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S.92-25

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Office of the Vice-President Academic

MEMORANDUM

To:

Senate

Subject: ?

Department of Psychology

Graduate Calendar changes

From:

Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Academic Planning and the Senate

Graduate Studies Committee, gives rise to the following motion:

Motion ?

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors as set forth in S.92-25 the changes in the M.A. degree

requirements in the Experimental Psychology Program.

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2. Change in MA Degree Requirements Experimental Program 

a)

Expectations re 

g ardin 

g

course scheduling 

Current Calendar Entry - 

p.

269

"Students are expected to complete PSYC 910, 911, and the 

four subject courses in the first year of the program and 

PSYC 898 (MA Thesis) in the second year." 

Pro posed 

Calendar Entry 

"In the first year of the program, students are expected to 

complete PSYC 910, 911, and at least two of the four subject 

courses, and to initiate work in PSYC 898 (MA Thesis). 

Remaining subject courses and PSYC 898 should be completed 

in he second year." 

Rationale 

We feel that graduate students should become active in 

research as soon as they enter the program. However, many 

students find that the first-year workload under current 

•

?

requirements effectively prevents them starting their MA 

research until the second year. Allowing coursework to be 

spread more evenly over the two year period will ameliorate 

the problem. 

b)

Course substitution 

Pro p 

osed Calendar Addition 

At the end of the penultimate paragraph in column 1, page 

269, add: 

"Students are permitted to substitute for one, and only one, 

of the required subject courses. The substitute course must 

be a) another approved graduate course offered by the 

Psychology Department, or b) an approved graduate course 

from another department or institution. Requests for 

substitution must be supported by the student's Senior 

Supervisor, and must be submitted in advance for approval to 

the departmental Graduate Program Committee." 

Rationale 

.

From time to time, it is appropriate' for students to 

take a course additional to those required. The need 

to maintain an appropriate bàlanOe between coursework 

and research in the MA Program makes it reasonable to 

treat such a course as a substitute rather than an 

addition. 

Change of Credit Hours 

We recommend that the credit value of the all 

experimental subject course proseminars (700-level) and 

seminars (900-level) be increased from 3 to 5: PSYC 

705, 715, 720, 725, 730, 740, 744, 750, 760, 710, 780, 

785, 915, 920, 925, 930, 935, 940, 944, 950, 960,-965, 

970, 980, 985. 

Rationale 

When the 700-level proseininars were established, the 

Department was undecided whether they should be valued 

at 3 or 5 credits. The amount of work 

,

involved pointed 

to 5, but we were reluctant to allow the total number 

of credits for the 6 courses required of students in 

the' 'Experimental Psychology MA Program to be as high as 

30. We chose to specify the credit as 3 hours, and 

'scheduled the courses for 3 contact hours. The same' 

'concerns led to the 90b-seiuinars being valued at 3 

'credits, even though-these courses are'usüálly 

'

scheduled for 5 hours (they are typically paired with 

400-level undergraduate seminars that have 5 contact 

and credit hours). In the event, the amount of work 

required in these graduate courses clearly warrants 5 

credits. If this recommendation is approved, all the 

above-listed courses will be scheduled for 5 hours. 

Although it will increase the number of contact hours, 

the move will be welcomed by students in the 

Experimental MA Program who have expressed the need for 

a greater opportunity for classroom discussion in their 

courses. 

\grad4 \cal revs 

'*Students are permitted to substitute for, and only

one, of the required subject courses. The substitute

course rust be a) another approved graduate course

offered by the Psychology Department, or b) an approved

graduate course f roe another department or institution.

Requests for substitution must be supported by the

student's Senior Supervisor, and rust be submitted in

advance

Program Committee.*-

for approval to the departmental Graduate

13.

I'—'.,

r ? -

counted towards the 24 hours of Psychology.

—L 1 - ?

For further admission requirements, refer to the

Graduate General Regula-

tions, and the experimental and clinical programs described below.

Application as Special Student

_ IL_ 1 ?

Admission requirements for Special Students are outlined in the

Graduate

GeneralRegulations.

Application as Special Student must be submitted to the

Graduate Program Assistant in the department. Students seeking admission

as a Special Student must obtain written permission from the instructor of each

course they wish to take, and submit it, along with transcripts of previous

university work, no later than ONE month prior to the semester in which they

plan to undertake the proposed course of study. Special Students taking

J!P'

graduate courses in Psychology must obtain a minimum grade of B- in each

course taken during a given semester in order to be admitted as a Special

• . Student in subsequent semesters.

Supervisor

The department will appoint an initial faculty supervisor for each incoming

- 1.... ?

student in his or her area of interest. Students must select a senior supervisor

from the available faculty in the department by the end of their first semester.

Satisfactory Performance

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The progress of each student will be assessed at least once a year by the

department. A student must maintain a Grade Point Average of 3.0 (see

Graduate General Regulations).

In addition, a course grade of less than B is not

considered satisfactory at the graduate level. Any student who obtains a grade

of less than B in two or more courses may be required to withdraw from the

— ?

program. MA students are expected to complete their MA thesis within two

years of entrance to the MA program. PhD students are expected to complete

their PhD thesis within four years of entrance to the PhD program.

Program in Experimental Psychology

The PhD program in experimental Psychology provides students with spe-

cialized training in the areas of biological, cognitive, developmental, and social

psychology. However, other programs may be tailored to meet the specific

interests of individual students.

i s

Admission

All applicants are required to submit scores on the Graduate Record Exami-

nation (verbal, quantitative, analytical, advanced psychology sections), official

transcripts, three letters of academic reference and a statement of purpose.

-- Students admitted with a Bachelor's degree must complete the Master's

program requirements (first two years) prior to admission to the PhD program.

Students transferring from other graduate programs may petition the depart-

ment for credit for equivalent courses.

Degree Requirements

Students admitted to the experimental program with a Bachelor's degree are

required to obtain satisfactory performance in PSYC 910 (Research Design I),

calendar

PSYC 911 (Research Design II), and four subject courses, and to complete an

the

expected

should

four

(II?.

Thesis).

first

subject

couplet.

tsar

coepl.ted

courses

Rsziaini

PSYC

f the

prose,

and

910,

the

subject

second

911,

initiate

Students

courses

5nd

year.

Work

and

are

least

pSyc

two

Psyc

iupeMiF[o take other courses, including the core courses (PSYC 600,601,

602, and 603).

All subject courses, as well as all other courses numbered 915 or higher, will

cover specific topics In depth within a general area, and may vary in content

from year to year, reflecting the major issues in the different areas. For this

reason, students may register for each course more than once. For example,

PSYC 925 may appear three times on atranscnpt once as PSYC 925 Cognitive

Processes (Human Memory), again as PSYC 925 Cognitive Processes (Cate-

gorization P asses), and again as PSYC 925 Cognitive Processes (Problem

Solving). <

After successful completion of these courses andthe MA thesis, students

may then be admitted to the PhD program. PhD students are required to take

two subject courses (in addition to those taken for the MA degree), and

complete comprehensive examinations and a doctoral dissertation. Normally,

the two subject courses will be in the student's area of specialization. Students

admitted to the PhD program after having completed their MA at another

Graduate Arts - Psychology 269

Supervisory

Committees

the end of their first Semester In the program. The MA Supervisory Committee

will consist of at least two faculty members from the Psychology Department,

one of whom will be the Senior Supervisor and Chair of the Committee. Other

faculty outside the department who are considered necessary by the student

and Senior Supervisor may serve on the committee. The PhD Supervisory

Committee should be established by the end of the first semester following

admission to the PhD program. Students are required to choose a faculty

member iii the Psychology Department as the Senior SupeMsor and Chair of

the PhD Supervisory Committee and two or more additional members. At least

an esig spects of the dissertation research.

MA Thesis

The Master's thesis is expected to be a piece of research of high quality.

Ordinarily the research will involve the collection and analysis of empirical data.

However, on occasion, non-empirical research of special merit will be ac-

cepted. In such cases, the Graduate Studies Committee should be informed in

writing of the intent.

All students are required to present a written thesis proposal

thölr Senior

Supervisor before the end of their fourth semester in the program. After the

thesis has been submitted, an oral defence will be scheduled. This defense will

focus on the problems, methods, results

the research, and the relation of its

finding to major trends and current theoretical problems in psychology. Stu-

dents are expected to have completed their MA thesis by the end of their second

year in the program. For further information and regulations, refer to the

Graduate General Regulétions.

PhD Comprehensive Examination

A committee consisting of the candidate's PhD SupervisOry Committee and

faculty members in areas related to the candidate's major interests will set a

written PhD Comprehensive Examination appropriate to the candidate's par-

ticular program. The examination cannot be taken before successful cOmple-

tion of the course requirements and the MA thesis but must be taken withiA four

years of admission to the PhD program. It may be retaken only once.

PhD Dissertation

Before starting dissertation research, the candidate will present a formal

proposal for evaluation. The presentation will be made at a meeting open to all

members of the Department of Psychology. The candidate is required to

present a dissertation proposal before the end of the second year In the

program, and is expected to complete the PhD dissertation within four years of

entrance to the program. The completed dissertation will be defended in oral

examination. Judgement will be made by an examining committee. For further

information and regulations, refer to the

Graduate General Regulations.

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