Alumni and Friends
The Need for Support
Psychologists study how behavior is influenced by our social and physical environments, heredity, and biological functions. At WVU we conduct basic and applied research, consult with schools and organizations, diagnose and treat mentalillness, and teach future psychologists as well as students pursuing other careers that require and understanding of human behavior.
Psychology has a bright future, with steady growth expected for many years. Opportunities are expanding rapidly. The move toward preventing illness, rather than diagnosing and treating it after the fact, requires people to learn how to make healthy behavior a routine part of living. Many problems facing society today are about behavior, for example, drug addiction, divorce, medical disorders such as heart disease and lung cancer. Special challenges are posed by the dramatic changes taking place in the US, with its population growing older, increasingly dependent on technology, and more culturally diverse.
Psychologists contribute solutions through research in the laboratory, clinic, and field, followed by the development of research-based intervention strategies. Psychology's growing importance is shown by the federal decision to proclaim the first decade of this millennium as the Decade of Behavior.
The Department of Psychology is one of the largest and most honored at WVU. Both our baccalaureate and doctoral curricula have been designated Programs of Excellence by the University's governing board. Our faculty members have received numerous awards for teaching, research, and public service, and they hold important positions within the discipline as officers of scholarly organizations and editors of scientific journals.
We need your help to continue to meet the increasing demands for excellenece in our large undergraduate program and our nationally recognized graduate program.
PSYCHOLOGY PRIORITIES
--Endowment to support and enrich sutudent research
--Endowment to supplement graduate student stipends and to generate undergraduate scholarships
--Support for a bi-annual conference on topics of contemporary importance
--Funds for a lecture series to bring distinguished scientists to campus to work with our students and faculty
--Support for the Quinn Curtis Center, our on-site training clinic
