The WMUPSY website was originally located at wmupsy.com and was created by Operant-Tech as an informational website to help save the clinical and industrial psychology programs from elimination at Western Michigan University. Both programs were retained by the university adminstration. The WMUPSY website was created on May 18th, 2006 and updated for the last time on July 16th, 2006. During this period, the website had over 4000 visits and the petition created to save the psychology programs collected close to 1000 signatures. The original contents of the site can be viewed below. A transcript of all the articles can here found here.

Update: President Judith Bailey fired. WMU changes course. Trustees say bad situation got worse in final months of Bailey adminstration (August 16th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1155741703188280.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7&thispage=1

One of the listed reasons for Bailey's firing :

Bailey's handling of a plan to reduce the number of graduate programs. The proposal was met with a storm of criticism from students and faculty members who said the process lacked sufficient input from them and that the criteria were unevenly applied.

Bailey ultimately instituted an appeals process, and many of the programs were preserved. But the net result, Holden said, was undergoing a ``painful, painful'' process, without ``delivering on the dollar savings we had hoped.''

Original contents of wmupsy.com below

News
Petition

Last updated: July 16th, 2006, 10:46 am EST

SUCCESS!!!!

The Clinical and Industrial psychology programs have been saved:

Appeals spare WMU grad programs. Eight of 11 programs cut didn't appeal to administration
Kalamazoo Gazette (July 8th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-18/115235408639050.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7&thispage=1

http://www.wmich.edu/president/gpr/

and

http://www.wmich.edu/president/letters/20060707.html

Clinical Psychology recommendation: http://www.wmich.edu/president/gpr/maintain/02.html

I/O Psychology recommendation: http://www.wmich.edu/president/gpr/conditions/03.html

Save the clinical, school, and industrial psychology programs at WMU!

Dear friends,

As many of you may have heard, WMU President Judith I. Bailey and Provost Linda Delene recently announced the elimination of 8 doctoral programs and 13 master's programs following a university-wide review. Among the programs being cut were the doctorate program for clinical psychology, doctorate program for school psychology, and the master's program for industrial psychology.

President Bailey announced that, "What will emerge from our Graduate Program Review is a graduate education environment with increased strength in the sciences, engineering, education and health care--exactly the strengths that will position WMU to meet Michigan's needs in the coming years and address national developments."

For many of us in psychology, it is difficult to see how cutting three out of the four psychology programs will increase WMU's strength in science and health care. Clinical psychology at WMU utilizes scientifically proven methods for improving people's mental health, including treatments for anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, fears, and many more. At WMU, the industrial psychology program has a strong focus on behavior-based safety, the application of scientifically proven results to improve safety and save lives in business and industry.

Perhaps most puzzling is the administration's recommendation to close these two programs that:

• Are in high demand
• Produce graduates that are highly successful at securing jobs
• Consistently produce high levels of research by both faculty and students
• And produce enough tuition revenue from classes taught by faculty and graduate students to pay for themselves

Not only are the clinical and industrial psychology programs internationally recognized and respected, not only do WMU psychology graduates consistently find work, not only do these programs produce extremely high levels of scholarship, but the clinical and industrial psychology programs earn enough revenue to pay for themselves.

Furthermore, the clinical and industrial psychology programs met or exceeded all of the stated review criteria.

On top of above distressing news, the adminstration has stated that there would be no appeal process. This decision will have a strong negative impact on both WMU and the general public, which we will clarify with facts below about the clinical and industrial psychology programs.

Even though the adminstration has presented the decision as final and binding, it is still not too late. Before a decision is truly final, it must be approved by the Board of Trustees. Ultimately, these are the people to whom the adminstration must answer to. The President plans to present her decision to the Board in July. If we can convince the Board to not just blindly accept these recommendations, but to look at them critically and realize the negative impact that cutting the clinical and industrial psychology programs would have, then these programs might be saved. It is not too late, but time is short. WE MUST ACT NOW.

The facts are on our side. Please take time to write or e-mail the Board of Trustees, your local papers, TV stations, radio stations, government officials, and higher education committees. Please let them know how you feel personally. You can find contact information under these links:

Board of Trustees contact information

Local Newspapers contact information

Local TV contact information

Local Radio contact information

Government Officials contact information

When writing letters or e-mails, please remember:

• In your attempt to advocate for the Psychology Department, refrain from disparaging other departments or programs across campus. Do not draw attention to the weaknesses of other programs or question decisions made by the administration to build other programs.
• Remember to maintain professionalism in your communications. It is okay to demonstrate your disappointment, passion for your training, and strong feelings about this decision. Refrain from lashing out and using ad hominem strategies to undermine the administration (no name calling).
• Be professional
• Be respectful
• Make it personal

Remember the point of writing a letter is not to blame anyone, but to convince the Board of Trustess to carefully look at the evidence and potential impact this decision would have on the students, faculty, alumni, and the community.

Status Report from WMU Department of Psychology

http://www.wmich.edu/psychology/

Petition!

We have also an online petition so you can show your support for the clinical, industrial and/or school psychology programs. Please sign it by going to: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/psychology/

You can view the signatures we've already collected here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/psychology/signatures.html

Related news articles
Updated (7/16/06):

Review leads to sweeping changes in grad programs
WMU News (May 11th): http://www.wmich.edu/wmu/news/2006/05/033.html

WMU to retool graduate programs
Kalamazoo Gazette (May 12th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1147447429322640.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7

WMU faculty chafes at proposals. Profs challenge program changes
Kalamazoo Gazette (May 15th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-17/114770659676620.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7

WMU professors call meeting on graduate program changes
Kalamazoo Gazette (May 17th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1147879423302520.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU faculty to take vote on provost
Kalamazoo Gazette (May 19th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1148052095226270.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7

WMU AAUP Membership Passes Significant Resolutions
WMU AAUP News (May 19th): http://www.wmich.edu/aaup/news/WMU-AAUP_pressRelease_Resolutions.pdf

Provost Linda Delene resigns
WMU News (May19th): http://www.wmich.edu/wmu/news/2006/05/043.html

WMU provost resigns under pressure
Kalamazoo Gazette (May 20th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1148120496205020.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7

WMU Faculty Senate denies meaningful faculty involvement in process
WMU Faculty Senate Letter (May 26th): http://wmupsy.com/senate_5_26_06.html

Proposed cut of clinical psychology program would hurt mentally ill
Kalamazoo Gazette (May 28th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1148811822234610.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Proposed changes in university programs are troubling
Kalamazoo Gazette (May 31st): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1149088808296760.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Clinical Psychology program cut devalues degrees already earned
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 1st): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1149175323254850.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Letters to the Editor: WMU's program changes surprising
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 2nd): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/114926181451450.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Letters to the Editor: Program closure affects community
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 4th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1149416425119250.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU is in serious trouble
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 5th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1149520924265130.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

AAUP Bulletin: Letter to President Bailey
AAUP Bulletin (June 6th): http://wmupsy.com/AAUP_bulletin_6_06_06.html

WMU reasons for program cuts withheld
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 10th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1149934909132160.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7

Drop Bailey, bring back WMU track, academics
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 11th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1150021293229640.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU's proposed cut of statistics doctorate disrespectful to grads
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 12th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1150125734315390.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Proposed WMU psychology program cuts have negative impact
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 12th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1150125793315390.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Clinical psychology cut at WMU hits community
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 13th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1150212072229830.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU professors request more documents
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 13th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1150212049229830.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7

WMU clinical psychology doctorate program has national reputation
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 14th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1150298632273780.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU's present turmoil appears strangely familiar
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 15th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1150384937294220.xml?kzgazette?COLM&coll=7

Industrial / Organizational Psychology Graduate Program Review appeal
(June 15th): http://wmupsy.com/io_appeal.html

Clinical Psychology Graduate Program Review appeal
(June 15th): http://wmupsy.com/clinical_appeal.html

Western at a Crossroads -Video Download
Critical Issues - Alternative Views (June 16th): http://wmupsy.com/critical issues/

Economics doctorate cut ill-advised WMU decision
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 17th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1150539623145470.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU dedicated to students despite different perspectives
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 19th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1150730522148430.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU psychology department cuts a poor decision
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 25th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1151231296317320.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU clinical psychology cut would hurt community
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 26th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1151335373208060.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Professors Appeal Cuts To Graduate Programs
WXMI-TV Fox 17 (June 26th): http://fox17.trb.com/news/062606-wxmi-wmu,0,4173037.story?coll=wxmi-news-1

WMU graduate college should support psychology degree programs
Kalamazoo Gazette (June 27th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1151421762275080.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

WMU should reconsider Spanish degree decision
Kalamazoo Gazette (July 1st): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1151749272156270.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Letters to the Editor: Faculty Senate response powerless
Kalamazoo Gazette (July 2nd): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1151835685253330.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

This community doesn't need a university political power play
Kalamazoo Gazette (July 3rd): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1151940035315350.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7

Letters to the Editor: Psychology programs strengthen university
Kalamazoo Gazette (July 5th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1152112821227370.xml?kzgazette?COLE&coll=7&thispage=2

Trustees consider changes to public comment rules
WMU News (July 6th): http://www.wmich.edu/wmu/news/2006/07/011.html

President's Decisions and Recommendations
WMU Office of the President New Release (July 7th): http://www.wmich.edu/president/gpr/

President's Message Regarding Program Decisions and Recommendations
WMU Office of the President Announcement (July 7th): http://www.wmich.edu/president/letters/20060707.html

Clinical Psychology recommendation: http://www.wmich.edu/president/gpr/maintain/02.html

I/O Psychology recommendation: http://www.wmich.edu/president/gpr/conditions/03.html

President announces results of grad program appeals
WMU News (July 7th): http://www.wmich.edu/wmu/news/2006/07/013.html

Appeals spare WMU grad programs. Eight of 11 programs cut didn't appeal to administration
Kalamazoo Gazette (July 8th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-18/115235408639050.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7&thispage=1

WMU graduate program cuts finalized
Kalamazoo Gazette (July 15th): http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1152958841254660.xml?kzgazette?NEKP&coll=7

Again, the facts are on our side. Here are the facts to help you when contacting those in a position to help:

Facts about the WMU Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program

Facts about the WMU Industrial/Organizational Psychology Master's Program

Additional facts and data

Download the clinical psychology facts sheet

The WMU Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program has been targeted for elimination by the current administration. This document shows how consideration of the facts fails to justify the decision to eliminate this established, nationally accredited, highly competitive and productive program.

WMU CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY PHD PROGRAM FACT SHEET

How the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program fares according to 10 criteria that have been put forth by the WMU Administration as critical in their determination of the strategic priorities for graduate programming at WMU.

1. External demand and competitiveness of the clinical psychology Ph.D. program
1. The nationally accredited Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program receives over 100 applicants annually from prospective graduate students from across the United States and world for 5 positions, making it an extremely competitive and in demand program.
2. Quality of student and program outcomes
1. The average GRE of students admitted to the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program is 1145, exceeding the national averages for life, physical, and social science programs collectively. The average undergraduate GPA for students admitted to the program is over 3.5. The program graduates on average 4 Ph.D.’s per year and has a 100% placement rate of students in jobs primarily in medical and academic settings both within and outside Michigan. To illustrate, we have recent graduates employed full-time in positions at DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, University of Michigan Health Services, Eastern Michigan University Department of Psychology, Boston University School of Public Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School at Amherst, Grand Valley State University, Gonzaga University, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, West Virginia University Medical School, and University of North Carolina to illustrate a few.
2. Responses (n=19/25) from a 2006 survey of recent alumni (2000-2005) indicated that their mean rating of the quality of graduate education in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program was 4.2 (1=very poor; 5=excellent). Alumni reported a diverse range of professional activities including direct clinical service, research and evaluation, supervision, program planning or administration, and classroom teaching. Seventy nine percent of respondents reported that they had published a scholarly paper since graduating from WMU, 100% had delivered a professional presentation, 68% had obtained professional licensure, and 37% had been awarded a grant or contract.
3. Quality of program administration and planning
1. The program has been fully accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1991, received the highest ratings possible from Dr. Thomas Kent, Dean College of Arts & Sciences, during the WMU Graduate Program review, has awarded 21 Ph.D.s in the past 5 years, and has an average time to graduation that is below national averages. These data speak to the effective administration, careful planning, and well-designed curriculum of the program. This curriculum has received high marks/judgments from external APA reviewers in the last site visit report.
2. The program has a well articulated mission statement and has been held up as exemplary with respect to program administration and planning. In addition to allowing rigorous self-assessment to guide on-going program improvement, the strategies used within the program have been commended and adopted by other programs across the university. For example, several graduate programs across campus have implemented the annual graduate student review process developed by members of the clinical faculty to monitor and provide feedback on specific curriculum-based milestones.
4. Compelling program factor
1. The WMU clinical psychology program is one of a handful of Ph.D. clinical programs in Michigan and boasts a strong behavioral science emphasis and specific mission to train students in the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based psychological interventions. This mission is consistent with the national and worldwide movement to develop and implement empirically established best practices that is becoming widespread in medicine and related health care disciplines. In addition, because of our moderate size, clinical faculty is directly involved in all aspects of a graduate student’s training: graduate teaching, clinical supervision, and research mentorship and thus, develop strong connections with students both personally and professionally, epitomizing the student-centered research university mission of WMU.
5. Size, scope, and program productivity with number of students and faculty research/scholarship results
1. The clinical faculty is comprised of five full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty and two half-time tenured faculty, mentoring approximately 30-35 matriculated students. During 2004-2005 clinical psychology graduate students participated in 65 professional presentations or scholarly publications and upon graduation 100% of students have collaborated with faculty on these activities. Program faculty are also highly productive, contributing 63 professional publications and presentations in 2004-05. These data indicate high professional productivity and regular student-faculty collaboration.
6. Impact, justification, and essentiality of the program
1. Loss of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program will result in a reduction in grants and contracts, which currently total $265,000 per year. In addition, numerous clinical services provided to residents of the greater Kalamazoo region will be eliminated or reduced, including: closing the WMU Psychology Clinic, which provides ~1300 hours/year of clinical services to ~180 clients who are often uninsured and have minimal financial means; loss of sex offender services, loss of depression treatment programs in Kalamazoo and Vicksburg Public Schools, curtailed services to autistic children, lost connections with Kalamazoo County Mental Health, US Probations Office, etc.
7. Opportunity analysis for interdisciplinary or new program opportunities
1. The clinical program is actively involved in the community and has made many contacts with other disciplines in the greater Kalamazoo region. Faculty sit on interdisciplinary assessment teams, work on projects with Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Van Buren/Cass County mental health practitioners, collaborate with school administrators and personnel in Kalamazoo and Vicksburg, substance abuse treatment providers in Kalamazoo, and Michigan State Prisons in Coldwater, Ionia, Jackson, and Muskegon.
8. Need to focus on programs with strong health care relevance
1. Using disability adjusted life years, major depression ranks second only to ischemic heart disease in magnitude of disease burden in established market economies. In addition, projections suggest mental illnesses will account for 15 percent of the total global disease burden by 2020 (NIMH Fact Sheet, 2001). The Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program is active in training, developing, and conducting scientific research evaluating interventions for depression and a variety of other mental disorders in children, teens, and adults (e.g., autism, Aspergers, conduct disorders, ADHD, PTSD, personality disorders). For instance, we have several ongoing clinical outcome studies in child and adult depression treatment, including a 1.2 million dollar grant. The director of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program also sits on the Evidence Based Task Force for the Michigan Department of Community Health as well as the Scientific Advisory Panel on Children’s Mental Health Treatment for Clinton, Eaton, and Ingam Community Mental Health contributing to the quality of mental health services offered to Michiganders. Another faculty member is on the Board of Directors at Residential Opportunities Inc., an organization that provides services for individuals with disabilities in southwest Michigan. In addition to mental disorders, clinical psychology students and faculty are also actively engaged in research and scholarship targeting physical health problems and social ills that compromise the quality of life for the citizens of Michigan (e.g., smoking cessation, sexual victimization, sexual offending, compliance with asthma and diabetes medical regimens, etc.). Across all of these domains, the Clinical Psychology program is unique regionally and nationally in its consistent emphasis on the use of interventions the American Psychological Association has identified as having strong scientific support .
9. There should be an intimate relationship between undergraduate and graduate education.
1. The Psychology Department is home to a high demand undergraduate program that averages over 800 majors. Currently undergraduate students interested in careers in the clinical area can take courses in Abnormal Psychology, Abnormal Child Psychology, Introduction to Clinical Psychology, Health Psychology, Human Sexuality, Psychology of Aging, Forensic Psychology, and Cross-Cultural Psychology. These courses are taught by clinical faculty and clinical graduate students that not only have past experience in these areas, but are actively working in, contributing to, and conducting research in these areas. In addition, without the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program, the number of opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in sophisticated clinical research and to conduct related honors theses (activities critical to becoming prepared for graduate study in clinical psychology and for making oneself marketable the highly competitive admissions process) will be significantly reduced. The elimination of the program will also likely result in the loss of undergraduate practicum opportunities at local sites such as Center for Autism, Lakeside Home for Boys and Girls, Gerontology Assessment Center, Residential Opportunities, the ARK, Gryphon Place, Family Independence Agency, YWCA Sexual Assault Center, among others.
10. The Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program requires too many financial resources to maintain
1. No detailed accounting of the excessive cost of the clinical psychology program has been presented to the clinical program or Psychology Department by the administration. But based on the typical GA/DA allocations made to the clinical program, the 7000+ undergraduate student credit hours generated by clinical graduate students teaching undergraduate courses each year results in revenue totaling over 2.6 million dollars. The cost to WMU for graduate assistantships allocated to the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program is only $200,084. This represents a substantial rate of return on investment. Furthermore, the total amount of revenue, excluding any grants or contracts, generated by the Psychology Department as a whole is nearly 7.3 million dollars with total personnel costs of 3.2 million dollars. Clearly, the department is an asset rather than a financial liability to the university. Any high demand Ph.D. program will require graduate assistantship support and laboratories. Those used by the Clinical Program are fully in line with what might be expected of any competent training program; and considerably less than those required of other natural sciences.

Using the criteria articulated by the WMU upper administration it is hard to fathom a rationale for eliminating the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. Furthermore, no attempt to problem solve with the program to consider less drastic measures was undertaken by the administration. What if the administration is wrong in its assessment and the American Psychological Association, Dean Kent, thousands of applicants, a hundred graduates, and several dozen current students are right? Elimination is permanent, other options exist, let’s explore them.

Download the industrial psychology facts sheet

The WMU Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology master’s program has been targeted for elimination by the current administration. This document shows how consideration of the facts fails to justify the decision to eliminate this established, highly competitive and productive program.

WMU INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY MASTER’S PROGRAM FACT SHEET

How the I/O Psychology M.A. Program fares according to 10 criteria that have put forth by the WMU Administration as critical in their determination of the strategic priorities for graduate programming at WMU.

1. External demand and competitiveness of the I/O Psychology M.A. program
1. The I/O Psychology program is widely recognized as the premier behaviorally oriented I/O Psychology program in the U.S. and is the first choice of students seeking training in the application of evidence-based interventions to improve human performance in business and industry. The program receives an average of 27 applications per year and admits an average of 6 students. These numbers are comparable to other I/O Master’s programs nationwide with a median of 30 applications per year and a median of 8 enrollments. Nationally, the number of I/O Psychology MA programs has been growing at a rate of 30%, with applications increasing 40%.
2. Quality of student and program outcomes
1. The average GRE (V+Q) scores for matriculating I/O MA students over the past two years was 1106, with an average GPA of 3.72. These averages are higher than the national median GRE and GPA scores for MA psychology programs (1050 and 3.4, respectively). The I/O Psychology program has had 0% attrition over the past five years with 50% of students entering our doctoral program in behavior analysis; all MA students who applied to doctoral programs were accepted. A recent survey of program alumni revealed that 100% of respondents are employed in occupations relevant to their degrees and their mean rating of the overall quality of the program was 4.67 (on a 5-point scale with 5 as the top rating).
3. Quality of program administration and planning
1. During the recent WMU Graduate Program Review process, the program received a rating of 4 out of 5 (a rating corresponding to “Superior Program/Enhance and Develop”) from WMU’s independent Graduate Program Review Team. In the past 5 years the program has awarded 18 master’s degrees with 0% attrition and program faculty have supervised 11 Ph.D.s (in the Behavior Analysis program). The program also conducts a formal graduate student review process every year and recently hired a faculty member specializing in web-based training technologies in response to market demand. These data reflect the careful administration and planning of an efficient, adaptive, and successful graduate program.
4. Compelling program factor
1. WMU’s I/O Psychology program is considered to be the premier program in I/O psychology with a behavioral science emphasis, and is the first choice of students seeking such training. The program has become the control center for the field of organizational behavior management. The Organizational Behavior Management Network, the field’s main professional organization, is housed in the Psychology Department and staffed by our students and faculty. Faculty have also assumed a leadership role in the flagship journal of the field, the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (recently ranked 3 rd among all applied psychology journals in terms of impact), with all five faculty members serving as editors or members of the editorial board.
5. Size, scope, and program productivity with number of students and faculty research/scholarship results
1. The I/O faculty is comprised of four full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty and one full-time term faculty member, currently mentoring 10 M.A. students and 9 Ph.D. students with an I/O emphasis in the Behavior Analysis program. From 2000 to 2005, I/O psychology faculty authored 116 publications (80 with student co-authors) and made 139 professional presentations (135 with student co-presenters). In 2004-05, 50% of our MA students had publications (N=6) and 83% gave presentations (N=13). These data indicate high professional productivity and regular student-faculty collaboration.
6. Impact, justification, and essentiality of the program
1. The I/O psychology program has been in existence since the late 1950s and has emerged as the premier I/O graduate program with an emphasis on organizational behavior management. Faculty and students in the program have consulted and collaborated with well over 80 local and international organizations to improve occupational safety, training systems, organizational culture, and operational efficiency. Last year 100% of our 14 MA students were engaged in applied work with local business organizations. Loss of the I/O program will result in a marked decrease in WMU’s involvement and visibility in the local community.
7. Opportunity analysis for interdisciplinary or new program opportunities
1. The I/O program is actively involved in the community and would like to extend existing long-term relationships with local businesses such as Pfizer, Consumers Energy, and Bronson Hospital. We would like to increase our research involvement with these organizations and develop on-going internship programs with them. These expanded liaisons would contribute to the research and academic training mission of the I/O program and WMU, provide additional funding opportunities for students, and also contribute to the economic development of Michigan.
8. Advance existing quality in health and human services
1. It has been estimated that the annual direct cost to U.S. employers from injuries to their workers exceeds $200 billion, and indirect costs are typically 3-5 times direct costs. Behavioral science technology is widely recognized as a primary approach in reducing work-related injury. As a local recent example, a safety project conducted by I/O students in WMU Dining Services resulted in a 50% decrease in injuries (and $20,000 in related costs) after one year of application. A similar safety process at several Hercules International plants resulted in a 50% reduction of injuries at the corporate level. In Bronson Hospital, an intervention increased the safe passing of surgical instruments during surgery from 38% to over 80% of the time. This work significantly reduced surgical injuries and costs.
9. There should be an intimate relationship between undergraduate and graduate education.
1. The Psychology Department is home to a high demand undergraduate program that averages over 800 majors. Currently undergraduate students interested in careers in industrial/organizational psychology can take courses in Industrial/Organizational Behavior, Behavior-Based Safety, and a practicum in I/O psychology. These courses are taught by I/O faculty and graduate students that not only have past experience in these areas, but are actively working in, contributing to, and conducting research in these areas. In addition, without the I/O master’s program, the number of opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in sophisticated organizational research and to conduct related honors theses (activities critical to becoming prepared for graduate study in I/O psychology and for making oneself competitive the highly competitive admissions process) will be significantly reduced.
10. The I/O Psychology master’s program requires too many financial resources to maintain
1. No detailed accounting of the excessive cost of the I/O psychology program has been presented to the program or Psychology Department. Based on the typical GA/DA allocations made to the program, the 720 undergraduate student credit hours generated by I/O graduate students teaching undergraduate courses each year more than pays for the GA/DA positions allocated to support the I/O program. The graduate students generate 720 credit hours annually, with a revenue of $154, 504.48. The total I/O DA/GA budget is $70,374, thus yielding a return on investment of more than 2:1. I/O faculty generate 1,425 undergraduate and 465 graduate credit hours per year

More facts and data

I/O Psychology GPR appeal
I/O psych's response to the GPR decision

Tuition & Grants Revenue
Shows that psychology ranks 11th out of 70 in terms of tuitions and grants brought to the university.

Grand Expense Revenue
The psychology program ranks 6th for net income brought into the university. That is, the money we bring in after you subtract all the money we cost.

Doctorate Degrees Awarded
This data sheet shows that psychology graduates more doctorates than any other programs at WMU!

Direct Instruction Expenditure
Closely look across the bottom and you'll see the psychology program is one of the least expensive for the university.

Bachelors Degrees Awarded
Out of the 57 programs listed, psychology has the 7th highest number of bachelor degrees awarded.

Misc. Graphs
Seven graphs highlighting psychology's financial and academic performance in comparison to other programs. Please note that psychology ranks between average and excellent on all measures.

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