Faculty Unit Recognition Award

The Department of Psychology has a demonstrated record of excellence that stems in part from its culture of individual faculty development and collective problem-solving. Faculty Senate presented the 2018 Unit Recognition Award to the department at the April 9 Faculty Excellence Awards.

The award recognizes a unit that works together to make a contribution to the excellence of BGSU’s educational environment. It includes an engraved plaque and a $1,000 award.

“Our department encourages individual faculty members to develop their own intellectual identity and to solve problems collectively,” said Dr. Michael Zickar, professor and department chair.

While valuing individual autonomy in faculty members’ careers, the department promotes synergy among its members and collaborations across its two divisions of clinical and industrial/organizational psychology.

The department has been recognized nationally.

“Since I have been here (21 years), the doctoral program in industrial-organizational psychology has been continuously ranked in the top 5 (currently tied for No. 2) in the rankings by U.S. and World News Report,” Zickar wrote, “and the clinical psychology Ph.D. program was recently ranked 22nd in terms of percentage of graduates who pass the licensure test get accredited internships. Finally, there was recently a listing of the top 50 living psychologists based on an algorithm analyzing scholarly productivity. Most of the psychologists on the list were from Ivy League and Big Ten universities. I was delighted that Dr. Ken Pargament, an emeritus professor who has spent his whole career at BGSU, made the list.”

With its high number of majors and minors and the many general education courses it provides, the department makes an impact on the quality of students’ educational program.

In addition, “Our department has been committed to working with regional organizations to provide students experience in the mental health field as well as other related occupations,” Zickar said.

The northwest Ohio mental health landscape has been drastically shaped by the BGSU Psychology Department with alumni serving key roles, Zickar said. Through internships, volunteer opportunities and placements, the undergraduate majors and doctoral students of the department significantly impact related organizations’ functioning.