The Psychology Department: Overview & History

Overview The Department of Psychology offers a Doctor of Philosophy program, plus a Master of Arts for those who wish to incorporate an M.A. into their doctoral program, and a B.A. The five areas of specialization available are biopsychology, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, and social-personality psychology.
Graduate and undergraduate study in psychology at the University at Albany provides the student with excellent research facilities and opportunities, flexible, individualized courses of study, and a productive faculty working closely with students in a wide range of areas. The University at Albany has a large and vital community of psychologists consisting of 31 faculty members and over 100 graduate students, as well as a large undergraduate program. There are also nearly 60 psychologists working in other departments at the University -- from business to biology to criminal justice. University-wide events and colloquia by visiting psychologists add to the on-going interchange of knowledge and expertise among these individuals. For research, students have access to an electronics shop and technician, animal laboratories, specialized equipment from videotape recorders and monitors to biofeedback devices, space for the study of individual and group behavior, as well as the University's Computing Center with its several mainframe, and minicomputer systems running VM/CMS, VMS, and UNIX, and many professional consultants. Ethernet connectivity permits a wide array of networking of computers in laboratories and offices.
Department History Psychology as an academic discipline has been a part of the University at Albany throughout its existence. It entered the organization chart of the Teachers College sometime in the early 50's as the combined Department of Philosophy and Psychology and shortly thereafter became a separate department. In the late 50's, it became a part of the newly organized College of Arts and Sciences, where it has remained, except for the period, ending in 1993, when that College was divided into three separate Colleges and Psychology was incorporated into the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. From a faculty of three in the mid 50's, the department grew to a high of 36 before leveling off at its current number, 29, with most of the faculty added between 1975 and 1985. Bachelors degrees in Psychology have been awarded throughout most of the long history of the Department, Master's since the late 50's and Ph.D.s since the late 60's. Initially, advanced degrees were offered only in General Psychology. Program differentiation at the graduate level began in 1970 with the formal organization of the Ph. D. programs in Clinical and in Social Psychology, later retitled the Social-Personality program. The Experimental program that remained was later separated into the Biopsychology and the Cognitive programs. The Industrial-Organizational area, originally a subspeciality in the Social-Personality area, achieved program status in 1990. About 100 graduate students are enrolled in the five graduate programs each year. In addition, the Department serves approximately 800 undergraduate majors and enrolls about 2500 students in undergraduate courses each semester. From modest beginnings, the Department has grown into one of the largest and strongest departments on campus. In addition, at the graduate level it has achieved a national and even international reputation for excellence in education and research. This visibility recognizes that the department is a highly productive group of scientists, who produce high quality work, and attract considerable funding for that work from federal, state and local agencies.