January 6, 2016
Psychology @ UNCW
Happy New Year from your Alma Mater
Seahawk Psychology Hitting New
High Marks
2015 was a remarkable year in the history of our department.
Our very own Tony Puente won the 2015 American Psychological
Association presidential election to become the 2017 APA
president elect. The APA is the most influential professional
organization representing the field of psychology, with
membership over 133,000. Tony is the first faculty member from a
UNC institution to be elected president since 1925. Tony’s careerlong commitment and service to the field of psychology earned
him this well-deserved honor. We are all proud of Tony and know
that he will continue to advance our field in his role as APA
president.
Antonio “Tony” Puente, 2017
President Elect of the American
Psychological Association
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January 6, 2016
Doctoral Degree in Psychology
Key areas of emphasis in phase 1
of the Ph.D. program will be
developmental disabilities and
addiction treatment.
The department’s strong reputation
among our UNC sister institutions for
excellence in research and teaching
led to the unanimous approval of our
PhD program proposal.
On August 5, 2015, with the enthusiastic support of all of our sister
institutions, the UNC General Administration Graduate Council
unanimously approved our Ph.D. program proposal. It was
particularly gratifying to hear comments from representatives from
Chapel Hill and NC State who emphasized the quality of our
faculty and their confidence in our ability to implement an
excellent Ph.D. program. On October 30, 2015 the UNC Board of
Governors also unanimously approved the program. We have a
great deal of work ahead of us, which will include creating all of
the university catalogue curricula materials, initiating the APA and
SACS accreditation processes, and adjusting our B.A. and M.A.
programs to harmonize with the Ph.D. program. We will bring the
Ph.D. program online in stages, admitting initially students who
wish to specialize in Applied Behavior Analysis or Substance Abuse
Treatment (Clinical Psychology). In the second phase of
implementation we will admit students who wish to specialize in
geriatric psychology and dementia or forensic psychology. Finally,
the program will expand to offer specializations in select areas of
experimental psychology and neuroscience, complementing other
aspects of the Ph.D. program.
In conjunction with the launch of the Ph.D. program, we are
establishing a psychology clinic. The clinic will include an Applied
Behavior Analysis (ABA) group who will work with children with
severe developmental disabilities, including autism and feeding
disorders. A prototype of this clinic has been operated by Dr.
Melanie Bachmeyer for the past three years right here in the
psychology building. Demand for Dr. Bachmeyer’s clinic services
have outgrown the space and we plan to move it to a larger space
off campus. Recent changes in insurance laws in North Carolina
that improve coverage of the developmental disorders that our
ABA treat has greatly increased family’s access to these services
and demand is high.
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January 6, 2016
Donation Honoring Emeritus
Professor to Support Student
Research
UNCW and the Department of Psychology are excited to
announce the endowment of a scholarship by Dr. Cecil Reynolds
(Psychology, 1975) honoring his undergraduate mentor, Dr. Robert
T. (Bob) Brown, Professor Emeritus of Psychology. The award will
annually fund a student in the Department of Psychology who is
presenting as first author a research paper at a scientific meeting.
Dr. Robert T. (Bob) Brown,
Professor Emeritus of
Psychology. Dr. Brown served on
the UNCW faculty for over three
decades.
Dr. Cecil Reynolds was named
the UNCW Distinguished
Alumnus of the Year (1984) and
also is a UNCW Razor Walker
Award recipient (1998). Dr.
Reynolds is Professor Emeritus at
Dr. Brown received his Bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College
(1961) and his Ph.D. from Yale University (1966). Dr. Brown
served on the UNCW faculty for over three decades and was a
leader of our intellectual community. His unwavering commitment
to rigorous research methodology and skeptical inquiry were
apparent to his students and colleagues alike while his courses in
research methods, science and pseudoscience, and the history of
psychology were legendary. Within the profession, Dr. Brown was
particularly known for his editorial work serving as the editor for
two book series and on the editorial boards of a number of
journals. He was an active supporter of the Museum of World
Culture's and had a great deal to do with augmenting its
collections.
Dr. Reynolds is a leader in the fields of school and educational
psychology. He is particularly well known for his research in
psychological and neuropsychological assessment with children.
After earning his Bachelor’s Degree from UNCW (1975), he went
on to earn a Doctoral Degree from the University of Georgia in
1978. His research contributions have been vast and include all
aspects of psychological assessment ranging from assessment of
memory, emotional and affective states and traits, to issues of
cultural bias in testing. He is the author of more than 300 scholarly
publications and author or editor of 33 books including the
Handbook of School Psychology, the Encyclopedia of Special
Education, and the Handbook of Clinical Child Neuropsychology.
He is the author of several widely used tests of personality and
behavior including the Behavior Assessment System for Children
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January 6, 2016
and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. He is also
senior author of the Test of Memory and Learning and co-author
of several computerized test interpretation systems. Dr. Reynolds
is Editor-in-Chief of Psychological Assessment and is Associate
Editor of Archives of Scientific Psychology.
If you haven’t seen the Seahawks
play basketball in a while, you’re
in for a real treat. Under Coach
Keats, last year’s CAA Coach of
the Year in his first season at
UNCW the Seahawks play
tenacious defense and can score
from any position.
Homecoming
Join fellow UNCW alumni, old friends, classmates, and faculty for
the 2016 Homecoming celebration January 29-31. On Saturday,
January 30 at noon the Psychology Department will hold a
gathering in the main lobby of the Teaching Laboratory building,
the beautiful facility pictured at the top of the newsletter (left)
that is home to the psychology department. At 7 pm cheer on the
Seahawk Men’s basketball team as we take on CAA rival College of
Charleston. For more information and to register for events, click
here.
You Give. You Strengthen. You Inspire
Alumni and friends like you, who believe in our mission and invest
in our success, make it possible for our students to receive the
knowledge and training needed to understand human behavior and
improve lives. Your single or recurring gift to the Psychology
Department will continue to enrich our program by supporting:
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Clinics that will serve children with disabilities, provide
addiction treatment and offer services for older individuals
Faculty-led research opportunities
Expansion of undergraduate curriculum
Support for our new Ph.D. program
Thank you for supporting the Psychology Department and
UNCW’s tradition of excellence.
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