First meeting of Spring 2017:
We discussed the “What and Why of Psi Chi”
We went over the benefits of membership, sold shirts ($15 at meetings-limited quantity available), took applications, went over coming events, held an open forum Q&A, and asked if anyone had any particular interests on what speakers attended future meetings. If you have any interests or requests for speakers or workshops, please reach out to us via email. The Power Point presentation from this meeting is linked below. We are looking forward to a great semester with you!
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Last Fall 2016 meeting on research and OUR:
To do research you need a mentor
You can do research in other departments, for ex. Biology
Go to faculty pages and see what faculty are doing research on
OUR has research opportunities on their webpage, need access code (can get through OUR)
www.OUR.ucf.edu
Research is getting new information and furthering a field
Research is beneficial to students: learn writing, presenting/public speaking, reading/summarizing skills, looks good for grad school and resumes, makes you stand out, guides you through career choice, opportunity for recommendation letters and connections with professionals
How to get started:
- Summer Research Academy www. SRA.ucf.edu
- Student Undergraduate Research Council
- OUR Peer Mentor Advising
- Other Workshops
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Once you’re more involved:
- UCF Research & Mentoring Program
- McNair Scholars
- Honors College – Honors in the major (not only for honors students)
Don’t have to join these programs to do research but they will benefit you
To figure out your interests:
- PsycInfo Database – keywords you found interesting in your classes
- Textbooks in library under field of psychology
- Literature Review – discussions mention limitations and “future research”
- Faculty mentors and their publications – look them up in Google Scholar
If you are interested in PhD program, look for something to study for 4-6+ years, PhD students are matched with professors based on similar research interests/experiences
Getting into a lab:
Apply to positions Psych Advising sends emails about
If you’re not super interested do it anyways, you will make connections & further your interests
Don’t recommend doing general online application because they are rarely looked at
Psychology Labs:
Clinical
Applied Experimental/Human Factors
I/O, Social and Cross Cultural
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Fall 2016 2nd meeting:
Topic: Planning for the future/programs/GRE
Q: When is best time to start studying for GRE?
A: Depends on your personal schedule, when you are less busy is best. Treat it as if it was its own class. Good to take early in case you don’t get score you want and to narrow down programs you will apply to
Q: How do the GRE scores work?
A: It depends on each school you are applying to, check their websites for their requirements
Q: How can I make myself more competitive?
A: Undergrad research experiences, research lab manager, lab training programs. Also research schools you’re interested in and see what they are looking for. Having a statistics minor looks really good
Q: How should I study for the GRE if I’m applying to a master’s program?
A: Master’s programs are not as strict on scores and only require minimums, I took a prep course but personally it was not worth the money, take as many tests online as possible and time yourself
Q: Do some master’s programs offer stipends or assistantships?
A: It is very rare, do research on each school
Q: Can I present the research from my research methods class?
A: Yes! Ask contributing authors to present with you, you need to give them credit! Psi Chi has a conference in November that you can present at. You can also present on things other people have done but make sure you are contributing.
Q: When is good time to get involved in research?
A: As soon as you can! Its competitive here at UCF so apply early, talk to grad students and ask to help out. Check out the Office of Undergraduate Research here at UCF
Q: Do you need to have taken research methods before getting involved in a lab?
A: It looks good but it’s not necessary
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10/10/2016 Meeting Minutes
Speakers:
Dr. Illingworth from IO Psychology
Dr. Schry from Clinical Psychology
Dr. Illingworth:
IO Psychology = work place psychologists, develop assessments and interviews for job applicants, understand work culture and environment and make it more productive
I was a UPS driver for 8 years, but I always wanted to make things better at work so I became interested in IO. I attended graduate school at the University of Akron. My thesis was on targeting self-concept to increase helping behaviors at work. My dissertation was on preventing people from faking on personality tests. I went into applied practice consulting in Washington DC, working for all of the government agencies, learning about the jobs to know how they could hire good agents. Then, I moved to Atlanta and worked in the private sector doing the same job as I did in the public agencies. I consulted for 12-15 years. I started a consulting firm investigating technology to make hiring decisions. Finally, I came to UCF to research benefits of using technology in hiring.
Dr. Schry:
Clinical Psychology – encompasses a lot, can work with patients and treat psychological disorders, conduct research, teach, work for funding agencies or the government, conduct drug trials, evaluations, and assessments.
Personally specialties within- anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, severe mental illnesses, depression, etc.
Clinical psychology is trying to blend working with children and adults together because parents are involved when working with children.
I received my bachelors from Mercer University. Then, I was a research assistant for a year at Virginia Tech in the psychosocial intervention lab for autism and anxiety disorders. I received my masters from Virginia Tech, where my research emphasized anxiety and health risk behavior (abuse and alcohol relatedness to trauma). My PhD internship was conducted in North Carolina treating PTSD and veterans. My post-doc internship was on mental illness education at Durham VA. Now I’m a professor at UCF.
Q & A
Q: How did you choose the field you’re in?
A: Dr. Schry- During high school, I had broad ideas of what I wanted to do. I originally wanted to be a guidance counselor because of a positive close connection with my own. Once I started taking college courses, I decided I wanted to work directly with people. I got into clinical psychology and saw all the possibilities in the university setting.
Dr. llingworth- I originally wanted to be clinical psychologists and did a lot of field work, but I realized I could not build a wall between myself and clients. Being a clinician was not a good fit for my own mental health. I felt out other areas, but ended up choosing IO. I did not like just learning from books and I wanted to know how to apply concepts to the real world.
Q: How do you build a wall between yourself and your clients?
A: Dr. Schry- There will be nights where you go home and are bothered by what happened with patients, but you have to find ways to take care of yourself. Self-care is super important (finding ways to process experiences and let go; activities such as exercising, dogs, taking space, support, etc.)
Q: What is a typical day like?
A: Dr. Schry- At UCF- each day is different. I don’t teach every day. Days vary with writing and research, meetings for the service component of my job and with graduate students, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, and attending department meetings.
At the VA- I did 90% clinical work with 10% research. I ran groups for intensive outpatients, had team meetings, and individual sessions with patients.
Dr. llingworth- At UCF- my research lab is my main job. We have created 4-5 different streams of research on virtual stream and big data (volume of data that’s out there being generated). I also currently teach one class.
As a consultant- I would have calls with lawyers about lawsuits, help clients understand assessments and solve problems, run focus groups and create tests, work at plants and retest employees to put them at right positions, network and be a business owner.
Q: How was it a being business owner?
A: Dr. llingworth- I learned that time is money, so I started to distribute tasks to others and focus on building business. IO continues to be a growing field despite the economy.
Q: How hard is it to get a job in psychology market?
A: Dr. Schry- It depends on what you wanted to do, what degree you have, and your ability/willingness to move to other places. There are a limited number of jobs in clinical settings with solely a BA degree. As you become more restricted on your preferences, availability is narrowed. There is not an abundance of academic positions.
Dr. llingworth- For IO you have to have at least a masters degree. The field requires a lot of statistics and research methods that you learn in higher level education. HR departments are now hiring IOs.
Q: Is IO the glorified HR?
A: Dr. llingworth- No, this is not true. We do not work with compensation very often; IO is more recruitment, hiring, and making changes in the work environment culture.
Q: How did you find what you wanted to research?
(Student expressed concern finding research topics and about the level of research required in the clinical field.)
A: Dr. Schry- I looked for things that I cared about. I became passionate through research and made connections with people who promoted or shared my passion.
The master’s thesis in clinical psych is less intensive than the PhD thesis, so not as extensive research is involved. There are some PhD programs that are also less research focused than others, but the best option for less research is a PsyD, which has minimal research and is more application based, but is much more expensive and provides less funding.
As an undergraduate, the idea of a dissertation was overwhelming. Once you find something you’re passionate about and read about it, you begin to wonder and find things to look for.
Dr. llingworth- I met people who were conducting research and ideas came together. I was not initially interested in research, but through work I found concepts I wanted to research. Most ideas come from conversations with colleges and things I read, such as on Reddit. You don’t need to try and force it.
Q: Do most schools allow you to become licensed at master’s level?
A: Dr. Schry- States set laws and regulations that determine what you can do with a degree in that particular state. You would want to look to see if the program you are looking at meets the state’s requirements where you are interested in practicing.
Q: What is a minor that is beneficial for IO?
A: Dr. llingworth- Classes on statistics and intro to programming are beneficial in this field. Also, I highly suggest one gets work experience.
Q: Would a statistics minor help with clinical psych?
A: Dr. Schry- It will help in PhD programs. You have to take statistics at graduate level so you want to be comfortable with it.
Dr. Illingworth- R is growing in IO, so one would want to become familiar with it as it is accessible. Most IO psychologists have an emphasis in statistics. The program I was in required a minor in it.
Q: What advice do you have for doing research as a career?
A: Dr. Schry- In the university setting one needs to have a PhD. If you are in clinical, you want to be publishing while in your PhD program. Networking is very important!!! Other recommendations are to have a research focused post-doc, but make sure you are getting your hours in, refine your area of research, and learn about grant writing.
Dr. llingworth- IO degree is very versatile; one can do research in many different settings.
Q: What is the pay?
A: Dr. llingworth- IO on higher end of pay, however, if you have a once in a lifetime opportunity take it regardless. Out of graduate school (PhD) typical to make 95K on consulting side, on academic side you make less.
Dr. Schry- Any federal government position operates on GS scale varying by area. The lower end is about 70K (at PhD level). One starts out low, but has a lot of room for growth.
Q: What role does the prestige level of your program play when going into academia?
A: Dr. Schry- For-profit universities are not looked at as positively in academia, but other than that, your productivity and who you work with at your university more important and play a larger role.
Dr. llingworth- Connections are very important and open doors. The school you attend is important, but it is not the final call on opportunities.