IU Southeast is now offering a Bachelor of Science in psychology.

Psychology students can choose between acquiring a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree.

The new degree was approved during summer 2011 to be implemented in fall 2011.

In order to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in psychology, 120 credit hours will be required, including a minimum of 30 credit hours at the 300 and 400 level.

“We hope this will attract more majors to the school, and especially to psychology,” Joseph Wert, dean of Social Sciences, said.

The primary difference between the two degrees is that the Bachelor of Science requires students to take more math and science courses, whereas the Bachelor of Arts provides a more generalized education in psychology.

“We wanted a psychology degree that would give additional skills to those students who were interested in doing research and planning on going to graduate school,” Wert said.

Although the students who receive a Bachelor of Arts degree gain some training in experimental methods and research writing, students with a Bachelor of Science will be required to apply this education in the form of an independent research project.

The development of this program came from the most recent psychology program review completed in 2007.

When reviewing the current Bachelor of Arts program in psychology, faculty in the department became aware of a group of students who would be better served through a Bachelor of Science degree.

This new degree will prepare students for graduate school and also provide them with the education necessary to access jobs in laboratories and pharmaceutical companies.

All of the courses in the proposed curriculum for the Bachelor of Science are currently being taught at IU Southeast, except for Planning Your Psychology Career.

This course was offered this semester for the first time by Bernardo Carducci, professor of psychology.

Kathryn Pask, psychology senior, is a student in the class and said she is glad the course is available.

“I believe the need for P199 has been there for a while now,” Pask said. “Often, students are unaware of the many options available to them. P199 helps students to develop a plan for their future.”

Approximately 30 percent of psychology majors at IU Southeast would pursue the Bachelor of Science degree.

This estimate is based on the percent of IUS psychology graduates who are currently continuing their education in graduate or professional programs.

“At this moment in time I would say we have approximately 20 percent of our majors taking the Bachelor of Science,” Diane Wille, professor of psychology and coordinator of the psychology program, said.

Psychology is the largest non-professional major on the campus.
Currently, the psychology program at IU Southeast graduates 36 students on average per year.

As of last December, there were 270 psychology majors at IU Southeast.
“The demand for psychology at IUS has always been high,” Wille said.
New faculty positions will not be required for this program.

However, it will increase the utilization of the current library resources, the two psychology laboratory spaces and require faculty to become research mentors.

“I am very excited that IU Southeast has added the Bachelor of Science in psychology,” Pask said. “I feel the new degree will allow me to be more competitive as I begin applying to graduate programs.”

By TAYLOR FERGUSON

Staff

tayfergu@umail.iu.edu