Students in the Psychology doctoral program are either (a) to complete a master’s degree or (b) to demonstrate research competence as one requirement for attaining candidacy status. The CNS Program expects that students will meet this requirement during second or at the latest third year in the program. The CNS program strongly recommends that students fulfill this requirement by completing the master’s degree, and it is expected that most students will do so. Guidelines for the master’s thesis are described below.
 

1. Master’s committee. The students’ master’s project will be advised by a three person faculty committee, comprised of the student’s primary mentor, one other faculty member in the CNS area, and one additional faculty member (faculty from other departments are acceptable in this role).

2. Proposal. The student should begin by writing a research proposal with the following sections. The document should conform to APA style throughout.

a. The Introduction should present a clearly specified research question. In it, the student should provide a comprehensive, but focused review of the relevant literatures, making clear the theoretical motivation and empirical basis for the proposed research. The literature review should be more detailed than a typical journal article introduction, but need not be as detailed as a typical review article. Another possibility is to write an introduction similar to that of a journal article, with a more detailed literature review contained as an Appendix.

b. The Methods section should specify the methods to be used and their appropriateness to address the question. This section should be written at the level of detail typically seen in a research grant proposal.

c. The Analysis Plan should specify the proposed analytic strategy, making clear the appropriateness of the plan to address the research question.

d. Proposal hearing. The written proposal should be distributed to the committee no less than 2 weeks prior to the proposal hearing. At the hearing, the student should review the proposed research in a brief presentation and then respond to questions from the committee. This hearing is intended to provide an opportunity for the committee to offer advice on the project. The committee’s decision to approve the proposal should be based on their evaluation of the merits of the research plan and the appropriateness of the project (in type and scope) for the master’s degree. If the committee does not approve the research proposal they can specify revisions to be made prior to their approval. Revisions can be evaluated individually by the advisor, or by each member of the committee. Alternatively, if the committee judges it necessary, a second hearing can be called.

4. Students are reminded that IRB approval is required for all research involving human subjects BEFORE the project begins.

5. Students are required to enroll for at least 6 credits of Psyc799 prior to defending the master’s thesis.

6. Final Written Product. Once the research is complete, the student should construct and defend a final report on the project. The written product can take the form of a traditional master’s thesis, with Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion sections. Alternatively, the student can present a full journal article reporting the findings. Journal articles should be ready for submission (although students may decide to wait for the committee’s input before submitting the paper for peer review). In either case, the final written product should conform to APA style throughout.

7. Oral Defense. The final written product should be submitted to the committee no less than two weeks prior to the defense. During the defense, the student should present a brief overview of the project and its findings, and then address the questions of the committee. In accord with Graduate School guidelines, the defense will be open to other UMD faculty. If both the student and the advisor agree, the defense (either the presentation or the presentation and question period) may be open to other students and members of the UMD community. The committee will determine whether the project satisfies the M.A. requirement, and whether revisions are necessary. Revisions can be evaluated individually by the advisor, or by each member of the committee. Alternatively, if the committee judges it necessary, a second defense can be called.

8. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the Graduate School’s requirements for committee forms and thesis submission and to work with the Psychology Departments’ Graduate Office to make sure that the necessary forms are completed on schedule.

Purpose

The comprehensive exam has two purposes. First, the exam allows the student to demonstrate knowledge about the field of developmental psychology. The exam contains material about broad developmental issues, theory, and methods, as well as material in greater specificity about the student’s area of expertise. Second, the exam allows the faculty the opportunity to assess the student’s academic progress, to suggest areas that may need improvement, and to propose ways that the student might accomplish these goals. Both of these goals are designed to help the student prepare for a career in developmental psychology.

Examination Committee

In preparation for the exam, the student and his or her advisor assemble an examining committee. The committee is chaired by the student’s advisor and includes 3 additional faculty members to be chosen for their expertise in the areas relevant to the exam. In addition to the advisor, at least one additional committee member must be from the Developmental Area within Psychology. One committee member may be (but is not required to be) from outside of the Psychology department.

The written exam is based on a reading list that is created by the student and advisor. The Developmental Area faculty will provide a list of core readings that will be included in all reading lists; this list will be updated as needed. A list of major themes and issues central to developmental science is included with the core reading list, which students should be prepared to discuss.  It is expected that the student will add 5-10 readings that illustrate the key theories and issues more closely related to his/her area of specialization. Once created, the student’s reading list is submitted to the committee for approval. The committee may suggest additions or deletions from the list. Once the reading list is finalized, the advisor solicits the committee members for exam questions, or may choose to write them all. The committee members are then responsible for preparing/approving the written examination (as requested), grading the student’s responses, and conducting and evaluating the final oral defense. 

Timeline

Students are expected to complete the comprehensive examination during their third or at the latest fourth year in the program. It is recommended that the committee be assembled and the reading list prepared no less than 3 months prior to the examination. The dates for all three exam sections should be set at the same time.

Format

The student is required to exhibit substantial knowledge in three areas:

1. Substantial knowledge of core developmental theories and issues.

• It is essential that students demonstrate understanding of the major theories (e.g., those of Piaget and Bowlby) and conceptual issues of developmental science. The goal of this section of the exam is that the student should demonstrate breadth outside of his/her area of specialization. The student will be asked to demonstrate ways in which key principles of development are manifest across multiple domains.
• This knowledge will be demonstrated during a written exam that is to take place from 10am-12pm, and again from 1-3pm, with a one-hour lunch break. The student is presented with 2 questions during each session, and chooses one of these to answer. The exam is taken in a quiet room in the Psychology Bldg, in isolation, with no open references (i.e., on a computer with no external connection). The student does not receive the questions ahead of time. The student will spend approximately two hours responding to each question. The responses should be thorough and scholarly -- the beginning of a sophisticated intellectual conversation with the committee. At the end of each session the student submits the responses to the advisor, and the advisor distributes the responses to the other committee members. Students will be asked to sign an honor pledge indicating that they have responded to the questions without external assistance.

2. Substantial knowledge of research methodology. 

• This requirement is designed so that the student can demonstrate mastery of ways of thinking about developmental research methods focused on their area of specialization. The student must demonstrate considerations related to selection of research methods appropriate to a particular important question. For instance, in a given research area, there may be a variety of ways to tap a particular construct. The student will be asked the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as what factors should be considered when making a selection. 
• This knowledge will be demonstrated during a 2-hour exam, following the procedure described above. The exam must take place within one week of the exam described above. As in the case of part 1, at the end of the session the student submits the response to the advisor, and the advisor distributes the responses to the other committee members.

3. Substantial knowledge in student's principal area.

• This requirement is designed so that the student can demonstrate in-depth mastery of the student’s area of specialization. The student, in consultant with his/her advisor, will have identified the area of specialization and added readings to the reading list that reflect this choice.
• This knowledge will be demonstrated during a 12-hour period. Unlike the exams described above, this will be an open book exam that can be completed wherever the student chooses. The exam will start at 9am and end at 9pm.  There will be one question, with multiple parts. The question will be created by the advisor, and approved by the committee.  Although the student is free to use any readings, he/she should write the exam independently, without consultation with other individuals. The exam must take place within one week of exam 2. The student and advisor will agree on the means of transmission of the question and response. As in the case of exams 1 and 2, at the end of the session the student submits the response to the advisor, and the advisor distributes the responses to the other committee members.
• It is expected that this part of the exam will cover material with which the student is already quite familiar because it has been the area of specialization for two to three years; as such there should be no need for extensive additional study. The 12-hour time period is intended to give the student sufficient time to organize material with which he/she is already familiar.

In all cases, the student should use Times New Roman 12-point font and follow APA Style for margins and formatting. 

Oral Defense and Advancement to Candidacy

Following submission of the written exams, the committee members evaluate whether these materials demonstrate a level of proficiency sufficient to continue to the oral defense. If they do not, then the student is considered to have failed the exam.

If these materials are considered to demonstrate sufficient proficiency, then approximately two weeks following completion of the written exam (parts 1, 2, and 3), the student and committee meet for an oral defense of the responses on the written exams. This defense generally lasts approximately two hours, but can last longer at the discretion of the committee. The goal of the oral defense is to allow students to further show their fluency with the material and to engage in a scholarly discourse — a core component of participation in the academic community.  Students will also have time to clarify their written answers, and add any information they realize they omitted. Based on the written materials and the oral defense, the committee will either (a) pass the student, (b) fail the student, or  (c) if specific and limited areas of the exam do not demonstrate proficiency, ask the student to rewrite these sections within two weeks. If the student is asked to re-write part of the exam, the committee has the option of noting that the student has passed the exam pending successful completion of the revision.

If no rewriting is required, the student will receive written notification within one week of the outcome of the exam. If the student is asked to rewrite a section of the exam, the procedure is as follows: 

• The student is given the question(s) to be rewritten, and is asked to write a response of approximately eight pages per question. The student may be asked to rewrite a portion of a question, for which a page-length requirement would be provided.
• The student is asked to complete the response independently (i.e., without consultation with others), yet is free to use whatever readings he/she would like.
• The student distributes the revised response to each committee member within 2-weeks of the date of the oral exam.
• Each committee member will read the response, and members will confer; the student will receive written notification of outcome within two weeks of submitting the rewritten sections.

If the student has considerable difficulty with this scheduling format, he/she can, with the advisor’s consent, petition the committee for a variation in the scheduling. This request must be made in writing and approved, in writing, by all committee members. 

When the student passes the comprehensive exam, he or she will advance to candidacy for the Ph.D. If the student fails the comprehensive exam, he or she will have 6 months to retake the exam. Failure of a second exam will result is dismissal from the program.

Students in the Psychology doctoral program are either (a) to complete a master’s degree or (b) to demonstrate research competence as one requirement for attaining candidacy status.  The Developmental Program expects that students will meet this requirement during the second or at the latest third year in the program. The Developmental program strongly recommends that students fulfill this requirement by completing the master’s degree, and it is expected that most students will do so.  Guidelines for the master’s thesis are described below. 

1. Master’s committee. The student’s master’s project will be advised by a three person faculty committee, comprised of the student’s primary mentor, one other faculty member in the developmental area, and one additional faculty member (faculty from other departments are acceptable in this role).

2. Proposal. The student should begin by writing a research proposal with the following sections.  The document should conform to APA style throughout.

a. The Introduction should present a clearly specified research question. In it, the student should provide a comprehensive, but focused review of the relevant literatures, making clear the theoretical motivation and empirical basis for the proposed research. The literature review should be more detailed than a typical journal article introduction, but need not be as detailed as a typical review article. Another possibility is to write an introduction similar to that of a journal article, with a more detailed literature review contained as an Appendix.   This section should also include a section describing the present study (typically a paragraph or two) and a summary list of hypotheses and research questions 

b. The Methods section should specify the methods to be used and their appropriateness to address the question. This section follows the format found in journal articles, yet will include more information than journal space typically permits (e.g., sample items from a questionnaire; more details about the nature of materials used; how participants will be recruited; more details about psychometric properties of the measures). An alternative is to write a methods section in the style of a journal article and provide these additional details in an Appendix (analogous to Supplementary Information for a publication)

c. The Analysis Plan should specify the proposed analytic strategy with as much detail as possible, making clear the appropriateness of the plan to address the research question.  (e.g., a student could not only lay out the type of analysis, but the specific factors, covariates, etc. that will be used, and appropriate follow-up tests). Discussion of appropriate power should be included. Discussion about identifying and addressing missing data, skewed data, and outliers should also be included where appropriate.

d. Appendices should include IRB approval (if available), copies of all questionnaires, photos/drawings of stimulus materials when possible, and any other materials needed for attempts to replicate the research.

3. Proposal hearing. The written proposal should be distributed to the committee no less than 2 weeks prior to the proposal meeting.  At the meeting, the student should review the proposed research in a brief presentation and then respond to questions from the committee. This meeting is intended to provide an opportunity for the committee to offer advice on the project. The committee members’ decision to approve the proposal should be based on their evaluation of the merits of the research plan and the appropriateness of the project (in type and scope) for the master’s degree. If the committee does not approve the research proposal they can specify revisions to be made prior to their approval.  Revisions can be evaluated individually by the advisor, or by each member of the committee.  Alternatively, if the committee judges it necessary, a second meeting can be called.

4. Students are reminded that IRB approval is required for all research involving human subjects BEFORE the project begins.  IRB approval is required as an Appendix in the proposal. If the student has not applied for IRB approval at the time of the meeting the student must provide committee members with a copy of the approval letter before the research begins (and within 1 month of the proposal).

5. Students are required to enroll for at least 6 credits of Psyc799 prior to defending the master’s thesis. Students should meet departmental and University requirements for enrollment during the semester in which they defend their thesis.

6. Final Written Product. Once the research is complete, the student should construct and defend a final report on the project.  The written product can take the form of a traditional master’s thesis, with Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion sections. Alternatively, the student can present a full journal article reporting the findings.  Journal articles should be ready for submission (although students may decide to wait for the committee’s input before submitting the paper for peer review). In either case, the final written product should conform to APA style throughout.

7. Oral Defense. The final written product should be submitted to the committee no less than 2 weeks prior to the defense. During the defense, the student should present a brief overview of the project and its findings, and then address the questions of the committee.  In accord with Graduate School guidelines, the defense will be open to other UMD faculty. If the student and the committee agree, the initial student presentation of the defense may be open to other students and members of the UMD community, who are permitted to ask questions; only the student and committee members attend the remainder of the defense. The committee will determine whether the project satisfies the master’s degree requirement, and whether revisions are necessary. Revisions can be evaluated individually by the advisor, or by each member of the committee.  Alternatively, if the committee judges it necessary, a second defense can be called.

8. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the Graduate School’s requirements for committee forms and thesis submission (see http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/catalog/masters_degree_policies.htm) and to work with the Psychology Department’s Graduate Office to make sure that the necessary forms are completed on schedule.  

The Social, Decision, and Organizational Sciences (SDOS) Program brings together the subspecialties of Social Psychology, Decision Sciences, and Industrial and Organizational Psychology. The SDOS area studies how individuals perceive and process information about their social environment and themselves, how they make decisions, and also manage their interdependencies with others in dyadic, team, organizational, and societal contexts. We study a broad array of individual, group, and organizational phenomena. Individual phenomena include motivational processes, social judgment, attitudes/attitude change, judgment and decision-making processes, cognitive decision theory, risk assessment, and self-processes. Group phenomena include interpersonal relationships, social conflict and aggression, negotiations, social influence and conformity, small group processes, leadership, group decision making, social networks, technology and groups, diversity, and prejudice and discrimination. Organizational phenomena include organizational culture and climate, national culture, and culture change.

The goal of our graduate training is twofold: (a) to enable students to acquire “multilingual” skills in the scientific approaches, languages and methods of these three sub-disciplines of psychology, and (b) to acquire an in-depth expertise in one (or more) of these areas. Our program is based on the belief that exposure and familiarity with these three, naturally intersecting, domains will augment our graduates’ ability to carry out problem-focused research that crosses area boundaries and that is of increasing relevance in the social and behavioral sciences.

Follow this link to learn more about the SDOS Program

The Developmental Psychology program draws upon a rapidly expanding area of interdisciplinary developmental research linking psychophysiological, social, emotional, and cognitive development. Because human development encompasses a wide range of psychological processes, and because developing individuals function in a wide range of settings that influence them and which they influence, the full study of development requires an integration of multiple approaches, analyses at multiple levels, and exposure to a wide range of research methodologies and tools of data analysis.

Our research spans social, individual and neural levels of analysis to investigate the emergence of basic human emotional and cognitive capacities, including engagement in close interpersonal relationships, regulation of affective and cognitive processes, memory, social reasoning, conceptual development and language acquisition. Our laboratories engage state of the art observational tools, behavioral experimental techniques, and neurophysiological approaches (EEG, ERP) to investigate both typical and atypical developmental pathways. Doctoral and post doctoral students receive broad training across these levels of analysis, content issues and empirical techniques.

Faculty and students in the program draw on and contribute to the vibrant University-wide communities in developmental science, cognitive science and neuroscience, including the Field Committee in Developmental Science, the Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences, the Child and Infant Studies Consortium, and the Cognitive Science Colloquium Series.
 

Developmental Program Requirements 

Requirements for graduate study in Developmental Psychology at the University of Maryland are structured as follows:

A. Departmental Requirements (20 cr.)

1. Core courses (9 cr.): All Psychology doctoral students are required to take 3 core courses outside their area of specialization.  The Developmental faculty recommend that the student’s courses span at least two of the following levels of analysis

• Physiological level
  • PSYC 606 Neurobiology of Behavior
• Individual level
  • PSYC 607 Cognitive Science
  • PSYC 612 Theories of Personality
  • PSYC 623 Child Psychopathology OR
  • PSYC 624 Adult Psychopathology
• Social level
  • PSYC 604 Social Psychology
  • PSYC 603 Organizational Psychology

The department permits two non-core courses in the same training area to be taken in lieu of a core course. 

2. Statistics courses (11 cr.): All Psychology doctoral students are required to take PSYC 601, PSYC 602 (or equivalent), plus a third statistics or methodology course to be selected in consultation with the advisor. The area strongly advises you to take further statistics/methods courses to the extent that they would be helpful to your area of study.

B. Area Requirements (27 cr.)

1. Basic courses (12 cr.)

• PSYC 611 Advanced Developmental Psychology (Area faculty)
• Research Methods in Developmental Psychology
• 1 seminar in social development 
• 1 seminar in cognitive development 

 Given that the lines between social and cognitive development are not rigid (e.g., social cognition, the impact of poverty on child       development, moral development, social development with a focus on cognition as a mechanism for outcomes), considerable flexibility in course selection, in consultation with the advisor, is permitted. The goal is for breath within developmental psychology.

• 2. Specialization course (3 cr.): Students are to take an additional advanced course (3 cr) that provides breadth in developmental science and/or builds expertise relevant to the student’s program of research. This must be a content course (not a brown bag), and can include additional statistics/methodology courses.  Below are listed several possible courses. There are many additional possibilities.  Check also the listing of the Field Committee in Developmental Science. 

• EDHD 720 Social Development (M. Killen)
• EDHD 850 Social Cognition and Moral Development (M. Killen)
• EDHD 835 Achievement Motivation (A. Wigfield)
• KNES 603 Advanced Motor Development (J. Clark)
• LING 859 Seminar in Language Acquisition (J. Lidz)
• NACS 642 Cognitive Neuroscience (E. Lau)
• NACS 645 Introduction to Cognitive Science (Y.T. Huang & R. Slevc)
• NACS 728F or T Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (L. Pessoa)

3. Electives (12 cr.): Students should take 12 elective credits to fulfill the 65 credits needed for graduation.  These can include additional coursework, Developmental Area seminar (PSYC888A), brown bags, and research credits.

4. Developmental Area Seminar: The Developmental Seminar brings together the students and faculty in the area throughout the academic year. Activities include discussions of important theoretical and empirical papers, research presentations by area faculty, students and post docs, discussions concerning professional development, and occasional presentations by visiting scholars. All students and faculty are expected to participate and (when possible) register for the seminar each semester in which they are in residence at the University. Students may register for one or two credits.  Students in their first year may not have enough available credits to register, and occasionally advanced students may have already reached an enrollment of 10 credit hours; in these cases, please speak with the instructor.

C. Research Requirements (18 cr.)

• PSYC 799 (6 cr.) Masters or research competency, Developmental: Guideline for the Master's Project
• PSYC 899 (12 cr.) Dissertation, Guidelines and Policies

D. Comprehensive Examination, Developmental: Comprehensive Examination

E. Interface with the Developmental Science Field Committee.

The Developmental Science Field Committee is designed to provide a common set of training resources for the broad set of developmental science training programs across campus. It is not a formal program itself.  Students in the Developmental Psychology program are encouraged to apply for affiliate status in the Field Committee (see www.devsci.umd.edu for details). As affiliates, students will have access to graduate courses across departments and will be able to participate in the Committee’s activities (e.g., meeting with visiting speakers). 

F. Interface with Ph.D. program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science.

Because the NACS program is a Ph.D. degree granting program it establishes its own requirements for students seeking to obtain the Ph.D.  That program stipulates that each student has an academic “home” department -- i.e., the department in which the student’s primary mentor is housed -- and that the student’s mentor and advisory committee work together with the student to develop a suitable academic/research plan to meet the student’s long-term objectives.  Students in the Developmental program who wish to transfer into the NACS program can do so only with the support of his/her mentor, the Developmental Area faculty, and the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.  Alternatively, Developmental Psychology students have the option of completing a certificate in NACS.  Interested students should refer to the NACS website for details (www.nacs.umd.edu).

G. Timeline for completion of requirements

The Psychology Department specifies department-wide expectations for the timely completion of graduate requirements, grades, research competency and the completion of the dissertation. The Developmental Area faculty expect that students in this program will meet or exceed those standards. We suggest the following timelines as guideposts to students in Developmental Psychology. Students are expected to work closely with their advisors in planning a schedule for completion of the requirements.

1. Coursework

• Years 1 and 2:  Students should complete between 8-10 courses in total (distributed over the two years).  These should include the departmental statistics requirement and the Developmental Area basic courses, if they are offered.
• Years 3 and 4:  Students should complete the remaining required course and 12 elective credits.

2. Research Requirements

• Research Competency/Masters Degree – To be completed during the second or third year.
• Comprehensive Examination – To be completed during the third or fourth year.
• Dissertation – To be completed in the fourth and fifth years.

More DEV Program Information

The Developmental (DEV) Psychology program draws upon a rapidly expanding area of interdisciplinary developmental research linking psychophysiological, social, emotional, and cognitive development. Because human development encompasses a wide range of psychological processes, and because developing individuals function in a wide range of settings that influence them and which they influence, the full study of development requires an integration of multiple approaches, analyses at multiple levels, and exposure to a wide range of research methodologies and tools of data analysis.

Our research spans social, individual and neural levels of analysis to investigate the emergence of basic human emotional and cognitive capacities, including engagement in close interpersonal relationships, regulation of affective and cognitive processes, memory, social reasoning, conceptual development and language acquisition. Our laboratories engage state of the art observational tools, behavioral experimental techniques, and neurophysiological approaches (EEG, ERP) to investigate both typical and atypical developmental pathways. Doctoral and post-doctoral students receive broad training across these levels of analysis, content issues and empirical techniques.

Faculty and students in the program draw on and contribute to the vibrant University-wide communities in developmental science, cognitive science and neuroscience, including the Field Committee in Developmental Science, the Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences (NACS), and the Consortium on Infant Studies.

Follow this link to learn more about the Developmental Program

Follow this link to learn more about a new study from the Neurocognitive Development Lab

About COUN   More COUN Program Information

Nature of Program

Our counseling psychology program is administered collaboratively by the Department of Psychology and the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education. The collaborative program is designed to enable students to become (a) psychologists who are trained in general psychology as behavioral science, (b) competent in conducting research on a wide variety of psychological problems, and (c) competent in providing effective counseling. At all levels, our curriculum provides integration of general psychology, research participation, and counselor training. There is a strong expectation throughout the program for students to be active in research. Those interested primarily in professional training, as opposed to scientist-practitioner training, may wish to consider programs offering a professional doctorate degree (PsyD). Our program is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA); graduates of the program are eligible for certification and licensing examinations as psychologists.

This page provides an overview of our program and is not intended to provide a detailed discussion of our program policies. The most complete source of online information about the program can be found on the Counseling Psychology Program website, which is housed in the College of Education.

Curriculum and Requirements

Our curriculum provides an integration of training in general psychology, research, and counseling. Students are expected to enroll full-time in the program. Most also carry a 10-20 hour per week assistantship during the 9-month academic year. There are usually no summer courses for our graduate students. Formal coursework typically takes three to four years. Students often use their fourth year to complete the comprehensive examination, begin work on their dissertation, and finish any remaining classes. Most students complete their dissertation during the fifth year and go on internship in the sixth year. There is a strong expectation throughout the program for students to be active in research.

The curriculum is a set of courses and experiences oriented toward understanding patterns of human functioning and the development of strategies for fostering human effectiveness. In recognition of the diversity of program members, clients, and styles of effective functioning, the curriculum is arranged for students to develop a variety of competencies in scholarship, teaching, research, and counseling services.

General psychology courses include selections from biological, cognitive, social, and individual differences psychology (developmental or personality), as well as the history and systems of psychology. The courses in counseling psychology include theories of counseling, career psychology, assessment, research methods, multicultural psychology, and didactic practica. The professional issues course provides coverage of ethics and legal issues. Finally, all students complete a sequence of research and statistics courses.

During the first two years, all students who have not completed an approved master’s research thesis must complete a thesis to demonstrate their mastery of basic research skills. A previously completed master’s thesis must be reviewed by a committee of three faculty from the Counseling Psychology Program to be approved for research competence. More than half of the empirical master’s theses completed elsewhere have been approved in the past. Students who enter the program having completed graduate coursework elsewhere may petition to waive some course requirements.

Following the completion of comprehensive exams and course work, students must complete their dissertation proposal prior to applying for an internship. An internship is typically completed on a full-time one-year basis. At the time the student is eligible for applying for internships, consultation with both an advisor and a program co-director assists the student in identifying qualified internship agencies appropriate to student interests. Our program provides strong preparation for internships in university counseling centers, and a majority of students pursues internship in this setting. However, a sizable minority of students complete internships in other settings, including Veteran’s Affairs hospitals and community mental health centers.
The dissertation represents the student’s major research contribution during the graduate program. It must be a piece of original research pertinent to counseling psychology. Topics of dissertations can be found on the program website. A doctoral degree (Ph.D.) is awarded only upon completion of all of the program requirements including the dissertation and internship.

Evaluation of Students’ Achievement of Program Objectives

Students’ progress is evaluated yearly with written reports, copies of which are provided to students. During the first three years, the primary evaluation is in terms of the satisfactory completion of courses and didactic practica, each of which is separately evaluated by the course instructor. Students are considered in good standing when they complete their courses on schedule with grades of “B” or better in graded courses (courses with grades lower than “B” are retaken) and a Satisfactory in all didactic practica.

By the middle of their fourth semester, to remain in good standing, students must have either a committee-approved thesis from a previous institution or a committee-approved thesis proposal, if they entered without a thesis.

Satisfactory completion of the comprehensive exams, along with the satisfactory completion of the four required didactic practica, at least a “B” average in all required course work, and demonstration of research competence are the basis for the final pre-internship evaluation of a student. Final evaluation of students is based on completion of an internship and a dissertation. The internship supervisor(s) or training director provides evaluations at the midpoint and at the completion of the internship. The student’s dissertation committee evaluates the student’s dissertation.

Qualifications of Applicants and Placements of Graduates

We accept a maximum of 10 new students (typically fewer than 10) each year from over 200 applicants to maintain our small student-faculty ratio. This ratio allows for high quality supervision of both research and professional training. Students need not necessarily have an undergraduate degree in psychology, although students need to have had courses in general psychology, introductory statistics, and at least three other psychology courses (at least 15 hours). We believe a diverse student body enhances our training environment, and entering classes often include students who vary in gender, age, culture, race, sexual orientation, educational background, and geographic background.

The great majority of students entering the program in recent years have successfully completed their doctoral studies. Our most recent graduates have taken positions in the following types of settings: academic departments, university counseling centers, hospitals, community mental health centers, and private practice.

Aspirational Multicultural Statement

The Counseling Psychology Program at the University of Maryland is committed to creating a multicultural training environment, which is broadly defined as a place where individuals from various cultures and opinions are respected, and the unique gifts of individuals are applied to train exceptional counseling psychologists. We recognize the changing demographics in the United States and the need for both relevant research and mental health services to address the concerns of people around the world. Thus, we strive to create a training environment that promotes multicultural self-awareness, knowledge, skills, and experiences that enable our graduates to develop and share knowledge regarding multicultural issues as well as to provide culturally sensitive services to a variety of individuals in our society and abroad.

Diversity of Faculty and Student Body

Our view of diversity includes (but is not limited to) the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious orientation, age, and socioeconomic status. We acknowledge that such diversity alone does not facilitate multiculturalism. However, we believe that a multicultural training environment includes individuals from demographic groups that historically have been underrepresented in counseling psychology training programs or marginalized in society. We welcome a diverse student body and faculty (including affiliate and adjunct faculty).

Student Recruitment and Selection

We are committed to actively recruiting students representing visible racial and ethnic groups that historically have been underrepresented in psychology training programs or marginalized in our society. Our selection process reflects this commitment and strives to select exceptional students using evaluative criteria that are relevant for predicting success in graduate school and beyond.

Retention and Graduation

We understand that recruitment and admissions efforts will be compromised by inattention to retention issues. Thus, our program seeks to develop a welcoming environment that embraces differences among individuals and puts these differences to work to improve our understanding of multicultural issues, particularly those related to psychological research and practice. Furthermore, we are committed to retaining the students with whom we work and facilitating their graduation from our program in a timely manner. Advisors are viewed as critical in assisting students to achieve academic and vocational success as well as to welcome new professionals to counseling psychology.

Research

In our program, research related to multicultural issues is respected and encouraged. Several faculty are recognized nationally for their work in related areas, and students often complete theses and dissertations addressing critical questions related to multiculturalism. Faculty and students contribute to advancing knowledge through publication and presentation of their scholarly work.

Climate

Our program strives to promote open discourse on all issues, including those related to multiculturalism. Diversity of opinion is embraced, and discussions regarding multiculturalism are encouraged. People representing marginalized groups are present and represented in leadership positions in our program. Other aspects of our program reflect our commitment to multiculturalism (e.g., written materials, physical environment).

More COUN Program Information

The Counseling (COUN) Psychology Program at the University of Maryland is administered collaboratively by the Department of Psychology and the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education. Ours is one of the oldest counseling psychology programs in the nation and has been continuously accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1953. In ratings evaluating counseling psychology programs over the past three decades, ours is always among the very top-ranked programs in the United States. Our faculty members represent a broad range of research interests, including psychotherapy process and outcome research, multicultural psychology, vocational psychology, health psychology, and social justice.

Follow this link to learn more about the Counseling Program

About CNS

The Cognitive and Neural Systems (CNS) Program brings together researchers who study mind, brain and behavior. CNS laboratories investigate the cognitive and neural underpinnings of attention, sensation, perception, action, memory, decision-making, sensory-motor integration, and social behaviors in humans and animal models. Commonly used techniques in CNS laboratories include neuroimaging, electrophysiology, neuropharmacology, histology, computational modeling, eye tracking, and behavioral analysis. Research conducted in the CNS laboratories has led to a broad understanding of the cognitive and neural processes underlying real-world behavior and has important implications for neurological disorders, mental health, and education. The CNS Program is affiliated with the campus Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences Program (NACS), an umbrella for interdisciplinary research in systems, cognitive, cellular/ molecular, and computational neuroscience (www.nacs.umd.edu). The Cognitive and Neural Systems Program also draws upon and contributes to the resources of the Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL), a University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC) that conducts research on the learning and use of language.

The CNS program provides students with a broad overview of psychological science, coupled with in-depth training in the cognitive and neural underpinnings of behavior. The CNS program shares many training resources with the interdisciplinary NACS Program, which involves 14 departments across campus, including Psychology. The CNS faculty train graduate students enrolled in both the Psychology Department and the NACS Graduate Program. The primary difference between the two programs is that CNS students take courses that emphasize breadth within psychology while NACS students take courses that emphasize breadth in the interdisciplinary field of neuroscience. Students interested in pursuing graduate research with any of the CNS faculty should contact potential mentors for advice on whether their needs will be better met by applying for admission through Psychology or NACS, as the curricula for the two graduate programs differ.

CNS Program Requirements

All CNS graduate students receive academic advice and support from a faculty advisor and a graduate committee, formed in the first semester of enrollment. The committee, comprised of the faculty advisor, and two additional faculty members make recommendations for coursework and other training tailored to the graduate student’s background and research interests. Each student meets with his/her graduate committee at least once annually.

Graduate study in CNS encompasses a 49-credit program which is structured as follows:

A. Departmental Requirements (20 cr.)

1. Core courses (9 cr.): All Psychology doctoral students are required to take 3 core courses outside their area of specialization. The CNS faculty recommend that the student’s courses span at least two of the following levels of analysis:

• Physiological level
  • PSYC 606 Human Biopsychology
  • PSYC 605 Sensory Processes
• Individual level
  • PSYC 607 Advanced Topics in Human Learning
  • PSYC 611 Developmental Psychology
  • PSYC 612 Personality
• Social level
  • PSYC 604 Social Psychology
  • PSYC 603 Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Other courses may be substituted given approval.
• Statistics courses (11 cr.): All Psychology doctoral students are required to take PSYC 601, PSYC 602 (or equivalent), plus a third statistics or methodology course to be selected in consultation with the advisor.

B. Additional CNS Area Requirements (11 cr.)

• NACS 600, Ethics in Scientific Research (2 cr.)
• At least three additional elective courses (9 credits minimum) relevant to the student’s program of research. These courses should be selected in consultation with the advisor, and can include formal courses and/or seminars in PSYC, NACS, or other departments. Note that a student’s advisor and/or advisory committee may require additional coursework beyond these 9 credits.
• Students are additionally encouraged to attend (and enroll in) the weekly Cognitive Seminar (PSYC 889). This one-credit course is designed as a relatively informal forum to discuss and present research in progress and professional issues.

C. Research Requirements (18 cr.)

• PSYC 799 (6 cr.) Masters or research competency, CNS - Guideline for the Master's Project
• PSYC 899 (12 cr.) Dissertation

D. Comprehensive Examination

• Written and oral exam in the field of study that encompasses the student’s research area.

E. NACS and Cognitive Science Colloquia

• Students are strongly encouraged to attend these colloquia, which bring together graduate students and faculty on a regular basis. Internationally renowned neuroscientists and cognitive scientists present research seminars (see the listing of NACS seminars and Cognitive Science colloquia), visit Maryland labs, and meet with graduate students in an informal setting.

F. Timeline for completion of requirements

• The Psychology Department specifies department-wide expectations for the timely completion of graduate requirements, grades, research competency and the completion of the dissertation. The CNS faculty members expect that students in this program will meet or exceed those standards. We suggest the following timelines as guideposts to students in the CNS program. Students are expected to work closely with their advisors and committee members in planning a schedule for completion of the requirements.
   
• Coursework

Years 1 and 2: Students should complete at least 8 courses in total (distributed over the two years). These should include the departmental statistics requirement and the CNS basic courses.

Years 3 and 4: Students should complete the remaining required courses and register for PSYC 888 and 889

• Research Requirements

Research Competency/Masters Degree – To be completed during the second or third year.
Comprehensive Examination – To be completed during the third year.

• Dissertation – To be completed in the fourth or fifth year.