March 2004, Volume 8, Issue 4

Welcome to the PsychNotes Website!!

PsychNotes, a regular publication of the Psychology Department at Central Connecticut State University, is intended to inform members of the Psychology community (faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, alumni) about current happenings in the Department.

Greetings

Faculty News

We are thrilled to announce that the psychology department is going to hire three new tenure-track professors! They will be chosen from qualified candidates in the areas of Adult Development and Aging; Applied Child Developmental Psychology; and Clinical Psychology. We have scheduled the following finalists for research talks and encourage all students to attend!

Adult Development and Aging Candidates:

Danielle Gagne            Friday, March 12,                  2:00-3:00 in Vance 105
                                    “Self-efficacy and effort allocation during reading among
                                    older and younger adults”

Laura Donorfio Monday, March 15 1:00-2:00 in Vance 003
“A driving decision: Health, safety and the older driver”

Carrie Andreoletti         Wednesday, March 17            1:00-2:00 in Vance 003
                                    “The role of beliefs about aging in predicting behavioral
                                    outcomes across the life span”

Applied Child Developmental Psychology Candidate:

Catya von Karolyi Tuesday, March 16 Time and room to be announced
“Children’s issue awareness in high gifted children”

Rebecca Wood Monday, March 29 Time and room to be announced Title of presentation to be announced

Please keep an eye out for future talks!

Student/Faculty Events and Issues

Seventh Annual Psychology Day Conference

This year the Psychology Department at Southern Connecticut State University will host the 7^th Annual Psychology Day Conference. The Psychology Day Conference is a free, day-long event that usually features scholarly and social events for both faculty and students. More information will be provided by your professors soon.

Friday, May 7, 2004, 7:00 p.m.

Please mark your calendars! On Friday, May 7, 2004, at 7:00 p.m., the Psychology department will host the annual Psychology Honors Night. This is an evening where faculty recognizes outstanding students in psychology. This event is by invitation only.

Advising Information

Please mark your calendars! During the week of Monday, April 5, through Thursday, April 8^th, the Psychology Department will provide an advising table between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The table will be located in front of Marcus White Living Room. Please plan on seeing your advisor approximately two weeks before registration (click here for faculty office hours). If this is not possible, the advising table will be available.

Online registration for the Fall 2004 semester for continuing students and newly admitted Transfer students will begin on Monday, April 12 and continues through Sunday, April 25.

Psychology Achievement Test:

All psychology majors are required to take a “Standardized Psychology Achievement Test” in order to graduate. The test will be administered according to the following guidelines:

· All students with Senior standing (86+ credits) will be eligible to take the test

· The test will be administered two (2) times per semester. The dates for testing sessions will be posted outside of my office, Room 212-Marcus White Hall, the first week of classes every semester

· Eligible students will register to take the test with the department secretary, Room 211-Marcus White Hall, at least one week before the scheduled exam date

We strongly recommend that you plan ahead and register to take the test with enough time to avoid being denied graduation because of this requirement.

Psychology testing dates for this semester include Friday, April 16, 4:00-6:00 p.m. in Barnard 351 and Friday, April 23, 6:00-8:00 in Barnard 351.

Welcome Eneida Delgado!

The Psychology department has a newcomer! We are pleased to announce that Eneida Delgado is the new secretary for our department. Please stop by and introduce yourself to Eneida. Welcome!

Psychology Advisors

It is important that you meet with your academic advisor to plan your academic program at CCSU, to prepare your class schedule, to ask any questions that you may have, or to assist you in planning your future career. To help you get in touch with your advisor, a directory of psychology faculty that contains their telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and office hours has been placed in our web page this Spring Semester. If you don’t have an advisor, please see the secretary to be assigned one.

Psychology Club

All Psychology majors are encouraged to join the Psychology Club. The club meets several times each semester, and sponsors a number of events including speakers and an annual trip to a psychology conference. The Faculty Advisor to the club is Dr. James Conway (office: Room 215-Marcus White Hall, phone: (860) 832-3107, e-mail: ConwayJ@ccsu.edu). The 2003-2004 Psychology Club President is Chelsea Gaynor. To contact Chelsea regarding the Psychology club, please email her at: ccsupsychclub@yahoo.com.

Psi Chi

Psychology Majors are invited to join Psi Chi – The National Honor Society in Psychology. The purpose of Psi Chi is to encourage excellence in scholarship of the individual members, and to advance the science of psychology. We have had a chapter of Psi Chi at CCSU for over 30 years. The criteria for joining are:

· Each candidate must have completed at least 12 semester hours in Psychology including Psychology 221 (Research Methods I)

· The candidate must have an overall GPA of 3.25 and a GPA in Psychology courses of 3.5.

Dr. Fallahi is the advisor for the CCSU chapter of Psi Chi. For further information about the Society, contact her:

Office: Marcus White Room 208
            Phone: (860) 832-3114
            E-mail:            fallahic@ccsu.edu
            Mail: Psychology main office in Room 211-Marcus White Hall (second floor).

Psi Chi has been meeting weekly on Wednesday afternoons at 1:45 p.m. in the Marcus White Living Room. If you are interested in participating with this group, please contact Dr. Fallahi. Please note that you do not have to be an active member of Psi Chi to join our research group! All are welcome!

Francisco J. Donis, Chairperson
Psychology Department