Actually, here is the plan that I have been thinking about. We believe that
the student should have at least a 2.0 GPA to get into Psychology (they
need 2.0 to graduate). We have students that have less that a 2.0 trying to
get into our major (the lowest was someone with a 1.2 - we get at least 4-5
EACH TERM with way lower than a 2.0). Our feeling is, if you can't make a
2.0 in your core and electives (they need to have completed 45 hours before
becoming a psych major), then you will struggle - with a high likelihood of
having to take each class twice. I have also thought about contracts. If a
student is falls below the 2.0 in the psych major, then the advisor and the
student create a written contract, so that way all parties know what is
expected of them. I haven't hammered out all of the details yet, but this
is designed to help the student that does have a bad semester.
At 09:34 AM 11/9/00 -0500, Pollak, Edward wrote:
>We are also discussing this. We currently have a moratorium on internal
>transfers to Psychology because our 500+ majors are really taxing us. We
>just passed a rule that to transfer into psychology the students need to
>have passed psych courses in two different categories with grades of C or
>better. For various reasons we're not permitted to use a GPA criterion even
>though education can (because of certification issues).
>
>FWIW, I have always fought against arbitrarily high entrance criteria for
>the major. The fact is that we are a liberal arts school and require that
>our students major in SOMETHING. If all Depts. adopted a 2.5 GPA for new
>majors it would make a mockery of the notion that a 2.0 is passing and would
>represent fraud toward students who were told that they could major in
>psychology and are now told they can't. Let's face it, the marginally
>competent student needs a major. If you won't let them have one, then don't
>admit them!
>
>That being said, I see nothing inherently wrong with making the PSY major
>more rigorous. Such a move is (to me) inherently more fair than an
>arbitrary GPA requirement. It also lets students see (up front) what the
>requirements are. If your fear is that the Psych major is becoming the
>"last refuge of the incompetent," taken by those who can't hack it in other
>majors, the solution is to make your program more rigorous. That way you
>increase the quality of your program, let students know up front what's
>required, and warn off those students looking for an easy way out.
>Increasing the GPA requirement is, IMNSHO, just a cheap fix that unjustly
>punishes those students who get off to a shaky start in their first year and
>does little to improve the major. Heaven knows we've all seen students get
>drunk on freedom in their first year and take an academic nose dive. But
>we've also seen that many of those students sober up their second year and
>become great students. Whatever method you employ to restrict the major you
>need to have some way to accommodate these prodigal students.
>Ed
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D., Department of Psychology,
>West Chester Univ. of PA, West Chester, PA 19383
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, herpetoculturist and
>bluegrass fiddler
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Shameless self promotion: The Mill Creek Bluegrass Band performs every
>Tuesday night at Dugal's Inn, Mortonville, PA. Call 610- 486-0953 for
>directions.
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 17:21:04 -0500
> > From: "Bev Ayers-Nachamkin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Subject: Requirements to Declare Major?
> > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >
> > Our students declare majors at the end of their first semester as
> > sophomores. Once again I find myself jealously eyeing Education's
> > requirement that, among other things, any student who wishes to major in
> > Ed.
> > must have and maintain a 2.5 gpa (soon to be 3.0). Have any of your
> > programs
> > established criteria that must be satisfied in order to major in Psych or
> > Behavioral Sciences?
> > Second half of the semester - must be I'm getting cranky ;-)
> >
> > If there is sufficient interest, I'll be glad to compile responses for the
> > list.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Bev
> >
> > >>>>>>>@@<<<<<<<<
> > Bev Ayers-Nachamkin
> > Wilson College
> > 1015 Philadelphia Ave.
> > Chambersburg, PA 17201-1285
> > 717-264-4141, Ext. 3285
> >
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
Deb
Dr. Deborah S. Briihl
Dept. of Psychology and Counseling
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698
(229) 333-5994
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Well I know these voices must be my soul...
Rhyme and Reason - DMB
