~written by Dr. Kathy Johnson, Professor and Chair of Psychology

The Department of Psychology is enthusiastically endorsing IUPUI’s RISE to the Challenge Initiative.

What’s RISE? The basic idea is that every undergraduate student will leave IUPUI with at least 2 co-curricular experiences under their belts by the time of graduation. IUPUI is the perfect campus to offer a challenge like this to students –we are an urban campus in the heart of a thriving metropolitan region bursting with opportunities to get involved both on and off campus.

R is for RESEARCH! You’ve certainly heard by now that Research is a good thing to do if you’re a psychology major – particularly if you plan to attend graduate school some day. In psychology, “R” experiences will be reflected through 3 types of activities – B492 experiences (Readings and Research) that involve assisting a faculty member or advanced graduate student on a research project. You can also earn credit by taking a capstone laboratory course (e.g., B433, B471, B482) or by completing an honors thesis (B499).

I is for INTERNATIONAL STUDY. Check out International Affairs for all sorts of information about study abroad. International service learning experiences are another great way to pick up credit for the “I” in RISE.

S is for SERVICE LEARNING. Our own Dr. Bob Bringle is Executive Director of the Center for Service and Learning on campus – the Center can direct you to many courses that include a Service Learning component. Dr. John Hazer’s Capstone Practicum in I/O Psychology and Dr. Kathy Johnson’s Cognition class are 2 examples from Psychology.

E is for EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING – this means practica (e.g., Capstone Practica), hands-on experiences within the department that help you develop important knowledge and skills (e.g., serving as a peer advisor, teaching assistant, or student mentor), and internships! Hundreds of internship opportunities exist in central Indiana, and our own academic and career advisor, Mikki Jeschke, has been working hard to develop an internship ‘course’ for our students. Stay tuned – we should be ready to pilot this course in the Fall, 2009 semester.

So we hope you’ll RISE to this challenge and consider becoming involved in these experiences. You’ll have fun, learn a lot – and probably develop skills that will be invaluable to your future employers.