Joyce and Paul W. Thayer Graduate Fellowship in I-O Psychology.  Only one of these awards is given out each year nationwide and the amount of the award is $10,000.

The SIOP (Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology) Foundation offers this graduate student fellowship, which recognizes the mentoring relationship existing between Dr. Leslie Joyce and Dr. Paul Thayer, both during graduate school and during Dr. Joyce’s subsequent career.  The Joyce and Thayer Fellowship is designed to provide financial support to a doctoral student in I-O psychology who is specializing in training and development and/or selection and placement.

Becky applied for the fellowship through the SIOP.  As part of her application, she was required to submit a copy of her undergraduate and graduate transcripts, a statement of graduate program goals and career aspirations, a summary of completed research, a curriculum vitae that details her work related to I-O Psychology, a letter of recommendation from a graduate faculty, and a letter of endorsement from the I-O Psychology department.

To be eligible for this national fellowship, the candidates may not be recipients of other SIOP sponsored scholarships.  And each I-O program may only endorse one student per year.  Nominees must be a PhD student in I-O psychology, specialized in training and development and/or selection and placement, should be committed to a practitioner career as evidenced by work experience and/or a statement of career goals and should have some experience in an applied setting relevant to I-O.

The Joyce and Thayer Fellowship Committee (appointed by the Award Committee chair), selects one national Fellow based on:

• The quality of the undergraduate or graduate record, including appropriateness of coursework to specialization in training and development and/or selection and placement
• The quality of the master’s thesis or research summary, both scientifically and practically
• The clarity and realism of the statement of goals and aspirations
• Relevance of any applied experience to career specialization
• Appropriateness of faculty recommendations

Becky relates, “It is of course a great honor to be recognized by my professional organization. I am honored to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Leslie Joyce and Dr. Paul Thayer, who the award was named after, as well as previous recipients of the award, including several UCF alumni.”

Becky’s plans are to continue doing work that is both research and practice oriented within an academic setting.

For more information on the graduate fellowship in I-O Psychology from the SIOP, click here.