Committee on Engagement, Accountability, Growth, Leadership and Empowerment
Guided by Auburn University’s Strategic Plan, Psychology EAGLEs is committed to:
- Fostering engaging student and research experiences.
- Remaining accountable to stakeholders in our classrooms, labs and local communities.
- Growing research advancements in the psychological and brain sciences that are innovative, representative and benefit Alabamians.
- Develop responsible leadership in education and research practices.
- Empowering department and community constituents to be active and respected partners in our classes and scholarship.
The Department of Psychological Sciences at Auburn University recognizes, values and upholds the contributions of students, staff and faculty from all identities including race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity, age, country of origin, disability, physical stature and body size, religious or spiritual beliefs, socioeconomic class and political beliefs. We are especially committed to increasing the representation of those populations that have been historically excluded from participation in U.S. higher education as a whole, and the field of psychological sciences, specifically.
Acknowledging the history and effects of systemic racism and discrimination, our department firmly stands for social justice for all people within and beyond our campus, particularly for Black, Indigenous and People of Color.
These values are directly support by the accreditation mandate of the American Psychological Association (APA; e.g., Standards I.B.2, III.A.1.b.i-ii and IV.B.5) and training mandates of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists (SIOP; General Knowledge and Skills #1).
To this end, our committee has the following broad aims:
Aim 1. Enhance recruitment of Department of Psychological Sciences faculty and graduate students from historically marginalized/excluded backgrounds, while also working to improve retention of existing faculty and students by ensuring they thrive and feel supported.
Relevant goals for 2023-2024
- Apply for funding through the Office of Inclusion and Diversity to expand the AUBiE fellowship program piloted in AY 22-23. This program invites early career scholars (e.g., post-doctoral fellows, advanced graduate students) from historically marginalized/excluded backgrounds to our department to provide a colloquium and meet with faculty and students. By forging these connections, we aim to improve representation in faculty application pools.
- Continue to support the Scholars Committed to Opportunities in Psychological Education program, which is geared toward improving the recruitment and retention of BIPOC undergraduate students into graduate programs in psychology.
- Graduate programs will implement newly developed holistic admissions approach for the 2023-24 application cycle.
- Develop partnerships between our department and local community organizations. We hope this will assist in recruiting faculty interested in working with underserved and minority populations, as they will not need to forge partnerships from scratch. By the end of this academic year, we aim to connect with organizations to discuss outreach contributions to local community.
Aim 2: Provide programming to enhance the intergroup competencies and practices of the faculty and graduate students in the Department of Psychological Sciences.
Relevant goals for 2023-2024
- Execute two departmental colloquia in Fall and Spring to enhance multicultural competencies.
- In collaboration with Psi Chi, coordinate a Safe Zone training for undergraduate neuroscience and psychology majors.
- Develop a plan to ensure that all clinical psychology PhD students complete Safe Zone training prior to engaging in direct clinical services.
- Identify training topics and facilitators for department trainings for AY 24-25.
Aim 3: Enact best practices to engage and empower classroom and research stakeholders from all backgrounds and improve the lives of Alabamians.
Relevant goals for 2023-2024
- Continue to update repository with class resources/activities and share details on use so far.
- Host faculty roundtable discussions by area, at least 1 per semester.
- Set up more faculty recommendations in partnership with graduate student, tailored by area, and evaluate course materials.
Aim 4: Grow research activities to expand access to psychological sciences, engage community stakeholders and give back to our local Alabama communities.
Relevant goals for 2023-2024
- Prepare report on undergraduate climate survey. Develop faculty survey about repository resource use. Prepare Spring survey.
- Continue to update new materials in the repository (including information on funding, awards and research opportunities at all levels) and make updates to improve navigation.
- Update our information on the undergraduate department page.
- Add new materials on research highlights to website.
Aim 5: Assess and address department climate across all stakeholders and cultivate a physical and social space that is welcoming to all students, staff and faculty.
Relevant goals for 2023-2024
- Increase departmental awareness of the resources available through the AU Bias Education and Response Team.
- Establish a support group for graduate students from marginalized or underrepresented identities.
- Continue to ensure that department space feature representative and welcoming signage and artwork.
We recognize that fostering an engaging, equitable and fair department culture, including efforts to dismantle racism and systematic inequity is an ongoing process. Our department strives to challenge ourselves and hold ourselves accountable to our students, colleagues and peers as we work toward these mission aims.