The University Senate of Michigan Technological University

PROPOSAL 4-04

(Voting Units: Academic Departments)

BS PROGRAM IN PSYCHOLOGY

The Senate approves the program as described below.

A. Executive Summary

This proposal is a formal request that Michigan Technological University offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. A program in Psychology will draw on strong US undergraduate demand (currently 75,000 degrees awarded per year; comparable to engineering, business and life sciences); will help MTU meet diversity goals (75% of psychology graduates nationally are women) and will allow MTU to enhance revenue rather than cutting costs to improve financial stability. Adding this major will increase the university's recruiting potential and will improve retention by offering students an important alternative to transferring to another school. MTU offers far fewer choices of majors than any other public university in the state. A psychology major will improve MTU's competitiveness with other state institutions. Beyond the State of Michigan, all but one of MTU’s Benchmark Universities also offer bachelors degree programs in Psychology. A psychology program will foster synergies in teaching and research with existing MTU strengths such as Engineering (Human Factors), Business (Industrial/Organizational Psychology) and Environmental and Life Sciences (biopsychology). A program in Psychology will complement the strength of MTU’s current specialties by promoting a focus on the “builders and users” of the tools and products of science and engineering.

B. The need for a program in Psychology:

Psychology on a National Level:

Nationally, more than 74,000 students were awarded Bachelors degrees in Psychology in 1999-2000 (US Department of Education, National Center of Education Statistics). Figure 1 demonstrates how the field of psychology compares with core MTU strengths by examining the percent of all conferred Bachelors degrees in the United States across several majors currently offered at MTU. Importantly, 6% of all Bachelors degrees in 1999-2000 were in the field of psychology, accounting for a larger percentage than any of the other degree areas. Some predict the field of psychology will see even more popularity in the near future, as the recent traumas suffered through the hands of terrorism, war, natural disasters, and technological disasters focus even more attention on human-welfare related issues (American Psychological Association).

Of the bachelor’s degrees awarded in psychology in 1999-2000, over 56,000 were to women (See figure 2). Psychology has seen tremendous growth over the past 50 years, with the percentage of women in the field rising sharply. Because fewer than 20% of students in engineering fields are women, addition of a psychology program will contribute to the goal of enhancing gender diversity on campus.

Psychology at Michigan Universities

Examining all 15 Michigan State Universities reveals that on a state level, the popularity of psychology is similar to national levels. In 2001, 5.2% of all bachelor level degrees awarded by Michigan Universities were in the field of Psychology. For comparison purposes, 2.3% of degrees were in Computer and Information Sciences, 8.5% were in Engineering fields (over 20% of Michigan’s Engineering degrees were awarded by MTU), 4.5% were in Biological and Life Sciences, 1.3% in Physical Sciences, and 1% in the field of Mathematics. All of the other 14 Michigan Universities offer bachelors programs in psychology. Figure 3 demonstrates the percentage of total degrees at each university that were awarded in the fields of psychology and engineering.

Psychology at Benchmark Institutions:

MTU’s Benchmarks all offer degree programs in psychology (with the exception of the Colorado School of Mines). An average of 37 degrees were conferred in psychology at each of our Benchmark Institutions in 2001 (excluding the Colorado School of Mines). Both Carnegie Melon and Lehigh, conferring a total number of degrees similar to MTU (approximately 1000 each), matriculated over 50 students in psychology in 2001 (See Table 1).

Table 1. Degrees Conferred at MTU Benchmarks in 2001 by Major

Institution Name	Total Degrees in 2001	Engineering	Bio/Life Sci	Comp/ Info Sci	Phys Sci	Psych
MTU	996	620	65	48	19	0
Cal Poly	3509	739	211	68	36	96
COL SCH OF MINES	539	440	0	0	14	0
GEORGIA INST.TECH	2157	1226	70	238	53	16
U OF MISSOURI-ROLLA	742	557	14	92	22	22
CLARKSON	512	247	23	25	15	11
RENSSELAER	1200	592	38	193	25	7
CARNEGIE MEL	1178	291	27	231	38	52
LEHIGH	1079	299	51	64	27	58

Psychology at MTU:

As reflected above and in current MTU policy and discussions, the need for expanding degree programs is of utmost importance as the university seeks to attract new students and retain current students. MTU currently offers only 37 bachelors level degree programs. Lake Superior State University, with approximately half our enrollment, also offers 37 degree programs. Michigan Universities with similar enrollments offer an average of 63% more choices in majors for students:

Institutions with similar enrollment:	Total Undergrad Enrollment (2002)	Bachelors Degrees Offered
LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY	3110	37
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-FLINT	5879	62
MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY	5931	37
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN	6326	56
SAGINAW VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY	7320	62
NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY	7724	61

While MTU has developed some new bachelors level degree programs recently, most have been variations of current programs. Currently, MTU offers few alternatives to the student who decides not to continue in Engineering or science degree programs. Combining the effects of a drop in enrollment over the past 20 years, financial difficulties due to the economy, less state support, and a variety of other factors, MTU is in great need of degree programs that will attract new students (particularly students who may not otherwise be interested in MTU, especially females). The university also needs additional retention tools for those who may not wish to continue in their current major. A Psychology program would complement our current strengths, given the growth of career subfields such as I/O, Human Factors, and Biopsychology.

The national and state data regarding the “popularity” of psychology programs are clear. While this document focuses on the need of a program from the University’s perspective, a brief narrative regarding outcomes from a student’s perspective is warranted.

About 20% of psychology majors go on to graduate school (Psychology/Careers, 1996). The remaining 80% seek employment after graduation. Many researchers have reported that psychology graduates are generally successful at finding satisfactory jobs in a wide variety of occupations (e.g., Clay, 1996; Hayes, 1997). According to the American Psychological Association, most baccalaureate graduates find jobs in administrative support, public affairs, education, business, sales, service industries, health, the biological sciences, and computer programming. They work as employment counselors, correction counselor trainees, interviewers, personnel analysts, probation officers, and writers. Jessica Kohout, PhD, director of the American Psychological Association’s Research Office, foresees that areas such as technology, cultural diversity, and medical delivery will recruit high numbers of psychologists in the coming years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also has a bright outlook for psychologists. In its 1998-99 Occupational Outlook Handbook, the bureau forecasts that more job opportunities will arise in businesses, nonprofit organizations and research and computer firms for psychologists working as consultants. Trends of graduates in psychology are pictured below:

C. Relevance to MTU Strategic Plan:

GOAL 1: Provide an outstanding and relevant learning environment, consistent with a national university of choice

· As per the strategic plan, “many of the new industries are related to emerging areas of science and technology that are interdisciplinary.” While this proposal is for a general psychology program, our goal is to build on the university's existing strengths by emphasizing subfields such as Industrial/Organizational Psychology (Business & Psychology), Human Factors psychology (Engineering + Psychology) and Biopsychology (Biology and Environmental Sciences + Psychology).

GOAL 2: Expand our scholarship and research activities, sustaining successful existing programs while pursuing new endeavors in carefully targeted areas.

· While psychology is not one of the listed program areas in MTU’s strategic plan, MTU clearly desires to align themselves with the National Science Foundations Priority Areas (Strategic Plan, Goal 2). The NSF currently lists Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) as a priority area.  According to the NSF, this priority area aims to better understand the causes and ramifications of change in our quickly changing workplace/world; to improve the understanding of the dynamics of behavior and the human mind; and to advance knowledge of the cognitive and social structures that create and define change and to help people and organizations better manage profound or rapid change. 

· A program in psychology, with future interdisciplinary degree options, will assist in this goal by providing a fundamental understanding within and across the social and behavioral science disciplines, which is critical to the advancement of science and engineering disciplines.

GOAL 3: Identify the best size and blend for our educational programs, which have a diverse student body, faculty, and staff.

• As described above, over 75% of students enrolled in psychology programs nationally are women. A program in psychology will greatly enhance MTU’s gender diversity.

In sum, a program in psychology specifically addresses several challenges facing MTU (as per MTU Strategic Plan; II Our Current Context; quoted from www.mtu.edu/stratplan/context.html):

• “there is increased competition for students, particularly female and minority students”
• “the ‘engineering-only’ reputation is viewed as an impediment to recruitment for other programs”
• “the University is not well-positioned in many areas of national research priorities and in some emerging fields of study required for this century’s workforce”

D. Related Programs

MTU currently has no similar programs, although interdisciplinary teaching, research, and curriculum will be actively pursued following implementation of the degree program. The degree program will begin as a generalist program, suggesting concentration areas for electives and distribution courses that would allow students to focus interdepartmentally. The goal is to develop interdepartmental majors, such as Psychology and Engineering, Biopsychology, or Industrial Psychology, within 5 years.

A majority of the programs offered in psychology nationally are general programs. A recent trend, however, is for programs to offer concentrations and specialized majors combining curricular areas such as psychology and business or engineering. Specifically, departments at many technological universities differ from the generalist approach taken at more comprehensive universities by emphasizing the more technical areas of the field of psychology such as human factors, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, etc. Offering concentrations and specialized majors may be an effective marketing strategy (Messer, Griggs, & Jackson, 1999). For example, the American Psychological Association, Division of Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology

(www.apa.org/divisions/div21/Introduction/about_division_21.html) states:

“Many U.S. universities offer integrated programs of courses and experiences in psychology designed to prepare the student for Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology careers, and the list is growing. Also, many schools offer specialized training in the related field of Human Factors and Ergonomics. “

Universities that currently offer specialized programs, in addition to a general psychology option include Georgia Tech (business specialty; also graduate programs in Engineering psychology), Tufts (biopsychology, Engineering Psychology), High Pont (Industrial/Organizational Concentration) and Case Western Reserve (I/O concentration). Offering specialty areas at the undergraduate level is a new, but growing trend that would be advantageous to MTU graduates. The long-term programmatic goal is to create interdisciplinary career options to assist in making MTU a national school of choice!

Program Administration

The program in Psychology will be administered through the Department of Education, College of Sciences and Arts, which currently oversees MTU’s minor in Psychology.

E. Faculty Resources and Institutional Impact

Enrollment Predictions:

Ø Year one and two Goal: 10 new students per year. Until marketing of the program can occur, we expect current MTU students to migrate to the program.

Ø Year three and four goal: 20 new students per year. Given the proportion of psychology degrees nationally and in Michigan, this conservative estimate should result in total enrollment in the program of approximately 60 students by year four, with psychology degrees accounting for approximately 2 percent of annual degrees conferred at MTU.

Ø Year five and beyond: As the program gains a strong reputation through marketing and outcomes, we anticipate attracting approximately 30 students per year (still a conservative estimate given the state and national rates of 5 – 6%). We believe a majority of these students will be from a new market. We also do not expect to have a major impact on any program areas currently offered at MTU, as most internal transfers to the psychology program will be students who would otherwise transfer out of MTU. This would put total enrollment in the program at approximately 90-120 students in the long term.

Personnel Needs:

Ø The Department of Education currently has two tenure-track Psychologists on faculty, who teach a total of 4 courses per semester. Additionally, adjunct funding has been sought every semester for the past 3 years to offer an additional 1 or 2 courses per semester. To offer a major that requires 36 credits of psychology coursework, an estimated 8 - 10 courses per semester will be offered. Thus, we will need one additional tenure track faculty line (to begin year 2 of the program), and adjunct funds for up to 4 courses per semester (once the program has enough students, we will request that the adjunct funding by replaced with funding for a fourth tenure track faculty line).

F. Facilities and Equipment

Equipment/Supplies/Costs:

Included in resource analysis table on page 11 (below).

Lab/Office Space:

We will need laboratory and office space for 1 new tenure track faculty, and a shared office space for adjunct/work study support. We will also need one additional office for a current faculty. Office and lab space are currently shared. Shared space will be ineffective with the new advising and directed study loads. We currently have one modest lab that is shared research space for the two faculty Psychologists.

Classroom Space:

Given the current lack of dedicated classroom space, the laptop computer and portable projector requested for marketing purposes will also be used for teaching. No additional costs are necessary.

Library:

Given the ease of ordering publications from your desktop computer, the addition of new journals is not absolutely necessary. However, enhancing our electronic database search engine PsychFirst is required. MTU currently offers database search access to psychology publications from only the preceding three years. Access to the entire database will be essential for faculty, and very attractive for students. New library costs are summarized below:

(These costs were estimated in consultation with Ellen Seidel):

· $3000.00 one-time allotment for the library to purchase core monographs in the area of psychology, allowing the purchase of approximately 90 hard and soft-cover items

· $350.00 per faculty member for full electronic searching abilities through PsycINFO in journal, book, and book chapter, and dissertation records (1887–present) and PsycARTICLES records (1988–present). This search capability would not be available for students to use. Their searches would be limited to our library’s current subscription to FirstSearch. MTU currently pays approximately $1700 per year for the current level of use (about 1950 searches per year at 85 cents per search).

· For a cost of approximately $10,000, MTU could offer full database search capability of the psychology literature to all faculty and staff. This, obviously, is the most desirable option.

· Additional Interlibrary loan costs would be generated for the library.

Marketing:

A laptop computer and portable projector for marketing presentations at local and regional high schools, conferences, etc. (approx. $3000.00) will be needed. Additionally, the program will be advertised to all prospective students and accepted new students through email. Incoming students will be informed about the program through advising and orientation sessions. In addition to the computer and projector, the costs of printing brochures, new letterhead, and other start-up supplies will be necessary.

Computing Facilities:

As the Department of Education offers only certificate programs, we currently have no student computer facilities. With the implementation of a Bachelors Program in Psychology, collaboration with another department for student computer facilities will be required. Estimated cost is $150.00 - $200.00 per semester for each student.

G. Schedule

The program in Psychology is proposed to begin Fall semester 2004. At that time, we anticipate having some of our current Minor students transfer into the program. First year efforts will be focused on advertising, with new MTU students arriving on campus specifically for the psychology program anticipated in the fall of 2005. A few degrees may be awarded by 2006, but the first significant graduating class will likely occur in 2009.

H. Curriculum Structure