Thirty-five years ago, the Graduate School of Applied and Professional
Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,
became the first professional school located within a major research
university to offer the doctor of psychology degree. We remain one of
only a very few Psy.D. professional schools at a public institution
with the infrastructure and scholastic dynamism to qualify among the
Association of American Universities' 63 leading universities in the
United States and Canada.
Instruction began in 1974 with two
specialties: clinical and school psychology. The school psychology program, evaluated by the National Association of State Directors of
Teacher Education Certification (NASDTEC), was granted program approval
in 1979 for school psychologist certification as well as director of student personnel services certification. The latter certification is
available to advanced students with three years of school experience.
An organizational Psy.D. specialty was established in 1988, at which
time the Department of School Psychology was reorganized to become
the Department of Applied Psychology. This program is no longer accepting new students.
As a unit of Rutgers,
GSAPP is accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and
Colleges, and its school and clinical psychology programs are fully
accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA conducted site visits for the clinical Psy.D. and school Psy.D. programs in 1977,
1982, 1987, 1993, 1997, 2004, and 2007 (school psychology) for accreditation renewal. Each time, reaccreditation of both the clinical and school programs was approved.
The GSAPP Psy.D. programs are also recognized by the New Jersey
Board of Psychological Examiners, the Association of State and
Provincial Psychology Boards, and the National Register.
GSAPP
was described in 1993 as "the very best school for the Psy.D. degree"
and "the standard of quality against which other Psy.D. programs should
be measured" in a report prepared by nationally prominent professional
and academic senior psychologists from around the country. The report
was prepared as part of an external review of GSAPP, which the
university requires all units to undertake. These observations were
reaffirmed in 1999 when GSAPP was honored with the Outstanding
Training Program Award bestowed by the Association for the Advancement
of Behavior Therapy (AABT), now the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).
The GSAPP faculty recognizes the
impact of evolving health care delivery systems and other social and
professional changes in the practice of professional psychology
and continuously reviews its training goals and curricula. The
combination of full-time core faculty and part-time faculty, who are
professionals working in the community, enables GSAPP to offer both
rigorous theoretical courses based on current research and
practice-oriented courses that build upon this scholarly foundation.
As of 2009, there are 17 full-time scholarly/instructional
faculty; three full-time research/psychological service program faculty; six
visiting faculty-practitioners who spend one full day per week at the
school teaching, supervising, and serving on academic and
administrative committees; and 13 contributing faculty-practicing
psychologists who each teach one course. There are also 15 joint-appointment
faculty from other Rutgers departments, centers, bureaus, and
institutes, and from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New
Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School who actively teach and supervise. Students have
access to relevant full-time faculty from all of these units for
individual study, dissertation committees, and other training
activities. A large number of psychologists, listed in this
catalog, serve as practicum placement supervisors and supervisors for
GSAPP's onsite psychological clinic.
The GSAPP faculty
participated in the pivotal 1978 Virginia Beach Conference on the
training of professional psychologists, which enunciated the principle
that professional training is best accomplished in a university
setting.
GSAPP enrolls approximately 185 Psy.D. students in
its three programs: clinical Psy.D., organizational Psy.D., and school
Psy.D. Students are also represented on most major school committees. The
goals and activities of these student groups are more fully described
in the section on Student Groups at GSAPP. There is also a Student Alliance in which all students come together to participate in the life of the school.
For almost two decades, GSAPP's students and faculty
have explored, promoted, and celebrated diversity within the school's
community. GSAPP currently supports the following diversity groups: the
Hispanic Organization of Professional Psychology Students (HOPPS,
established 1985); the Black Students of Graduate and Professional
Psychology Programs (BSGPPP, established 1986); the Asian Psychology
Students' Association (APSA, established 2000); the International
Students Group (ISG, established 2002), and Jewish Students of Applied and Professional
Psychology (J-SAPP, established 2007). In addition, the GSAPP Men's
Group focuses on being a man and a psychologist, and on men's issues.
The Dean's
Multicultural Alumni Advisory Council first convened in 1995 to examine
ways in which alumni can work with individual students and with student
groups at GSAPP, with attention given to developing sensitivity toward
the domains of race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, and sexual
orientation. In 1995, the dean established a schoolwide
Committee on Diversity, with representatives selected from the student
body, staff, faculty, and administration.
With 860 graduates,
the GSAPP Alumni Organization has been a firmly established presence
since 1992, with its own bylaws and officers. Regional alumni play an
active role in annual mentoring activities designed to ease the journey
from academics to professional practice. Our alumni are currently practicing throughout the United States and across the globe.
