PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT
• Associate of Arts Degree (A.A.)(94 credits)
• Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A.) (184 credits)
Program Description
The SKC Psychology department offers two degrees, the Associate of Arts and the Bachelor of Arts. These programs are offered in a 2-plus-2 degree format, which means that students complete the two-year Associate of Arts degree before entering the Bachelor of Arts program for two more years. The
Psychology Associate of Arts degree was
devel-oped through the Mental Health Careers Opportunity Program (MHCOP), a collaboration of Montana tribal colleges with the University of Montana Psychology Department. Created in response to the need for tribal mental health workers, its goal is to train students in a manner consistent with traditional culture, while meeting core requirements of structured degree programs in mental health. The Psychology Bachelor
of Arts program builds upon the skills developed at
the Associate level. The goal of the BA curriculum is to provide coursework and training in psychology and counseling in the context of a broad understanding and appreciation of human behavior. The SKC Psychology program follows APA guidelines for psychology undergraduate degree programs.
The Psychology program integrates the 4C’s (Cultural competency, Citizenship, Communication, Clear thinking) into degree objectives, drawing upon Western and Indigenous models of learning. Goals of the 4C’s are to:
• Improve written and spoken communication skills, active listening skills, and skills in communicating within and across cultures
• Develop skills in accessing, understanding and us-ing written materials in psychology subject areas • Increase awareness of how psychology is related
to citizenship, both individually (exploring val-ues, beliefs and actions that contribute to a sense of self) and collectively (exploring connections among family, community, culture and world) • Increase awareness of own cultural values, beliefs,
norms, history and attitudes
• Gain understanding of psychological dimensions across which cultures vary (and tend to misun-derstand one another), and identify how specific cultures fit these patterns
• Develop the ability to function flexibly across multiple cultural settings, with respect for differ-ences and openness to new ways
• Increase knowledge of S&K cultures and apply the dimensions of culture to interactions among Native American and other U.S. cultures
Special Admissions Requirements
• Students may need to strengthen math, English and writing skills with additional coursework prior to entering the Psychology program.
• Students may need to take psychology coursework in the A.A. program before entering the Junior Year of the B.A. Program.
• Entry into the Junior Year of the Psychology Bachelor of Arts program includes submitting a Placement Application and completing two writing placement activities.
• Students should be aware that some careers in psychology require a Federal background check.
Career Opportunities
A bachelor’s degree in psychology leads toward graduate school or toward different career options that call for interpersonal, analytical and writing skills. Careers can be found in administration, management, Human Resources, law enforcement, social services, marketing, career counseling, community health ad-vocacy, outreach coordination or psychology techni-cian services. A psychology AA or BA is also a good background for training in Chemical Dependency counseling. At the Master’s or PhD level, Psychology graduates may specialize in such fields as Counseling, Clinical, Forensic, Child or School Psychology. Entry into graduate programs is competitive, but a person who graduates with an advanced degree will have many career opportunities, especially in agencies or settings that involve an understanding of Native American cultures.
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Associate of Arts Degree, Psychology
The Psychology AA curriculum provides a foun-dation of essential knowledge in core subject areas of psychology as well as basic competency in writing, communication and math skills. Students take a va-riety of elective courses in Native American Studies, Expressive Arts, Health and Fitness, Math, Science and other subject areas as they explore their educa-tional interests. Completion of the AA program leads to junior-level entry into a four-year degree program.Associate of Arts Degree Objectives
The curriculum of the Psychology AA is designed to:
• Provide basic competence in psychology subject areas for students seeking a degree in psychology or mental health field
• Provide a transfer program that includes core courses in psychology, math, science and liberal arts for students pursuing a bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution
• Encourage interest in psychology as a study of basic human experience and as a general back-ground for other majors
• Increase awareness of the interface of psychology with different cultures and disciplines, such as Native American studies, sociology, anthropol-ogy and cross-cultural studies
• Enable students to apply basic math and research skills to the study of psychology
• Provide support courses in psychology for other SKC degree programs
Requirements
• A student must earn a “C” or better in all required courses and maintain an overall GPA of 2.0 in
• Be aware of basic types of research methodol-ogy used in psycholmethodol-ogy and how psychological knowledge in different subject areas is acquired through use of these methods
• Gain practical experience in the application of psychological principles to everyday life situ-ations, and be able to relate these to classroom materials
• Gain an understanding of how psychological principles function cross-culturally and be able to apply them to cross-cultural issues, generally and to specific tribal cultures
c u r r i c u l u m
Fall (First Year)
GNSD 102 Skills for College Success 2 ENGL 101 English Composition I 3 PSYC 105 Human Potential Seminar 2
ELECTIVE (OPEN) 3
PSYC 110 Introduction to Psychology 5 (List C)
Total
15
Winter (First Year)
ENGL 202 English Composition II 3 NASD 101 History of Indians in the U.S. 3 PSYC 230 Developmental Psychology 5 ELECTIVE NAS-FAH /NASL (List A) 3
ELECTIVE OPEN 2
Total
16
Spring (First Year)
MATH 100 College Algebra 5
or
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Fall (Second year)
PSYC 120 Research Methods in 5 Psychology
PSYC 210 Psychological Literature 3
PSYC 341 Gender Differences 5
SPCH 100 Basic Communications 3
Total
16
Winter (Second Year)
SCLG 308 Social Psychology 5
PSYC 320 Cross Cultural Issues in 5 Psychology
PSYC 151 Career Explorations in 2 Psychology
ELECTIVE OPEN 3
Total
15
Spring (Second Year)
PSYC 351 Introduction to Personality 5 ELECTIVE NAT-SCI-INTRO (List DS) 5 ELECTIVE EXPR-ART-OPEN (List B) 3
ELECTIVE OPEN 3
Total
16
Total Credits
94
A.A.
Bachelor of Arts Degree, Psychology
Students who earn the Bachelor’s degree in psychology may pursue graduate studies, or work in a field where a solid grounding in human behavior is needed. Students focus on areas of particular interest through coursework in subjects such as adult or child counseling, Indigenous research methods, biological psychology, school-based counseling, administration/ management, human relations, or law enforcement. Coursework in the baccalaureate program draws from multiple academic departments at Salish Kootenai College.Bachelor of Arts Degree Objectives
The curriculum of the Psychology Bachelor program is intended to:• Provide a generalist degree with coursework across a broad range of subject areas in psychol-ogy and other disciplines
• Train students in a variety of skills, including com-puter applications, written communication, speak-ing and presentations, and interpersonal relations • Address the educational needs of Tribal College
students who live and work in a reservation setting • Provide coursework that helps prepare the student
to use psychology in a multicultural context, with specific emphasis on Native American cultures and values
• Increase skills in understanding and applying research methodology using both Western and Indigenous styles of research
• Offer upper division psychology courses in prepa-ration for graduate studies
• Offer a broad-based program for careers requiring knowledge and understanding of human behavior
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Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Bachelor of Arts degree, students will:
• Show development of a broad knowledge base in psychology subject areas, including an aware-ness of ethical issues in the fields of psychology and counseling
• Develop baccalaureate level skills in psychologi-cal writing, public speaking, computer applica-tions and interpersonal communication
• Demonstrate understanding and application of research methodology as applied to Western and Indigenous styles of research, including use of psychological literature to find, review, under-stand and keep current in psychology subject areas.
• Apply knowledge of psychology to real-world situations in meaningful ways across multiple settings and conditions
• Continue to develop self-knowledge and its ap-plication to interpersonal psychology, including the ability to understand and assess the influence of one’s own perspectives, abilities, strengths and weaknesses
• Develop flexibility in working within and across cultures by building upon cultural knowledge and awareness
• Integrate Native American cultural perspectives into knowledge and application of psychology and counseling theory and be able to apply this knowledge to issues, perspectives and situations encountered in a reservation setting
Degree Tracks
The Bachelor of Arts in Psychology can be earned by taking either of two slightly different degree plans, or Tracks.
pursue graduate training in psychology. This degree is appropriate for students who want to work or seek further training in non-psychology fields such as Personnel, Human Resources, Administration, Corrections, or Community Development. In the General Track, students learn practical skills that can be helpful in a variety of careers. For example, a student might take courses in electronic data man-agement, grant writing, conflict resolution, Native American policy, public presentation, and so on. In the General Track, students select 12 Focus
Credits covering a range of skills related to their
career goals, plus 3 credits of History/NAS History that provide environmental, historical and cultural perspectives. They also take MATH 102 Finite
Math, OFED 240 Business Presentations, and GNSD 350 Grant Writing, coursework that is
applicable to business and applied settings.
Differences between the tracks are shown below. Both tracks focus heavily on development and use of writing and communication skills.
General Track Research Track
PSYC Electives PSYC Electives (6 credits) (9 credits) Finite Math Statistics
Business Professional Presentation Presentations Skills
Grant Writing Senior Capstone I Senior Project Senior Capstone II Focus Electives Required coursework (12 credits) (12 credits)
Senior Capstone: In the Research Track, students
develop a Senior Capstone project, in which they deeply explore a topic in psychology, while demon-strating and refining their investigative and written communication skills. Projects include
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Junior Year Entry
Upon completion of the AA degree or equiva-lent, students may apply to the Bachelor of Arts program. The BA Placement Application helps determine the student’s writing proficiency at time of entry, and informs the student of behavioral and professional expectations for upper division psychol-ogy students. The Placement Application includes:
Completed Application, TABE Writing test scores (current), Psychology writing proficiency exer-cise; and Signed statement of understanding and willingness to follow guidelines set out in the SKC
Psychology Student Conduct Code and Guidelines for Professional Development.
Requirements
• A student must maintain an overall GPA of 2.75 in the upper two years of the psychology pro-gram in order to graduate with the Bachelor of Arts degree
• Students are expected to comply with campus conduct codes as delineated in the SKC Student Handbook
• See SKC Catalog Course Descriptions for spe-cific prerequisites
• A student must maintain a 3.0 in the Writing
Sequence classes (see below)
Writing Sequence for R-Track: Successful completion (3.0) in the following 3 courses:
ENGL 306 Writing Research Papers 3 SPCH 360 Professional Presentation Skills 3
SCWK 306 APA Writing Style 2
Writing Sequence for G-Track: Successful completion (3.0) in the following 3 courses:
ENGL 306 Writing Research Papers 3 OFED 240 Business Presentations 3
SCWK 306 APA Writing Style 3
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology
c u r r i c u l u m
Fall (Third Year)
PSYC 301 Seminar in Upper Division Ψ 1 MEDA 101 Digital Arts & Design 5 ENGL 306 Writing Research Papers 3
(List F)
SCWK 203 Breaking the Cycle of Violence 2 SCWK 160 Introduction to Addiction 3 Studies
Total
14
Winter (Third Year)
PSYC 301 Seminar in Upper Division Ψ 1 PSYC 315 Biological Psychology 5
(List H/J)
SPCH 360 Professional Presentation Skills 3 or
OFED 240* Business Presentation
ARTD 109 Self-expression Through Arts or
FOCUS ELECTIVE* 3
Ψ ELECTIVE 3
Total
15
Spring (Third Year)
SCWK 306 APA Writing Style 2
HMNT 301 Social & Environmental 3 Ethics (List G)
MATH 241 Statistics 5
or MATH 102* Finite Math
NASD 301 Living in 2 Worlds (List H/J) 3
Ψ ELECTIVE 3
Total
16
Ψ indicates PSYCHOLOGY
*indicates differences between R-Track and G-Track
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Fall (Fourth Year)
PSYC 415 Counseling Methods 5
PSYC 472 Indigenous Research 5
Methods in Ψ
SCWK 470 Working with Children & 3 Families at Risk
or FOCUS ELECTIVE*
PSYC 372 Advanced Research 3
Methods in Ψ
Total
16
Winter (Fourth Year)
PSYC 450 Capstone I 3
or
GNSD 350 Grant Writing*
PSYC 405 Community Networking 1
Ψ ELECTIVE 3
or FOCUS ELECTIVE*
ELECTIVE NASD (from List) 3
ELECTIVE OPEN or HPED 1
NASD 210 Introduction to Indigenous 3 Science (List E)
Total
14
Spring (Fourth Year)
PSYC 451 Capstone II 3
or
PSYC 441* Senior Project
ELECTIVE OPEN 6
ELECTIVE ARTD or FOCUS COURSE 3
ELECTIVE NASD (from List) 3
Credit summary: Required R-Track G-Track
BA credits for graduation: 180 184 184 Total credits in major: 46 70 64 Total GenEd credits: 61 61 61 Total Upper Div credits: 63 77 68
Bachelor of Arts NASD CREDITS (12 required; selected from list, or by advisor consent)
EDUC 235 Introduction to Indian Education 3 NASD 102 Reservation History before 1850 3 NASD 103 Reservation History 1850-1910 3 NASD 176 Introduction to Traditional Tool 3 Making
NASD 225 American Indian Ed and 3 Federal Policy
NASD 250 History of Federal Indian Policy 3 NASD 252 History of Tribal Govt on 3
Flathead Reservation
NASD 262 Contemporary Issues in 3
American Indian Life
NASD 270 Native American Wellness 3 NASD 305 Native American Women 3 NASD 306 Gender and Identity in 3
Indian Country
NASD 307 Tribal Leaders After 1900 3 NASD 450 Environmental Science and 4
Indigenous Religions
NASL any Native American 3
Language course
