| Originator: | Bogue, Michele Status: Approved Department: PSY Psychology |
| Date Created: | 09/23/2013 Submitted: 09/23/2013 Completed: 10/01/2013 |
| ATF (Program or Discipline): | Psychology |
| Date of the ATF: | 9/20/13 |
| Statewide Update: | This meeting was pivotal for the community colleges to see (out in the open) that the three major universities in Arizona have moved and continue to move in diametrically different directions. This movement, where each psychology department is setting its own independent standards, will?in the words of one ATF representative??make the ATF obsolete? (no longer even needed). The institution specific requirements will require that a student know well in advance which program in Arizona he/she wants to attend so that a very specific, tailored course pursuit can be constructed and followed. Otherwise, students can expect to be faced with additional time & courses when they transfer. Examples follow in next section.
NAU is in the process of creating a new bachelor?s degree, the BPS (Bachelor?s in Psychological Science). It will be offered via extended campuses and potentially DE. The NAU ATF representative was very clear that this program was not, is not, and will not be sanctioned nor associated with their psychology department. The belief still exists that online learning is ?not as vigorous? and that this program?s courses (BPS) will not be taught by NAU faculty from the psychology department. The plan at present is the use of adjunct faculty. The issue brought forth by NAU is the forthcoming roadblock this is going to create for students who may come to NAU having been in the BPS program and wanting to graduate with a bachelor?s degree in psychology. The two programs are not compatible and it appears that a number of the courses a student would take in the BPS would be credit in that program, but would not count for the same credits/courses in the psychology major (BA/BS in Psychology)because the BPS program will not have PSY prefixes. I will be following this further because if another option for an online focus in psychology becomes available, I know students will be interested. However, the internal issues at NAU with the new degree and where it will stand with their PSY department gives indication additional information is worth obtaining. MCC rep Michele Bogue presented concern re: NAU and not having a more timely response on the PSY 235 stats course that was submitted a number of months ago and the impact this is having on moving this course forward. NAU responded with explanation for why the lapse in time had occurred and noted that an update would be provided this week. If this does not come to fruition, a contact from the curriculum office in Kingman to appropriate NAU contacts would be in order. HLC put Pima Community College on probation (as our students move from area to area in the state, this information is provided simply as an FYI). ASU PSY department no longer has or uses PGS prefixes. All courses have been brought under the PSY prefix, effectively immediately. MCC pages on AZ Transfer website, course catalog, course packages, etc. will need to be changed. |
| University Curricular updates: | Expanding on the previous section (#1a):
? ASU: Students transferring to ASU and planning to declare psychology as a major (BA or BS) will have to have completed three major prerequisites before they will be admitted: PSY 101, ENG 101, and MAT 170 Pre-Calculus, all with a grad of C or better. (FOR MCC STUDENTS WHO DO NOT COMPLETE A TAG AGREEMENT, this would mean that they need to complete MAT 151 and MAT 181 before transfer OR plan on taking these courses at ASU before applying for admission into the psychology program). Keep in mind that if a student does have a TAG, he/she must complete all the requirements on that agreement prior to transfer or the TAG is void and the student would simply have to make sure any required courses are taken prior to seeking admission into the psychology program. ? NAU reported that they have had a large influx of students wanting to graduate with a degree in psychology. Given the varied backgrounds with which the students come and the department announcing that a number of those students are ?not as well prepared?, the department is currently working on a set of new prerequisites for students desiring to be admitted to the program. All courses must have a C or better: ? College Math or Algebra (with an emphasis on what would be our MAT 151) ? ENG 101 and ENG 102 ? Two science (hard science) courses The definition here from NAU indicates that if a student comes to them with alternative sciences in the AGEC such as Oceanography, Meteorology, Geology, etc., the student will be required to go back and take another four hour science class (biology offerings, chemistry, physics, etc.). As a side note, I have been advising this way since I arrived at MCC some years ago. I tell students that yes, they can select from any two sciences in that section of the AGEC, but they need to strongly, strongly consider taking both sciences in the biology/chemistry/physics area. ? An application for admittance into the program (separate from admission into the college) ? Any students with transfer agreements in place (with all those prerequisites for transfer met) would not fall under this new guideline. ? NAU also re-affirmed that their PSY 230 Stats course is a four-hour/credit course with a lab. Discussion during and after the ATF meeting clarified that NAU [pending final articulation decision forthcoming] would accept MCC?s PSY 235 at three credit hours and another requirement would need to be met. NAU?s Research & Methods course is only offered at the upper division level and is four credit hours. The PSY 290 Methods course (standard across the state) transfers into NAU as a department elective and meets the Research Methods requirement. However, students will still be required to take another upper division writing course. In the PSY department at NAU, the only upper division course that meets that requirement is?the 300-400 level Research & Methods course. Recognizing a serious Catch 22, questions from CC?s were noted. NAU clarified that students can take an upper division writing course from any department at the university, provided they had met any prerequisites for another department?s course. Further discussion rendered that option as a seemingly Catch 22 as well. ? UA noted a change in their stats and research courses for those pursuing the degree in psychology. Previously, the research methods course at UA was six credit hours. Beginning in the 2014-2015 academic year, there will be two distinct courses in research methods. One course will be three credit hours and offered at the 100-200 level. Students who desire to graduate with the bachelor?s degree can graduate with this course. A new course, Advanced Research Methods, will be constructed at the 300-400 level. Psychology majors can take this course for credit as well and will be encouraged to do so if they plan to move into graduate work. |
| Community college Curricular Updates: | n/a |
| Suggested changes to matricies: | ASU PSY department no longer has or uses PGS prefixes. All courses have been brought under the PSY prefix, effectively immediately. MCC pages on AZ Transfer website, course catalog, course packages, etc. will need to be changed. Anywhere the ASU prefix PGS is found, it needs to be changed to PSY, across the college and its documents. |
| Articulation: | |
| Volunteering: | ARTICULATION CONCERNS:
This is going to be the issue at hand and it was duly noted by a remark that went on record by another ATF representative from one of the CC?s. As each university continues to market its program its own way and further individualize its program, the need for an ATF will be obsolete because common articulation agreements among CC?s and Arizona universities will simply not exist. It is the logical progression of movement that has been occurring year after year at the local and state levels. |
| Certificates: | n/a |
| Degrees: | The AA in Social & Behavioral Sciences is not directly affected by the changes. Students will be able to take the courses outlined for that degree at MCC and graduate. However, if a student is planning on transferring to any Arizona university, department advising is crucial (if not mandatory) to insure the needed courses are selected in each section of the AGEC-A, courses in the major, and perhaps even more importantly, the electives section. Students committing themselves to advising (and advisors being well aware of the different pathways, new requirements, etc. for each university) are crucial to making sure they are taking courses in the right progression. |
| Other: | |
| Additional Comments: | I am concerned that with all the changes, different pathways, different requirements, and challenge within our communication structure to sometimes get all the needed information into the appropriate hands, there is a very pressing need for student services on all campuses and DE to have specific guidelines for working with students declaring social & behavioral sciences. For example, the AGEC-A does offer to options for math, MAT 142 or MAT 151. However, students must have MAT 151 as prerequisite for PSY 235 Statistics. The 12-15 hours of electives are really not free electives depending on where a student wants to transfer, so those hours need to be mapped out carefully. Another example, the AGEC-A allows students to select any two sciences. However, for psychology majors the preferred--and in some cases required--sciences must be hard sciences (biology, chemistry, physics). I am currently thinking about the best way to provide a guide of this nature or something like it. Suggestions are welcomed. Perhaps it is something as simple as a short decision-tree type of document that asks key questions for where student want to go and what they want to do, with each decision leading to the specific choices/courses they need to consider.
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| Writing Across the Curriculum: | n/a |