Students usually choose their major before they complete the sophomore year (45 credits of college work). Once you decide to major in psychology, you should pick up a major declaration card from the Registrar’s office in the Mansion or the secretary in Social Science Human Services (SSHS, G-140). Prospective psychology majors may have the card signed by the secretary in SSHS (G-140) or the psychology convener (G-136) who will then return it to the Registrar’s Office.

Returning the card to the Registrar’s Office is the only way to insure that you are officially registered as a psychology major at Ramapo College. In addition, in order to insure that you will be assigned to an academic advisor for psychology, you must notify the secretary in Social Science Human Services (G-140) that you have declared your major to be psychology.

You may officially change your major at any time before you graduate by filling out a new major declaration card, having it signed by the convener of the major, submitting it to the Registrar’s Office and fulfilling the course requirements for the new major.

Once you officially "declare" your major to the secretary of SSHS and the Registrar’s Office, you will be assigned to a psychology advisor who can answer any questions you have about the major and help you choose your courses. (In addition, once you have officially declared your major, your online Oncourse Audit will indicate which major requirements you have completed and which courses are still outstanding.) You will also receive any notices or mailings that go out to psychology majors, and you will automatically be considered for any awards, honors societies, or scholarships available to psychology majors. You will not be allowed to graduate until you have declared a major and fulfilled its requirements. It is generally recommended that students declare their major before they have completed 45 credits of college work.

Yes. Psychology majors are housed in either the School of Social Science Human Services (SSHS) or the School of Theoretical and Applied Science (TAS). You will be asked to choose your school affiliation when you fill out your major declaration card.

The psychology major is the same regardless of the school in which the student is housed. Usually, students who are more interested in the scientific, theoretical, experimental, or research areas of psychology choose to affiliate with TAS, while students who lean towards the more clinical, applied areas of psychology opt to take their psychology major through SSHS. As of fall 2000, students graduating from Ramapo College with a major in psychology will receive a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) whether they complete their major through SSHS or TAS.

The only difference between psychology majors in the two schools involves the school core that the student must complete: SSHS students complete a variety of courses in the social sciences; all of these courses may be "double counted" (see the section below entitled "Is fieldwork or independent research required of all psychology majors?") so that the student can use them to fulfill other requirements for the psychology major or for the general education program. The History of Social Thought, MMET 235, is the only "extra" course required by the SSHS core that is not likely to fulfill another requirement for psychology majors. (Even that course can be used to fulfill the General Education requirement for Social Science and Human Development if the student has not taken one of psychology courses from the list that also fulfills that requirement.)

The school core for TAS requires that the student take two courses from the list designated as "science in cultural perspective." These courses are designated "SCP" in the comments column on the Web or "Schedule of Classes."

All psychology majors are free to take psychology courses offered in any of Ramapo’s schools: These will be designated BPSY in the School of Administration and Business (AB), MPSY in the School of Social Science Human Services (SSHS)< and SPSY in the School of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (TAS).

You should follow the same procedures described in the paragraph above for declaring a psychology major except that you must check the section marked "minor" rather than "major" on the card you fill out for the Registrar’s Office. Have it signed by a psychology faculty member or the secretary in SSHS, notify the secretary in SSHS of your minor declaration if you wish to be assigned to a psychology advisor, and return it to the Registrar so that your minor is officially recorded.

The major requires the completion of 38 credits of psychology courses, while the minor requires only 21 credits. Both programs stipulate that specific psychology courses be completed, and that courses from certain categories of psychology be completed, but each also allows room to choose among psychology "electives."

If you have officially declared that you are a psychology major, you may find the name of your psychology advisor in a mailing you receive from the school you have designated. If you do not receive a letter from your school with this information, look up the name of the advisor next to your name on the list of psychology majors posted outside the window of the SSHS office (G-140). If you registered as a psychology major in the School of Theoretical and Applied Science (TAS), consult the list of majors posted on the window of the TAS office located on the third floor of the G-building (G-326.)

Transfer or "re-admit" students will find the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of their advisor in the letter they receive from the school dean that welcomes them to Ramapo College.

If you have not been assigned to a psychology advisor, it means that you are not officially registered as a psychology major with the Registrar or the secretary of SSHS or TAS. (If you have not yet declared your major, follow the procedure described in the first paragraph above, "What should I do once I decide to become a psychology major?" This will insure that you are assigned to a psychology advisor before registration for the next semester.) If you have already filed your major declaration card, but your name does not appear on the list of psychology majors posted outside the SSHS or TAS offices, go to the secretary in SSHS or TAS and ask her to assign you to a psychology advisor.

How do I find out what the requirements are for a psychology major?

You will find the requirements for the psychology major outlined in major/minor program sheets available from the secretaries in SSHS (G-140) and TAS (G-326) and from the Advisement Office (D-207). They are posted on the on the website of the psychology convener, http://orion.ramapo.edu/~mstarke, and on the Ramapo College website, www.Ramapo.edu, under the psychology program. The requirements for the major are also printed in the college catalog under the psychology major.

Once you have been assigned to an advisor, you may contact him or her by telephone or by e-mail to make an appointment for advisement. You may also schedule an appointment to see your advisor by signing up for an appointment on the advisement sheets posted on the faculty member’s office door. You will find the faculty member’s telephone extension, office number, and e-mail address on Ramapo’s website (www.ramapo.edu). You may also ask the appropriate secretary, SSHS or TAS, depending on the faculty member’s school affiliation, for your advisor’s telephone number, office location, and office hours. It is most efficient to telephone the advisor during his or her office hours or, you may leave a message on the voice mail system when your advisor is not in the office. The advisor will then return your call to schedule an appointment. If you prefer to use e-mail to contact your advisor, ask the secretary for the faculty member’s e-mail address or look it up in the c orion e-mail addressbook. (Most faculty members use an e-mail address in the form of first letter of the first name followed by the last name and @ramapo.edu. If the first initial and last name exceeds eight letters, the letters above number eight are deleted (e.g., abenedic@ramapo.edu is Dr. Annette Benedict’s e-mail address).

Only psychology courses may be counted towards the 38 credits required for the psychology major. All psychology courses include the letters "PSY" in the course number (e.g., BPSY 344, MPSY 214, or SPSY 303). Courses with other disciplinary designations (e.g., AHST or MSWK) will not count towards the 38 credits required for the psychology major even though the word "psychology" may appear in the course title (e.g. AHST 269, Psychohistory, counts towards the history major, but it may not be used as one of the courses required for the psychology major).

If you are transferring courses from another college, courses designated with another discipline such EDUC 214, HUM REL 303, or SWK 344 will not count towards fulfillment of requirements for the psychology major. The reason for this rule is that a "Psychology of Learning" course taught in an education program is likely to cover different material from a "Psychology of Learning" course taught for psychology majors in a psychology program. A fieldwork course in social work or human relations may not require the same type of library research (i.e., psychology journals) or format (i.e., Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) for the term paper as those required for a psychology fieldwork course. A statistics course taught in a math or business management program is not likely to use the same examples from psychology research as a statistics course taught in a psychology program.

The category 6 requirement for the psychology major may be fulfilled by a fieldwork or independent study research course or by another 3-credit psychology course designated as category 6 (e.g., MPSY 342, Group Dynamics). A Cooperative Education course (MPSY 388 or SPSY 388) may fulfill the requirement for a psychology category 6 course if it is taught by a member of the psychology faculty, and it fulfills the number of hours and research/term paper criteria required by fieldwork or independent study research courses. These criteria are discussed in the sections that follow: "What is involved in fieldwork," "What is required in a fieldwork course," and "What is an independent study research course."

Like all other students at Ramapo College, psychology majors must complete three blocks of requirements: general education courses, courses required by their school core, TAS or SSHS, and courses for their major. The general education program is designed to introduce students to a broad core of knowledge and skills that are considered fundamental in a well-rounded, college-educated person. School core requirements help students to understand the basic issues, concepts, and methodology that form the common basis of the majors offered by the school (i.e., science or social science in the case of the psychology major). Courses in the major offer students the opportunity to delve more deeply into an area of knowledge and skills that is of particular interest.

You can obtain information about these requirements from your On-Course Audit online (in your student record on the Ramapo website) or from a printout of your On-Course Audit from the Advisement Center (D-207). These requirements are also listed on handouts from the Advisement Center. In addition, they are printed in the "Schedule of Classes" that is published each semester and in the college catalog. These publications may be obtained from the Advisement Center, the Registrar’s Office, or the Admissions Office. They are also posted on the college (www.ramapo.edu) and psychology convener’s (http://orion.rampo.edu/~,starke) websites.

One of the strengths of the psychology major at Ramapo College is that it gives students the opportunity to acquire hands-on experience in psychology before they graduate. This is the main purpose of fieldwork and independent research courses: They allow students to try out different aspects of psychology so that they may make an informed decision about whether they want to go on to a psychology-related career or further graduate study in psychology. If students choose to go on in psychology, these courses also help them decide which aspects or opportunities in the field of psychology interest them most.

Fieldwork and independent study research courses also afford students the opportunity to work closely with a supervisor who is then in a better position than most course instructors to write a letter of recommendation for graduate school or a job. Listing these courses on the resume gives students an "edge" when applying to graduate school or looking for a job in a career related to psychology.

Although fieldwork and independent study research courses are highly recommended for psychology majors, they are not a requirement for all psychology majors. Only students majoring in psychology in the School of SSHS are required to complete a fieldwork or an independent study research course; this requirement is part of their school core, not the psychology major. These students may use the same psychology fieldwork or independent study research course to fulfill both their psychology category 6 requirement and their SSHS school core requirement for a fieldwork/independent research course. (This is called "double-counting" as the same course fulfills two different requirements.)

Psychology majors in the School of TAS are not required to take a fieldwork or independent study research course; if they do take one of these courses, it will fulfill their requirement for a psychology course from category 6 or a psychology elective.

As mentioned above, fieldwork courses are highly recommended for all psychology majors because there is no substitute for the actual hands-on experience of working in a research, mental health, geriatric, rehabilitation, or children’s facility to help a student decide whether he or she wants to with a career in psychology. These courses are especially highly recommended for students who plan to go on to graduate study in psychology as graduate schools want to be sure that you are committed to a career in the field and that you have certain basic skills that will help you succeed in a psychology career.

No. Double counting does not reduce the total number of psychology courses that a student needs in order to complete the psychology major or to graduate with a degree from Ramapo College. Double counting allows the student freedom to take an elective psychology course instead of a psychology course that fulfills a particular category requirement for the major.

Regardless of whether the student double counts or takes two different courses to fulfill the fieldwork and category 6 requirements, the total number of psychology credits required for the major remains the same (i.e., 38 psychology credits for a major in psychology and 21 credits for a psychology minor); the total number of credits required to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Ramapo College also remains the same: 128 regardless of double or triple counting.

Course requirements at Ramapo fall into four blocks:

1. General Education
2. School core requirements
3. Requirements for the major
4. Requirements for the minor (a minor is optional)

Double-, triple-, or quadruple-counting is allowed across blocks (e.g., one course may fulfill requirements for Blocks A and B, or for Blocks A, C, and D, or for Blocks A, B, C, and D). Double-counting is not, however, allowed within the same block e.g., the same course cannot fulfill two requirements within the same block, the major, such as the requirement for a psychology course from category 2, (Block C), and for a psychology elective course, (also Block C).

Each psychology course contributes only three (or four) credits to the total required for the major. In other words, the credits for a particular course may not be counted more than once towards the 38- credit total required of psychology majors even if the student is double-counting. Nor may any course’s credits be counted more than once towards the 128 required for graduation.

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A psychology "elective" is any psychology course (BPSY, MPSY, or SPSY)that does not have a category designation (i.e., categories 1 through 6) in its comments. The comments are printed under the course title in the " Schedule of Classes" and in the list of courses for online registration. A student may also designate any psychology category course as an elective if s/he has already fulfilled that particular category requirement. For example, if a student completes MPSY 214, Abnormal Psychology, that course will fulfill the need for a category 2 psychology course (as well as the requirement for a general education course from the social science and human development category). If the student then takes MPSY 211, Theories of Personality, which is also a category 2 psychology course, s/he may use the latter to fulfill the requirement for one of the psychology electives required of psychology majors.

Most fieldwork courses require that the student have attained junior or senior status before enrolling in the course. It is generally recommended that students complete MPSY 303 or SPSY 303, Research Methods in Psychology, and or a substantial number of psychology courses before enrolling in fieldwork These will give the student a better base for carrying out the library research required for the term paper that integrates research and fieldwork experiences.

Some fieldwork courses also have additional requirements. For example, AIDS Fieldwork requires the instructor ‘s permission before a student may enroll in the course. Childhood Disorders Fieldwork requires that the student take MPSY 357, Childhood Disorders, during the same semester as the fieldwork course or that the student have completed this course in a previous semester. The substance abuse fieldwork courses require that the student be enrolled in the Substance Abuse certification program before enrolling in these courses.

The student is responsible for reading the course descriptions and fulfilling the prerequisites for these courses before enrolling in a fieldwork course. Instructors will ask students to drop the course if they have not fulfilled the requirements for it. Fieldwork courses are highly recommended for all psychology majors as there is no substitute for actually working in a mental health, children’s, geriatric, or rehabilitation agency to help you determine whether you wish to go on in the field. These courses are particularly highly recommended for students who are contemplating graduate study in psychology as graduate schools want to be sure that you are committed to a career in the field and that you have certain basic skills that will help you succeed in a psychology career.

You may choose to take the service-learning component of any course that offers this option or you may register for a course in Cooperative Education. You may inquire about both of these options in the Cahill Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services in C-209. Both programs are highly recommended for the same reasons that fieldwork courses are recommended: They can help you decide whether you wish to continue with a career or further study in psychology.

If you have specific questions about Service Learning that are not answered in the general information obtained at the Cahill Center, C-209, contact Karen Booth, kbooth@ramapo.edu or 684-7447.

If you have specific questions about cooperative education courses, that are not answered in the general information obtained at the Cahill Center, C-209, contact Phyllis Roberts, proberts@ramapo.edu, or 684-7449.

Psychology fieldwork courses are usually 300-level courses offered in the School of SSHS (i.e., MPSY 3__ ) and contain the word "fieldwork" in the course title e.g., Life Cycle II Fieldwork, AIDS Fieldwork, Childhood Disorders Fieldwork, Fieldwork with Children, Abnormal Psychology Fieldwork, and so on. The title of the fieldwork course indicates the type of clients or population with whom the student will work. For example, students in the AIDS Fieldwork course work with patients who have been diagnosed with the HIV virus. Students in Childhood Disorders Fieldwork are placed in schools, shelters, or mental hospitals that deal with children who have emotional problems.

Most of the work in a fieldwork course takes place outside of the classroom. Fieldwork courses require that the student spend at least 60 hours over the course of the semester working in an appropriate agency (e.g., mental hospital, mental health clinic, school for children diagnosed as "learning disabled," child care center, geriatric facility, rehabilitation center, and so on). The type of agency available for the field placements will vary depending on the content of the course. For example, an appropriate placement for the "Abnormal Psychology Fieldwork" course might be a mental health clinic or geriatric facility that deals with Alzheimer’s patients. That would not be an appropriate placement for a course entitled "Childhood Disorders Fieldwork." An appropriate fieldwork placement for the latter might involve a school or mental health facility that deals with children who have emotional or learning problems. That, however, would not be a suitable placement for a practicum assignment in the "Fieldwork with Children" course; for that course, placement in a childcare facility would make more sense.

Students may meet weekly or on a less regular basis to share their experiences with the instructor and other students in the class. They may also give oral presentations in class. The term paper for the course is based on observations from the field that are integrated with relevant research from library journals and books.

The course instructor will present a list of fieldwork agencies from which the student will choose his or her field placement. These agencies vary with regard to location, hours during which they are open (days, weekends, evenings), and type of population they serve. We generally recommend that students leave one day in their schedules free when they enroll for a fieldwork course; in some cases, students may choose to do their fieldwork during two mornings or a morning and a different afternoon of the week.

Most of the agencies are located within a short drive from Ramapo College; others are located in Rockland County or in more distant parts of Bergen or adjoining New Jersey counties. In addition, instructors are usually open to placing a student in a fieldwork agency the student has found near his or her home if the agency meets the course requirements.

Fieldwork assignments entail meaningful contact with the population served by the agency rather than providing only an opportunity to observe clients and procedures at the field placement. It is expected that students will have direct contact with the clients rather than being assigned only menial work such as filing papers or taking telephone messages. The agency must also designate an employee who will monitor the student’s work, answer the student’s questions about the agency, and evaluate the student’s work at the end of the semester.

Work in a practicum agency usually entails access to a reliable means of transportation. In some cases, it may be possible to perform fieldwork in the Office of Specialized Services or in the daycare center on campus if these are appropriate sites for the fieldwork course chosen by the student. For example, placement in the daycare center is usually appropriate only for the Fieldwork with Children or Life Cycle I Fieldwork courses.

In addition to a minimum of 60 hours of work in an agency required over the course of the semester, fieldwork courses require that the student write a substantial term paper that integrates the field experience with appropriate library research related to the practicum experience. For example, a student whose fieldwork involves working in a school for children diagnosed as "autistic," will submit a term paper that relates his or her experiences in the field to library research s/he has done on autism.

At least two fieldwork courses are offered each fall and spring semester; fieldwork courses are not usually offered in the winter or summer sessions due to the short time available to complete the 60-hour fieldwork and term paper requirements. Nor are these courses usually offered during evening or Saturday hours because of the difficulty in finding agencies that offer professional supervision for the student during these hours.

Students should plan to take these courses during the day in the fall or spring semester. Under extraordinary circumstances, it may be possible to take a fieldwork course as an independent study course with a faculty member who is teaching during the winter or summer session. This should not occur because the student fails to take courses required for graduation when they are traditionally offered. Faculty members who may be able to offer this option are the same instructors that usually teach fieldwork courses: Drs. Camapana, Harth or Starke. After ascertaining from the Dean of SSHS that the student’s circumstances warrant such an unusual exception and that independent study credits available for that semester have not already been allocated, the student may approach one of these faculty members to discuss the possibility of undertaking an independent study fieldwork course.

In the event that the faculty member agrees to undertake the course, the student and faculty instructor will complete the independent study contract that requires the signature of the Dean of SSHS. The student will then be asked to pick up an independent study registration card from the Registrar’s Office, have it signed by the faculty instructor and submit it to the Registrar before the end of registration period for the given semester. The student will then be officially registered for the Independent Study course.

In lieu of a fieldwork course, students majoring in psychology in the School of SSHS may choose to complete an independent study research course that will fulfill both the SSHS school core requirement for fieldwork/ independent study research and the psychology requirement for a category 6 course. Such courses are designated MPSY 4__ or SPSY 4__. They require that the student complete an independent research project outside of the classroom. Such a project must entail work beyond library research as it is meant to give the student an experiential learning experience. It may involve a research project that the student has designed in conjunction with a faculty member, or it may involve working in a meaningful way as a research assistant on a research project that is being carried out by one of the psychology faculty members.

No. Independent Study or Cooperative Education courses taken with a psychology faculty member that do not fulfill the criteria described in the paragraph above e.g., courses involving only library research, may count as psychology electives, but they will not fulfill the psychology category 6 course requirement, nor will they count as independent study research or fieldwork courses for the SSHS school core requirement. Cooperative education courses and other courses that include an experiential learning component do not automatically fulfill the SSHS fieldwork/ independent study or psychology category 6 requirements. In order to fulfill the fieldwork/independent research criteria, courses must involve the minimal number of hours (60) outside of the classroom and library working on a research project or in an appropriate supervised agency, and they must include a substantial term paper or research project write-up that incorporates library research relevant to the field experience

If you have further questions about independent study courses or the SSHS school core, contact Dr. Robert Becklen, Dean of SSHS, rbecklen@ramapo.edu or 201-684-7625. If you have further questions about the psychology major, contact Dr. Mary Starke, Convener of Psychology, mstarke@ramapo.edu or 201-684-7623. Dr. Starke’s office hours are Tuesdays and Fridays, 1:15-3:00, but appointments may be scheduled during additional time slots to accommodate student schedules.

Students electing this option should generally have completed MPSY 303 or SPSY 303, Research Methods in Psychology and have a firm grasp of how to design and implement a research project in psychology. They should also demonstrate writing skills appropriate to the junior- or senior –year college level. This course is required for students majoring in psychology, and like fieldwork, it is highly recommended for any other students who plan to go on to graduate study in psychology.

How do I sign up for an independent study research course?

The student is responsible for finding a faculty member to supervise the independent research. The best way to accomplish this is to approach a psychology faculty member with whom you have taken a course and ask whether he or she is available and willing to supervise an independent research course. You should be prepared to discuss a research topic that you would like to pursue for your project. If you are taking the course with a faculty member from the School of SSHS, you will have to fill out a contract form for independent study with the faculty supervisor that must be approved and signed by the Dean of SSHS. This form will stipulate the number of meetings that will take place between the faculty member and the student and the type of work that will be completed for the course. After submitting and obtaining approval for the contract, you will be asked to pick up an independent study course form from the Registrar that must be signed by the faculty member. This form may then be used to register for the course at the same time that you register for your other courses.

Students completing a minor in gerontology may use MPSY 3 , Life Cycle II , to fulfill their psychology category 6 requirement as well as the requirements for fieldwork stipulated by the SSHS core and the gerontology minor (i.e., they may triple-count this course).

The Substance Abuse Certification program is designed for students who have an interest in working with individuals that are addicted to or abuse alcohol or other drugs. It is described in the college catalog and on the Web. If you have specific questions regarding this program that are not answered in the general information, contact Dr. Marshall Harth, mharth@ramapo.edu, or 201-684-7757.

Only students enrolled in the substance abuse fieldwork certification program may enroll in substance abuse fieldwork courses.

Yes. You may use one of the substance abuse fieldwork courses to fulfill the psychology category 6 requirement or the SSHS school core fieldwork requirement only if you are registered in the substance abuse certification program. If you are pursuing a minor in the substance abuse program, you may double or triple count this fieldwork course.

May I use courses I have completed at another college or university to fulfill requirements for my psychology major at Ramapo College?

When you are accepted as a student at Ramapo College, the Admissions Office will evaluate the courses you wish to transfer. In general, any psychology courses you have completed in which you received a grade of "C" or higher will be accepted as credits towards the psychology major. A psychology course is a course that is listed in the school catalog as PSY___. Courses that are designated Human Relations, Education, or Social Work may be accepted as part of the 128 credits required for a degree from Ramapo College, but they will not count towards the 38 credits required for the psychology major. Psychology courses have different requirements in terms of readings and research than courses from other disciplines even when they carry identical titles. For example, a "Psychology of Learning" course offered in an education department will probably not require research from psychology journals, a paper written according to the format specified by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, nor will it necessarily be taught by a psychologist. A "Statistics" course taught in a math or business management department is unlikely to use the same examples from psychology research that would be used in a "Statistics" course offered by a psychology program.

If you have psychology credits that are accepted for transfer credit by the Ramapo College Admissions Office, they will be used to waive requirements for the psychology major if they correspond directly to psychology courses offered at Ramapo that fulfill those requirements. For example, Psychology 101 or General Psychology may be used to waive the requirement for Ramapo’s Introduction to Psychology course. A course entitled "Psychopathology" may be accepted in lieu of the category 2 requirement that might have been fulfilled by Ramapo’s Abnormal Psychology course.

If the level or content of the transferred course does not seem to correspond to an equivalent psychology course at Ramapo, the student will usually be given credit towards one of the three required "elective" psychology courses. Transferred psychology fieldwork courses will only be accepted in lieu of a Ramapo fieldwork course if they were 300-level courses or higher, involved at least 60 hours of supervised work actively interacting with the clients of an appropriate agency and a substantial term paper that integrated the field experience with appropriate research in library journals and books. (See the requirements described above in the section entitled "What is required in a fieldwork course?") Please note that all Ramapo fieldwork courses are junior- or senior- level course that require professional and research skills commensurate with upper class status.

Yes, you may, however it is best to obtain approval for these courses before you enroll in them. An off campus study form may be obtained and approved by the Advisement Center (D-207). In general, approval is only be granted when the off campus course corresponds directly to an equivalent course at Ramapo College. Equivalence is judged by content, readings, number of meeting hours, types of assignments, discipline (e.g., psychology versus social work or education) and course level (e.g., 200- or 300-level). Equivalence is determined on the basis of a course description from the institution’s catalog and a course syllabus, when there is any doubt about the equivalence.

For What Types of Careers is a Major in Psychology Appropriate?

Psychology is an appropriate major for a student seeking a career in any one of the human service professions or for a student planning graduate work in psychology. Graduates may find opportunities for employment in a variety of human service settings, such as community mental health centers, correctional institutions, medical centers, counseling services, drug abuse programs, nursing homes, probation services, and schools for special children. For some of these options, a student might benefit from combining certification in teaching or in substance abuse with the psychology major. Adding a minor or concentration in geriatric studies or women’s studies to the psychology major would open additional paths in human service careers. Other opportunities lie in the fields of advertising, communications, consumer research, evaluation research, human factors engineering, marketing, personnel, and product planning. For careers such as these, a student might benefit from completing a business administration major together with the

major in psychology.

For a more extended discussion of such questions as job opportunities that are available to psychology majors with bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees in psychology, the difference between Ph.D. and PsyD. degrees in psychology, degrees in special education, the many types of graduate study programs available in psychology, the requirements necessary to open a private therapy or counseling practice, comparison of social work and psychology degrees, and so on, you may wish to consult the following resources:

R.E. Landrum, S.F. Davis, and T.A. Landrum. ( ).The psychology major: career options and strategies for success. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

The website and many excellent publications of the American Psychological Association: 1-800-374-2721; 202-336-5502 in Washington, DC; www.apa.org/books; for example:

P.J. Woods (ed.) with C.S. Wilkinson. (1987). Is psychology the major for you?

The Cahill Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services in C-209.

The Center offers a fine collection of publications on careers and graduate study (including the catalogs of many graduate programs), career testing services that will give you feedback on your strengths and interests, and career counselors who can advise you on directions and options.

The Psychology Association sponsors programs throughout the year including an annual presentation in which Ramapo psychology alumni return to discuss their careers and programs of graduate study.

The psychology faculty can answer questions about options and opportunities available in the field of psychology.