VCU news

By Cheryle Rodriguez

The VCU Department of Psychology Graduate Programs  have been ranked 17thin the country, according to a survey of current and recent graduate students by GraduatePrograms.com.

Current and recent graduate students from more than 1,200 colleges and universities across the country evaluated their schools’ psychology graduate programs on more than a dozen factors, including career support, education quality, faculty accessibility and support, grad program value, school use of technology and student diversity. All psychology rankings were collected from Sept. 1, 2012 through June 19, 2013.  

“This ranking further reinforces that VCU has developed into one of the nation’s top research universities, offering exceptional programs and faculty who excel in all aspects of academia,” said James Coleman, Ph.D., professor of biology and dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences. The psychology department is part of the college.

The department’s graduate programs have 40 full-time faculty, three administrative faculty and more than 120 graduate students. The department conducts a number of grant-funded research programs, including overseeing an $18.1 million grant project, the third-largest grant in VCU history, to study modified risk tobacco products.  

“Our faculty has received numerous awards and national and international recognition for their research,” said Wendy Kliewer, Ph.D., professor of psychology and department chair. “We continue to strive to improve our department and programs to compete with other top universities in the nation.”

The psychology department offers doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, health psychology and experimental psychology and sub-specialties in biopsychology, developmental psychology and social psychology.  

The department also runs the Center for Psychological Services and Development, which offers a wide range of therapy and assessment services for the community. Advanced graduate students in clinical and counseling psychology work with graduate students in other disciplines and licensed faculty members to provide care.  

“Our faculty and graduate students work together to support our mission to advance knowledge and student success through research and engaging with the community to improve public health,” said Michael Southam-Gerow, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of graduate studies.

GraduatePrograms.com is an online guide to help prospective students decide on a graduate school and includes ratings and reviews by current and recent graduate students.  

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