Information for Psi Chi members

If you are a member of Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology, you may not know that the Psi Chi website has a lot of useful information about scholarship and other opportunities. For example, the latest edition of the Psi Chi Digest discusses two summer programs that may be of interest to psychology majors:

The APA Science Directorate Internship is a paid, 10-week summer program that allows students to gain experience in science administration by working at the American Psychological Association Science Directorate office in Washington, DC. The application deadline is January 15!

The APS Summer Research Grants program provides funding for undergraduate students to conduct research projects under supervision of members of the Association for Psychological Science. The application deadline is March 1.

If you are interested in either of these programs, please consider applying! Be aware, though, that some of these deadlines are coming up soon and the application process might take some planning.

Whether or not you're a Psi Chi member, you might find some useful information about graduate school, employment, or class-related issues in the magazine Eye on Psi Chi (link is to the current version). There is usually a copy of the most current version on the table in the hallway of the Psychology/Sociology building, but you can always go to the website and look at articles there if necessary.

Office hours

On Tuesday, December 2, my office hours will start late. I am giving a test to one of my classes and will be out of the office until approximately 3:00 p.m.

On Thursday, December 4, my office hours will end early. I will have to leave the office around 3:00 p.m. and will be gone for 30-45 minutes. I will be back in time for my 4:00 Human Growth and Development class. Don't forget that you only need to come to class that day if you have to make up an exam; otherwise, use your time wisely.

During exam week (December 8-12), I will not have my normal office hours because the exam schedule interferes with them. I should be free in the afternoon (from 1-3) on Monday, December 8 and before 10:30 on Tuesday, December 9. All of my exams are on December 8 and 9; therefore, if you want to get in touch with me after December 9, it's best to email me to ask about an appointment.

Psychology/Sociology Club Meeting

The Psychology/Sociology Club will have its last meeting of the semester on Wednesday, December 3, at 3:00 p.m. in Room 3. Because our current officers are graduating, the primary purpose of this meeting will be to elect new officers. The available positions are:

President: The President presides over the meetings and delegates responsibilities and duties as necessary.

Vice President: Primarily responsible for publicizing the meetings and activities of the club, but may be asked to fill in if the President is not available.

Secretary: Responsible for recording and distributing the minutes of meetings and also conducting any necessary correspondence.

Treasurer: Responsible for collecting, depositing, and keeping track of dues and other monies.

Any interested candidates and club members should come to the December 3 meeting and be prepared to give a brief speech, if needed, about their qualifications and experiences relevant to this position. Please let Dr. Cotter know if you have any questions prior to the meeting.

Donations for Liberty House

Liberty House is a domestic violence shelter in Albany, essentially the only local option for people who need assistance because of domestic violence problems. When clients come to Liberty House, they often have left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and when it comes time for them to set up new households, they may have very little they can use. Liberty House attempts to help as much as possible but can't do it all. Therefore, the Psychology/Sociology Club has started a donations drive for Liberty House. Around campus (including in the Psychology/Sociology Building) you will see boxes decorated with Christmas wrapping paper and with a sign on the outside soliciting donations.

Liberty House particularly has asked us to try to gather household items: Silverware, potholders, cookware, dishes, sheets, blankets, towels, etc. They will take just about anything, including clothes, toys, and toiletries, but housewares are especially needed. Used items are fine. Times are tough for lots of people, but the Liberty House clients may not have cups to drink out of or plates to eat off of, and every little bit will help. Please consider donating some household items to Liberty House this season. The donation boxes will be available until December 3. Thank you!

Psychology/Sociology Club Meeting

The Psychology/Sociology Club will meet tomorrow (Wednesday, November 19) at 3:00 p.m. Please give your T-shirt orders to Christi if you haven't already done so!

Conference opportunity

The School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University is currently accepting applications for its annual professional development conference, to be held September 25-27, 2009. This conference is specifically for undergraduate students who are interested in research-based graduate programs in some kind of discipline related to family studies (e.g., developmental psychology, sociology). Conference topics will focus around the current state of research in family studies as well as information related to the graduate school experience.

Conference attendance, including travel expenses, is FREE for selected students. If you are interested in applying, go to the program's home page:

http://www.asu.edu/clas/ssfd/conf/

This page also has links to the application form and some other information that might be useful. If you will be a senior in the 2009-2010 academic year and are interested in graduate school in one of these areas, please consider applying!

Counseling and Forensic Psychology

The Graduate Admissions Office at Marymount University in Arlington, VA will be hosting an online chat about Marymount's graduate programs in counseling and forensic psychology. Marymount offers Masters-level programs in community counseling, pastoral counseling, forensic psychology, and school psychology.

The chat will be held on Tuesday, November 18, from 8:00-9:00 p.m. The chat is free and can be accessed at:

http://www.marymount.edu/admissions/grad/chat.html

Class and office hours for the remainder of the week

Due to an unexpected meeting on Thursday, November 13 and a field trip with the Psychology/Sociology Club on Friday, November 14, my class and office hours for those two days have changed as follows:

Thursday, November 13:
Seminar in Psychology will meet as usual
Office hours as usual
No Human Growth and Development

Friday, November 14:
No office hours
No Health Psychology
No Human Growth and Development
In fact, nothing at all (except the field trip)

I will be checking my email over the weekend if anyone needs anything. There are some more details for specific classes on WebCT.

Psychology/Sociology Club meeting

The Psychology/Sociology Club will meet at 3:00 on Wednesday, November 5, in Room 4 of the Psychology/Sociology building. We will hear a presentation from someone affiliated with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a program that trains community volunteers to act on the behalf of abused and neglected children. T-shirt orders will also be due at this time, and we will also discuss our plans for the trip to the Sleep Disorders Clinic on November 14.

Psychology/Sociology building closed Tuesday, November 4

We received word late this afternoon that the Psychology/Sociology building, along with the Science building, will be closed from 9:00 a.m. - noon on Tuesday, November 4. The purpose of the building closing is for removal of hazardous chemicals. If you have classes or advisement appointments in that building during this time, check with your instructor/advisor for further instructions. My own classes should meet as scheduled because we've been told that the building should be open again by noon.

Health Psychology reminder

This is an additional reminder to my Health Psychology students that on Friday, October 24, we will be meeting over at the Student Success Center (Rooms 2410-2417) to attend the Rosalynn Carter Institute Conference. Please dress nicely, bring your GSW ID, and try to arrive no later than 8:45. If you arrive on time and write a one-paragraph summary of the most interesting thing the speaker said and why you think it's so interesting, you will receive 5 extra credit points added to your lowest test grade. If you don't turn in a summary or if you show up late, you get nothing. Summaries can be handwritten and will be due by Monday, October 27.

Friday Office Hours

This Friday, October 24, my regular office hours (8-9 a.m.) will be cut short because of the Rosalynn Carter Conference. I will be in my office from about 7:30-8:30 a.m. in case anyone wants to come by then.

Health Psychology class Friday, October 24

On Friday, October 24, Health Psychology will meet over at the Student Success Center, Rooms 2410-2417. We will be attending a session of the Rosalynn Carter Institute's annual conference about caregiving issues. The speaker is Dr. Robert Butler and the topic of his presentation is "Challenges in the Long-Term Care Workforce". The session will start promptly at 9:00, so please do not be late. (Be early if possible.) Please try to sit in the back in case you have to leave before the session ends.

Registration for spring semester classes

Registration for Spring 2009 classes will begin on Monday, October 27. The schedule of classes can be seen here. Here is who can register when:

Class for Registration Purposes	Overall Earned Hours	Dates of Registration	Advisement Required*	Web Registration
Students Graduating Spring 09		October 27-November 14	Yes	Yes
Graduates		October 29-November 14	No	Yes
Seniors	105 or more	October 29-November 14	No	Yes
Seniors	90-105	October 29-November 14	Yes	Yes
Juniors	85-89	October 31-November 14	Yes	Yes
Juniors	60-84	October 31-November 14	No	Yes
Sophomores	30-59	November 4-November 14	No	Yes
Freshmen	0-29	November 6-November 14	Yes	Yes
Learning Support		December 4-5	Yes	No

Class designation and number of credit hours reflect how many credits you have completed as of the start of this semester. The classes you are taking this semester do not figure in here because you have not completed them yet. If you aren't sure how many credits you have, log into RAIN and click on "Student Services and Financial Aid". From there, go to "Registration", and click on "Check Your Registration Status".

If the chart above shows that you need advisement prior to registration, or if you want to meet with your advisor for any reason, please contact your advisor to set up an appointment. If you are one of my advisees, I have put sign-up sheets on the wall outside my office door. You should also check your RAIN account for any other holds you might have, such as unpaid parking tickets, because these will prevent you from registering.

Upcoming Psychology/Sociology Club events

Here are some of the upcoming events for the Psychology/Sociology Club:

16 Oct (Thursday) MOVIE NIGHT 6pm in club room (Room 3)

Movie- Premonition--

Come join us for fun and movie, bring dinner if you like

CHARITY DRIVE!!!!!

Liberty House, a domestic violence shelter in Albany, has requested items like socks, underwear (infant to adult sizes), bras, undershirts, household items (plates, cups, silverware, etc). Collection containers will be available in the Psychology/Sociology building lobby starting 20 OCT. Please consider donating.

22 Oct (Wednesday) Psych/Soc club meeting 3pm

Guest speaker LIBERTY HOUSE -Mary Martinez

T-shirt voting -please have all submissions in by 3pm

30 Oct (Thursday) Psych/Soc club BAKE SALE 11am- 2pm by the cafeteria in the Marshall Student Center

Please donate items to sell and/or volunteer to work the sale for at least 30 min

Please sign up with Christi or she will leave a time list on Dr.Cotter's door.

14 Nov (Friday) Sleep Disorder Clinic (field trip)

Times to be announced

INTERNSHIPS are available for Spring Semester!!! See CASA or Liberty House for details or come to the upcoming guest speaker events to learn more.

Interested in a Career in Industrial/Organizational Psychology?

The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, in conjunction with Austin Peay State University, is hosting a free web-based seminar to provide interested students with information about the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. This seminar will include information on topics such as graduate school preparation, graduate school life, and career options. The seminar will be held on Thursday, October 30, from noon - 1:00 p.m. For more information, or to register, go to:

http://www.siop.org/webinar.aspx

Cap and Gown Ordering Information

Fall 2008 graduation is Saturday, December 13, at 11:00 a.m. If you are graduating in December and planning to march, you need to order a cap and gown. The cost of the cap and gown is included in your graduation application fee, which you should have already paid.

Herff Jones Company will be the supplier of regalia for December 2008 graduation. You may place your cap and gown order in one of two ways. (1) Students may meet with the Herff Jones representative on October 6, 2008 in the Campus Bookstore between 12:00 noon and 3:00 pm and order your cap and gown directly from the representative. The representative will only be available for in-person ordering on this one day. (2) You may instead order your cap and gown online. To do this, go to the GSW home page and click on the link titled "Information for upcoming graduates" from October 6 - October 30, 2008. Don't try to do this before October 6 because information from the spring semester is still up there and it'll just confuse you. The deadline for ordering your cap and gown online is October 30.

Cap and gown regalia will be sent to the Campus Bookstore and may be picked up between December 1 -- December 13, 2008 during regular store hours. For those students who do not pre-order caps and gowns, the Bookstore will have a very limited number of caps and gowns in limited sizes, but don't assume there will be one available for you -- order your own!

If you want to order personalized graduation announcements, you can do this through Herff Jones the same way that you place your cap and gown order (i.e., either through the representative on October 6 or online from October 6-30). The cost of announcements is not included in your graduation application fee. Orders for announcements may be charged to a credit card, debit card, or payable money order. Orders will be delivered directly to the address you provide. The Bookstore no longer sells generic (i.e., non-personalized) announcements.

Graduation re-application

If you have applied to graduate in Fall 2008 but know that you won't be graduating until a later term, you will need to re-apply for graduation. If you re-apply by midterm (October 3, 2008), you will not need to pay a re-application fee. The Graduation Application form can be found here:

http://www.gsw.edu/~aaf/student_forms/gradapp.pdf

After you complete that, your advisor will need to complete another Graduation Checklist, so don't forget to contact your advisor as well as filling out the application form.

Writing Center

You may not be aware of this, but GSW now has a Writing Center, staffed with people who can assist you with your writing assignments for your classes. The Center is located in Room 107 of the English Building and is open from 2-8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and 1-8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You aren't required to use it for our class, but it's strongly recommended that you check it out, especially if there are certain writing mistakes that seem to occur frequently. When you go, please bring a copy of the instructions for the assignment, a rough draft of your paper (in other words, don't show up with nothing and expect someone else to write your paper for you), and any information you have about how the assignment will be graded (such as a rubric or other guidelines).

Psychology/Sociology Club Meeting

The Psychology/Sociology Club will meet on Wednesday, September 17, at 3:00 p.m. in Room 3 of the Psychology/Sociology Building. We will elect a new secretary and hammer out some more definite plans for activities for the year. Everyone is welcome to come!

Regents' Test dates

According to the Registrar's Office, the dates for the Regents' Tests will be October 20, 21, and 22. First-semester students will be assigned a date and time for testing. All students who have not satisfied both of the testing requirements yet are strongly encouraged to test fall term. Students can tell which area(s) need(s) to be tested by checking their unofficial GSW academic transcript on RAIN. You can sign up to take the Regents' Test(s) and read up on the rules and guidelines for the testing by going here:

http://www.gsw.edu/academics/schedule.html

If you are in one of my classes and need to take either or both of the tests, this will be considered an excused absence.

Psychology/Sociology Club meeting

The Psychology/Sociology Club will have its first meeting of the school year on Wednesday, September 3, at 3:00 in Room 3 of the Psychology/Sociology Building. At this meeting we will discuss plans for the coming year. All students are welcome regardless of their major. If you are interested in participating in the club's activities but can't make it to the meeting, please let me know. Hope to see you there!

Syllabus update

This semester, I am not printing out copies of syllabi for students; instead, students can download and print their own copies through WebCT. Because it sometimes takes a couple of days for students to appear in WebCT (the database isn't updated instantaneously), if you've added the class recently and have trouble accessing the syllabus through WebCT, send me an e-mail and I'll send you a copy electronically. Thanks!

Registration is open again

According to the Registrar's Office, online registration has been turned back on for summer and fall terms so that students may continue to register and make class changes through RAIN. The system will be available until Friday, May 23, at 11:00 p.m.