Psychological Science
Lee Gillis, Chair
Professors: Karen Bendersky, Tsu-Ming Chiang, Lee Gillis, Walter Isaac, Greg Jarvie, John Lindsay, and Michael Rose
Associate Professors: Noland White
Assistant Professors: Kristina Dandy, Whitney Heppner and Diana Young
Department Contact Information:
Georgia College
Department of Psychological Science
Campus Box 90
Milledgeville, GA 31061
478-445-4574
Department of Psychological Science Web site
Chair, Dr. Lee Gillis, lee.gillis@gcsu.edu
Administrative Assistant, Brenda Deal, brenda.deal@gcsu.edu
Vision
We aspire to offering courses that challenge students to question assumptions and to providing experiences that prepare our undergraduates for life, work, and graduate study. In this vision, our graduates will be endowed with the maturity, cognitive sophistication, and skills befitting a liberal arts degree.
Mission
The Department of Psychological Science is committed to supporting faculty who deliver high quality teaching, create research opportunities, and foster close student-faculty mentorship. We offer enthusiastic and innovative instruction by professors who teach courses in their specialty areas. Because this passion for psychology is sustained through active research and professional growth, the department is dedicated to supporting outstanding research facilities and continued faculty development. Our curriculum encourages undergraduate students to fully explore the multi-disciplinary field of psychological science. Through our teaching, research, and mentorship we instill respect for multiple viewpoints and approaches, while inspiring intellectual curiosity and personal growth.
Goals
Goal 1: Knowledge Base in Psychology: Students should demonstrate fundamental knowledge and comprehension of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and empirical findings to discuss how psychological principles apply to behavioral problems.
Goal 2: Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking: The skills in this domain involve the development of scientific reasoning and problem solving, including effective research methods.
Goal 3: Ethical and Social Responsibility: The skills in this domain involve the development of ethically and socially responsible behaviors for professional and personal settings.
Goal 4: Communication: Students should demonstrate competence in written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills.
Goal 5: Professional Development: The skills in this domain refer to abilities that sharpen student readiness for post-baccalaureate employment, graduate school, or professional school.
Student Success
Earning a college degree is a significant milestone and requires dedication and tremendous effort. To enable students to achieve this goal, the faculty has developed measures that improve student success. Students learn about departmental and University expectations, policies, and resources. The students are also introduced to the course registration system and academic degree audit system, which also allows students to plan out their 4 year degree plan. The faculty is committed to offering the courses necessary to ensure that students who follow the program of study will graduate in four years. Toward that end, a typical four-year program of study has been developed, which serves as a guide each term for scheduling courses. Students are advised to enroll in an average of 30 semester hours each year to achieve the 120 hours required to graduate in four years.
The Department of Psychological Science faculty provides additional opportunities for student success and growth with a rich variety of undergraduate research and internship opportunities. All students are encouraged to develop personal and professional relationships with individual faculty and to work with them in the laboratory or in community settings.
Career Information
Students with a bachelor's degree in psychology have been employed in advocacy, administration, community relations, program development, research and evaluation, human resources, public relations, advertising, market research, teaching, retail and sales. Many students pursue post-graduate degrees in experimental psychology, psychologysocial psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, school psychology, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, neuroscience, school and community or counseling social work, occupational therapy, law, and medicine.
The Department of Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association have pamphlets concerning career planning for psychology students.
Miscellaneous
In addition to its classrooms and offices in the Arts and Sciences Building, the Department of Psychological Science has three research and teaching laboratory suites. One suite is used for infant cognition and clinical neuroscience. Another suite is used for social development, and group dynamics research. The third suite is used for non-human animal research. This area contains surgery rooms, rooms for animal behavior research, and a histological laboratory.