Download Who Decides Remediation Plan for Unsuccessful

My e-mail:
Hi Everyone,
We are trying to resolve an issue in our program, and I'm not sure whether this is common. In
any case, I would appreciate any feedback on this.
Our graduate students either follow our Clinical curriculum or our Experimental curriculum. For
the most part, these are very different from each other, and in general we let the faculty in each
area make their own curricular decisions.
There are a number of courses that are common to both curricula. To keep things simple, I will
focus on two Statistics courses and one Methods course that all of our students, regardless of
program, take in their first year.
The problem arises with students who do not successfully complete one of these stats/methods
courses. Some argue that the remediation plan (whether it is to redo the course, replace the
course, or some other remedial action) should be up to the student's area (Clinical or
Experimental). Others argue that these courses are foundational to graduate work in Psychology,
regardless of area, and thus any decisions should be made by the department as a whole.
I appreciate any insights, and think that this may best be handled back channel at
[email protected].
Thank you,
Stuart
--At U of L, these core courses are common to both curricula, so students are required to pass
them/retake them. SM
--
At Idaho State, we also require a repeat if C or below.
Shannon
-At LSU it is a dept. policy that students have to pass these courses with a B or better within their
first two years in the program. They get 2 chances. If the second chance fails they are removed
from the phd program.
-At Indiana we offer one PhD in Psychology but students major in different areas (clinical, cognitive,
social, cog neuro, molecular and systems neuroscience, etc.). (i.e., same degree for multiple
majors). While the elective and breadth courses and well as the format of qualifying exams vary
between PHD majors, there would be one remediation applied to all students for the core classes you
describe.
-We have a simple method that requires the student to repeat any class where they earned lower
than a B
-For what it's worth, if this is a departmental requirement, my view is that any remediation should
also be decided at the departmental level -- that is how we would handle it here at Stony Brook.
-[2 answers removed to protect confidentiality.]
-Hi Stuart:
At TTU we are very specific about what is a department requirement and what is a program
requirement. Stats are department requirements, research methods are program
requirements. Department requirements are taught by anyone in the department, program requirements
are taught specifically by program faculty. So, if a student fails research methods in Experimental,
Clinical, or Counseling Pscyh, it goes back to the program to make a determination (almost always retake
the course). If a student fails stats, it’s a program issue and it’s dealt with a program (almost always
meaning retake the failed class or an alternate department stats course to demonstrate statistical
competence). I hope this helps. -- Bob
-To get graduate credit students must pass our courses with a grade of B or better.
The only option for students who do not pass a course (statistics,, methods, or otherwise) is to
retake the course and obtain a passing grade.
So these is no decision on our part.
-Stuart,
We have a PsyD and Master’s in I-O. They take the same stats courses and equivalent design
courses. We bring all concerns about student functioning to the department as a
whole. Sometimes this is uncomfortable for I-O or experimental psychology when an issue is
clinical, but the question is ultimately one of pedagogy – at which we are all equally expert.
Karl