Psychology News
Hey everyone! This article is coming from your Psychology representatives for the 2010/2011 school year, Shaila Sardar (fourth year) and Nasima Mehraban (second year). We want to talk a little bit about what we’ve done as student representatives since September. To begin, both of us sit on the Psychology Curriculum Committee, which meets every couple of months and discusses areas of improvement for the program. The Program Head, David Danto, staff members and Professors are part of this Committee. It has been thoroughly enjoyable to participate in such meetings, and it has given us a more thorough perspective on what changes can be made to the program so as to enhance the student experience.
There have also been a few events, and while some have been directed at Psychology students, all students have been welcome to attend. We held a Movie Night event in the evening where we showed Rain Man in Screening Room B and provided dinner (pizza, snacks, and drinks). Since a new Program Head for Psychology was appointed over the summer, we also held a meet-and-greet with similar refreshments. A guest speaker, Lori Dunne, came to the campus from St Leonard’s Place Peel, which is a halfway house providing long-term residential care for males who have had issues in the mental health and/or corrections field.
There have been issues in terms of attendance for our events, and we would like to address that by giving suggestions for ways to alleviate this problem. If you have a club and are planning an event to be held on-campus, there are many things to consider: room bookings, food budgeting, advertising (e.g., posters, flyers, mass e-mails sent out by Student Life), guest speakers, finding the right day and time, and having available funding. Keep track of your expenses and retain all receipts in order to be reimbursed by HSF. Even small events can require quite a bit of planning and preparation. It can be difficult to plan events alone, so recruit help from fellow club members or friends. They may have connections to outside resources that could save you time and money as well.
In terms of future events, we would like to continue to bring guest lecturers to campus and have a mix-and-mingle event where all years of the Psychology program can get to know each other and network.
Lastly, if you have any questions, comments or concerns in regards to the Psychology Curriculum Committee, event planning, or activities that you would like us to put forth, feel free to e-mail your Psychology reps! We’d love to hear from you.
