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Message from the Chair

Dear Visitor:

Thank you for taking the time to explore our web site, and to learn about our very active department. Once again, during the 2011-2012 academic year we set new enrollment records. The number of psychology majors is nearing 600, up from the low 300s when I joined the department in fall 2002. In fall 2011 we admitted our first class of PhD students with a concentration in translational experimental psychology, and our fifth class of clinical psychology concentration Ph.D. students. Translational psychology can be defined as the infusion of psychological methods and content into a health-science based “bench to bedside” research model; where bench research informs bedside applications, and gaps in bedside applications inform the direction of bench research. We have also been approved by the APA for a site visit, so accreditation is right around the corner.

In last year’s newsletter, I also mentioned that the department’s staffing plan had reached maturity; and that we had hired our 16th faculty member. Despite these new lines, our classrooms have been so full and so bulging at the seams – sometimes spilling into the corridors – that we have revised our staffing plan yet again. So I am happy to report that two new faculty members will be added in August, 2012.

Accommodating the department’s unprecedented growth is just one of at least a half-dozen objectives the department is undertaking. Even from the 50,000 ft. perspective, the edge of the action appears nowhere in sight. But although there is very little time for any of us to take a break from pursuing the department’s multifaceted mission, I cannot imagine doing anything more exciting and stimulating, nor a more exciting and stimulating place in which to be doing it.

Sincerely,

Wallace E. Dixon, Jr.
Chair and Professor

“Find something you love to do, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life” -Harvey MacKay

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Department Mission Statement

The ETSU department of psychology advances the scientific understanding of human behavior and mental processes; first by conducting and applying original and substantive scientific inquiry, and second by apprenticing students, through both hands-on experience and classroom didactics, in the process of conducting and applying original and substantive scientific inquiry. The Department provides sufficient didactic experiences to enable students to make continuous and adequate progress toward completion of the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree, in psychology and in other disciplines more generally.  Individual faculty strive to contribute to the collective good of the department, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the university; and to advance the good works of the community and profession at large.

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Experimental Mission Statement

The primary mission of the PhD concentration in Experimental Psychology at East Tennessee State University is to provide students with broad and general training in translational research in the psychological sciences, including the areas of developmental, cognitive, and social psychology, personality, affective behavior, and behavioral neuroscience.

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Clinical Mission Statement

The primary mission of the articulated master's/doctoral concentration in Clinical Psychology at ETSU is to provide training in clinical psychology emphasizing rural behavioral health and practice in the context of integrated primary health care.

ETSU Mission Statement

http://www.etsu.edu/president/mission.aspx

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