Practica Information
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Practica Information
Sections
- Descriptions
- Enrollment Process
- Forms
- Departmental Practica
- Off-Campus Practica
- Designing Your Own Practicum
Descriptions
All Western Michigan University Psychology majors are required to complete a 3-credit practicum which provides an opportunity for students to use their knowledge in an applied setting. Students can choose an existing departmental practicum or they can design their own if they propose a suitable site. Students who opt to design their own practicum should refer to the guidelines specified here.
Attention: Students who will be in direct contact with children under 18 in research or practicum activities (NOTE: WoodsEdge Practicum does not need to do this)
According to state law if your selected practicum or research experience will put you into direct contact with any children, you must have a Central Registry Check completed to screen your background for prior history of child abuse or neglect.
You must complete the Background Check Form and mail it to the Family Independence Agency at the address listed in the return address portion of the letter. In approximately 2-3 weeks you will receive the results of your background check. You must turn in a copy of those results attached to your permission to elect form or your faculty instructor will not grant permission to take the credits. You will need to have a photocopy of your results for each separate course enrollment that brings you in contact with children. You don't have to have a new screening done each time but you do need to have a photocopy of your old one. Background Check Form link.
Enrollment Process
Practicum will not count for credit unless you are registered prior to completing the work. Some practica require different steps be taken in order to enroll for the course. To ensure that you are properly enrolled in a practicum, complete the following steps. If you have any questions, please contact a Psychology Undergraduate Advisor.
Psy 3570: Autism Practicum: The course call number is listed in the course catalog and can be added to your schedule like any other class.
Any of the Psy 3970s (Departmental Practica with off-campus Supervisors: You must complete a Permission to Elect and Background Check form (if applicable). Forms can be downloaded from the website or picked up at the Undergraduate Advising Office, 2124 Wood Hall, or the Psychology Main Office, 3700 Wood Hall. These forms should be completed by:
- September/October if you plan on doing your practicum in the Spring semester
- January/February if you plan on doing your practicum in the Fall semester or Summer semesters.
* You must contact the Faculty member sponsor or graduate student coordinator and the off-campus sponsor to find out if there are positions available for the semester you plan on enrolling for the practicum.
* You must complete the Permission to Elect form and get the necessary signatures (i.e., faculty, supervisor, undergraduate advisor). If applicable, you must have a background check completed and show a copy of the background check to your faculty sponsor before s/he will sign your Permission to Elect form.
YOUR PERMISSION TO ELECT FORM MUST BE COMPLETED AND RETURNED TO THE UNDERGRADUATE ADVISORS BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE PRACTICUM IN ORDER FOR THIS EXPERIENCE TO COUNT AS PRACTICUM CREDIT.
A student designed practicum:
If you plan on designing your own practicum, you must pick up a copy of the Student Designed Practicum handout, Permission to Elect form, and Background Check form (if applicable) at the Undergraduate Advising Office. The Student Designed Practicum handout covers the procedures you will need to follow to set up your own practicum.
YOUR PERMISSION TO ELECT FORM MUST BE COMPLETED AND RETURNED TO THE UNDERGRADUATE ADVISORS BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE PRACTICUM IN ORDER FOR THIS EXPERIENCE TO COUNT AS PRACTICUM CREDIT.
Note: Student designed practica require more work to establish, and, therefore, planning should occur well in advance of the semester in which you would like to enroll for the practica.
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1. See Psychology Undergraduate Advisor to discuss practicum opportunities |
Departmental Practica
PSY 3570: Early Childhood Developmental Delays (WoodsEdge)
| Site: | WoodsEdge Learning Center-approximately 5.5 miles from campus |
| Description: | This practicum involves working with a young child diagnosed with autism. These children often display minimal functional behavior. Students will be assigned to a child and will work on increasing functional behaviors. The class meets five days per week at WoodsEdge for two hours. The seminar meets for two hours once a week. Outstanding students have the opportunity to participate in an advanced autism practicum in the next semester after completion of PSY 3570. Students can also opt to take this practicum as an elective and complete another for practicum credit. |
| Prerequisites: | PSY 1400 with minimum grade of B |
| Registration: | The course is listed as PSY 3570 in the course catalog and can be added to your schedule just like any other class. |
| Contact: | The BATS Lab at 387-4491 |
Off-Campus Practica
The department has already developed several practica with off-campus supervisors. These practica are not always available and may require the student to contact both a faculty member sponsor and the off-campus sponsor. Space is very limited with these practica sites and many of the locations require lengthy and exhaustive application procedures, intensive training and large time commitments. Please refer to the individual listings below for information.
PSY 3970: I/O and Health Psychology Practicum
| Site: | Bronson Methodist Hospital-approximately 2 miles from campus |
| Description: | Students work in a hospital setting to promote better safety practices among staff. Student observations and analysis are used to increase the quality of care given to patients by reducing the spread of hospital-acquired infections. Students write an APA formatted paper, with individualized assistance, based on their observations and present their recommendations to a Bronson Hospital safety committee. Students get experience in both industrial/organizational psychology and health psychology while working in a Level 1 trauma hospital. Bronson Methodist Hospital is one of the few hospitals in the country to receive the annual Baldrige National Quality Award for performance excellence and quality in health care, and has been named as one of the nation's top 100 hospitals by Thomson Reuters. Because the hospital is open 24/7, hours are very flexible and can be arranged around work and academic schedules. Students must provide own transportation and be available 15 hours per week. |
| Prerequisites: | PSY 1400 (or 3600) and PSY 3300 |
| Contact: | Dr. Alyce Dickinson at alyce.dickinson@wmich.edu |
PSY 3970: Crisis Intervention Hotline Practicum
| Site: | Gryphon Place |
| Description: | Students receive intensive training in answering Crisis Intervention Hotline calls. After completing practicum requirements, students may go on to be Crisis Intervention Hotline volunteers. Students must complete 135 hours of training to complete practicum requirements, but Gryphon Place may require 200 hours to become a volunteer. Training is intensive and not all students will be accepted if they do not demonstrate the necessary skills. However, no previous experience is required. |
| Prerequisites: | Applying and passing the screening and training process. |
| Contact: | Dr. Lester Wright at 387-4472 or lester.wright@wmich.edu |
PSY 3970: Youth Shelter Practicum
| Site: | The ARK |
| Description: | Students assist crisis workers at a shelter for runaway youth in creating a therapeutic environment that will motivate youth to resolve problems and effect positive changes in attitudes, values, and behavior. A minimum of 135 hours is required for 3 credit hours. Hours are flexible, and there is an informal training period. In order to complete all necessary paperwork, you must contact ARK at least 2 months before the beginning of the semester in which you plan to do your practicum. |
| Prerequisites: | One previous course taught by Dr. Wright |
| Contact: | Dr. Lester Wright at 387-4472 or lester.wright@wmich.edu |
PSY 3970: Adult Residential Care Practicum
| Site: | HomeLife, Inc. |
| Description: | This program provides services to adults with traumatic brain injuries, mental illness, and other neurological impairments. HomeLife’s mission includes providing a structured, homelike environment with the least restrictive environment possible. This organization focuses on teaching residents more socially appropriate, normalized behaviors. Students will gain valuable experience working with this population and will assist with conducting functional assessments and implementing behavioral interventions. In addition, students can gain experience running groups that focus on daily living skills. The HomeLife program runs daily and students can set up practicum hours between 7am-11pm. Minimum requirements for the position include being over the age of 18, having a clean criminal history and possessing a valid driver’s license. You can visit HomeLife’s website at www.talkhome.net for more information. |
| Prerequisites: | PSY 1000, 1600, 2500 |
| Contact: | Dr. Lester Wright at 387-4472 or lester.wright@wmich.edu. You may also contact Joel Parish, M.A., a Behavior Analyst at HomeLife, at for more information. Please note that you must contact Dr. Wright to arrange the practicum as he serves as the faculty advisor for this practicum experience. |
PSY 3970: Domestic and Sexual Assault Practicum
| Site: | Kalamazoo YWCA |
| Description: | Students can complete their practicum at the YWCA sexual assault and domestic assault program. The duties will vary depending upon how long the student works there and the student’s hours of availability. Typical duties revolve around assisting in domestic and sexual assault crisis services, which might involve: answering crisis calls, addressing shelter resident inquires, helping with personal care needs, observing trained Victim Advocate staff in the delivery of service, being on call to provide supportive listening and assistance to survivors of sexual assault at hospitals in Kalamazoo or the YWCA nurse examiner site, attending court proceedings to support survivors, learning how to complete a Personal Protection Order, conducting intakes and assessments for the survivors, assisting with development of marketing materials for crisis services, and providing clerical support for YWCA programming. |
| Prerequisites: | PSY 1000, 1600, 2500 |
| Contact: | Dr. Lester Wright at 387-4472 or lester.wright@wmich.edu |
PSY 3970: Sexual Health Peer Education Practicum
| Site: | Sindecuse Health Center |
| Description: | Students provide information regarding prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, contraception and responsible sexual behavior to other students using many different methods of outreach and education. |
| Prerequisites: | Students are selected by interview and/or audition. Applications are due in early March. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. |
| Contact: | Dr. Lester Wright at 387-4472 or lester.wright@wmich.edu |
Designing Your Own Practicum
Overview: The Psychology Department recognizes that many of our students are involved in volunteer and work activities which are valuable learning experiences. In order to offer students a broad range of options to complete their practica requirement, the department has established a student designed practica listed as PSY 397.
Student designed practica require more work to establish, and, therefore, planning should occur well in advance of the semester in which you would like to enroll for the practicum. Part of the requirements are to establish adequate supervision for the experience. Two supervisors are required: the first a direct, on-site supervisor and the second a faculty sponsor within the department. Each faculty member has their own expectations for their practica students and the listings below are the minimums that are adopted. At the end of the semester, the faculty sponsor will evaluate your performance using feedback elicited from the on-site supervisor. The grade you earn will be determined by this feedback.
Requirements: These requirements were developed to ensure a level of consistency between student designed practica and established sites. All practica must meet these minimum requirements in order to be approved.
- The work should be "psychological" in nature.
- The supervisor should have a graduate degree in psychology or a relevant field.
- A written job description should be provided to the faculty sponsor before the semester begins.
- The on-site supervisor should meet with the student on at least a weekly basis.
- The on-site supervisor must provide a written evaluation to the faculty sponsor.
- The student must complete a minimum of 135 hours during the semester. This breaks down as follows:
- Fall Semester/Spring Semester: approximately 10 hours/week
- Summer I/Summer II Sessions: approximately 20 hours/week
Procedure: Planning should begin early as it can take some time to obtain the necessary signatures in order to enroll. In order for the process to be as efficient as possible, please follow the steps below in order:
- Ensure that the potential practicum would meet the requirements listed above.
- Arrange for a person at the potential practicum site to serve as your on-site supervisor.
- Present your idea to a Psychology Department faculty member and ask them to serve as your faculty sponsor.
- Collaborate with that faculty member to determine the requirements for your individual practicum.
- Obtain a Permission To Elect form from the Undergraduate Advisor. The office is located in 2124 Wood Hall.
- Obtain the signatures necessary on the form and ensure that the entire form is accurately and completely filled out.
- Return the Permission to Elect form to the Undergraduate Advisor who will then register you for the course. This must be completed prior to beginning the practicum work in order to receive credit.
If you have any questions about any features of a student-designed practica, do not hesitate to contact the Undergraduate Advisor at 387-4475, via email at psy-advising@wmich.edu or stop by room 2124 Wood Hall.