The Bachelor of Arts degree is designed to prepare students for employment in a wide variety of settings or for further study at the graduate level.

Community Based Cooperative Education Program

The Co-Op Program is an option for students to have a paid professional experience and benefit from experiential learning, used for elective credit. Students earn 3 credits for working 85 hours at a local human service organization. In addition, they take a seminar class that provides support throughout this experience and facilitates connections for theory and practice. The Co-Op Faculty Advisor works closely with students to place them at sites that match their interests. The kinds of work responsibilities vary from site to site, but typically include: research projects, creating resource materials for staff and families, and direct care with clients in residential or after-school programs. Students are paid a stipend for working at their sponsoring site.

This highly selective program is available to qualified students at the sophomore or junior level, and is conducted during the spring semester. Applications are available from the Psychology department.

The Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree program offers the following majors:

Student Learning Outcomes

By completing the degree in Psychology, the successful student should have the following competencies, as determined by the American Psychological Association (APA):

1. Knowledge Base in Psychology
   • Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology
   • Develop a working knowledge of psychology’s content domains
   • Describe applications of psychology.
2. Scientific Inquiry and Critical thinking
   • Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena.
   • Demonstrate psychology information literacy.
   • Engage in innovative and integrative thinking and problem solving.
   • Interpret, design, and conduct basic research.
   • Incorporate sociocultural factors in scientific inquiry.
3. Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World
   • Apply ethical standards to evaluate psychological science and practice
   • Build and enhance interpersonal relationships
   • Adopt values that build community at local, national, and global levels
4. Communication
   • Demonstrate effective writing for different purposes.
   • Exhibit effective presentation skills for different purposes
   • Interact effectively with others.
5. Professional Development
   • Apply psychological content and skills to career goals
   • Exhibit self-efficacy and self-regulation
   • Refine project-management skills
   • Enhance teamwork capacity
   • Develop meaningful professional direction for life after graduation