Clinical & Health Psychology

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2000 Self-Study

Domain A: Eligibility

A1. The Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at the University of Florida educates and trains its students "to generate and integrate scientific and professional knowledge, attitudes and skills so as to further psychological science, the professional practice of psychology, and human welfare. The graduate of this training model is capable of functioning as an investigator and as a practitioner, and may function as either or both, consistent with the highest standards in psychology" (National Conference on the Education and Training of Scientist-Practitioners for the Professional Practice of Psychology, 1990, pp. 7-8). Our departmental mission statement [Appendix 1] directs us to "educate tomorrow’s leaders in Psychology in the scientist-practitioner tradition, advance psychological service, and improve the health and quality of life of all people through excellence in research, education, and health service delivery." Our doctoral program aspires to achieve excellence in clinical and research training and to advance psychological science and practice through involvement of faculty and graduate students in cutting-edge academic and professional activities. Our faculty and students hold leadership positions in professional organizations, and advocate for critical initiatives affecting the future of professional psychology and the psychological welfare of individuals, families, and groups.

A2. The program is sponsored by the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology in the College of Health Professions at the University of Florida Health Science Center. The University of Florida is one of only 17 public, land grant universities that belong to the Association of American Universities. It is 8^th among all universities in royalty income in 1998 and number of patents awarded in 1997. With total extramural grant income within the University of Florida totaling $315 million in fiscal year 1999-2000, the University is emerging as a major research institution. It is amongst the top ten universities in the nation in the number of matriculating National Merit Scholarship finalists. With more than 44,000 students and a 2000-acre campus, it is the sixth largest university in the nation. The Graduate School coordinates almost 200 graduate programs. Professional degree programs include law and dentistry, medicine, pharmacy and veterinary medicine, all of which are housed in independent colleges within the UF Health Science Center along with the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology and other programs within the College of Health Professions. Our program is contiguous with the Shands Hospital and the VA Medical Center comprised of over 900 beds and associated ambulatory services.

A3. The Department of Clinical and Health Psychology (CHP) receives funding from the State of Florida to support the doctoral program, which is the major academic mission of the department. Other departmental programs include an APA accredited internship [accredited since 1953] and a new, growing postdoctoral program that recently received a training grant in pediatric psychology. The department also runs the Psychology Clinic, which serves as the major clinical training site for students in the program and as the psychology service for the Shands Hospital and the entire Health Science Center. The emphasis on education and training in the scientist-practitioner model is a core component of the CHP Mission Statement (Appendix 1), which is consistent with the missions of the College of Health Professions and the Graduate School (Appendix 2). The program accepts approximately 12-15 students per year, for a total current student body of 78.

The administrative structure of the program is unique in that it resides in an independent Department of Clinical and Health Psychology in a major academic health science center, rather than in the more common location in a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The dean of the College of Health Professions is Robert Frank, Ph.D., ABPP, a psychologist, and the Department Chair is Ronald Rozensky, Ph.D., ABPP. Responsibility for the program is shared by 28 core faculty and additional affiliate faculty whose responsibilities include teaching graduate courses, research mentorship, clinical supervision, and academic advising. Faculty activity in the departmental programs is governed by a "Core Responsibilities" document (Appendix 3), which has been in place since May 2000. All tenure-track faculty participate in the research, didactic, and clinical aspects of the program thus reflecting, and modeling, the scientist-practitioner tradition on a day-to-day basis. Decision-making regarding curricular development, and regarding evaluations of program performance and student progress is thus accomplished by those most experienced in implementing the actual program, and is not shared with a broader non-program faculty as may be typical in other psychology departments. A departmental Executive Committee meets weekly to identify and focus issues for faculty discussion and to prepare the agenda for the general faculty meetings that take place three times a month. This committee is comprised of the Chair, the Program Director (who is also Associate Chair for Academic Affairs), the Associate Chair for Research, the Clinic Director (who is also the Assistant Chair for Clinical Affairs), the Associate Chair for VA Affairs and the Departmental Business Manager.

For the doctoral program, the chair delegates administrative authority to the Program Director, Russell M. Bauer, Ph.D., ABPP/Cn, who assumed this position in February 2000. The Director chairs the Departmental Curriculum Committee and works collectively with faculty, students, staff, the Graduate School, other clinical psychology program directors and other national groups for ongoing program management and leadership. Formal internal mechanisms for input include regular faculty meetings, weekly meetings with student groups, and monthly meetings with student representatives, annual retreats and yearly program reviews. In addition there are three standing committees that play significant roles in program administration: the Admissions Committee, the Curriculum Committee and the Clinical Progress Committee. The Admissions Committee selects candidates for the recruitment weekend and makes final admissions decisions after input from those involved in the interview process. Any faculty member may serve on the admissions committee. The committee consists of representatives from each of the department’s areas of concentration. The Curriculum Committee consists of a faculty member elected from each area, an appointed "at large" faculty member and four students. This committee meets twice monthly, monitors the curriculum, focuses issues for discussion by faculty, and makes final decisions regarding curriculum policies. The Clinical Progress Committee reviews each student’s clinical/professional development on an annual basis, and makes recommendations to the faculty and program director regarding the student’s clinical training progress and skill level. The committee uses student activity logs, faculty evaluations, and other pertinent information to make its evaluations and recommendations. In addition, this committee has been used to monitor individual students with special needs. Ad hoc committees are formed as needed. When formed, these committees typically include student members (e.g., Core Clinical Competencies; Committee on Psychotherapy Training). Students are reviewed by the faculty in a formal meeting at the end of each semester as well as during a year-end review meeting.

A4. The program requires at least four years of full-time in-residence study plus completion of an internship for a total of 105 credit hours.. The residency policy is more stringent than the corresponding Graduate School policy, which requires 30 hours in residence at the University of Florida main campus beyond the first 30 hours counted toward the doctoral degree. If the student enters with a master’s degree, a minimum of 2 years of academic study on campus is still required. In accordance with Graduate School policies, students who enter with masters’ degrees are eligible for obtaining up 30 graduate credits toward their doctoral degree. However, each student’s situation is individually reviewed based on program standards and requirements.

A5. The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The Department of Clinical and Health Psychology is committed to respect for and understanding of individual and cultural diversity. This commitment is reflected in our didactic and clinical training, which promote an understanding of issues of individual and cultural diversity as related to the practice of psychology. It is also reflected in our research training, which promotes appreciation of, and concern for, investigative efforts that serve underserved, disabled, or disadvantaged populations. This commitment is also reflected in our policies for the recruitment, retention, and development of students, interns and faculty. Departmental faculty participate actively in college- and university-wide programs (e.g., the Minority Mentor Program) designed to recognize and stimulate success among the diverse populations represented in the student body.

A6. As described more fully in Domain G (Public Disclosure), the following documents contain the policies and procedures of the program and university: CHP Student Handbook (Appendix 4), UF Graduate Student Handbook (Appendix 5), UF Graduate Catalog (Appendix 6), Contents of the Clinical and Health Psychology Website (Appendix 7). Portions of the Faculty Handbook (the entire document can be found on the UF Website at http://www.ufl.edu) is found in Appendix 8. Program policies are consistent with policies set forth by the Council of Graduate Schools.

Domain B: Program Philosophy, Objectives and Curriculum Plan

B1. The Departmental Mission Statement indicates that our overall goals are to: (a) educate leaders in Psychology within the scientist-practitioner tradition, (b) advance the science of psychology through original research, and (c) strive to improve health and quality of life through excellence in research, education, and health service delivery. The overall philosophy that drives these goals is embodied in the policy statement that emerged from the National Conference on Scientist-Practitioner Education and Training for the Professional Practice of Psychology, held in Gainesville on January 16-20, 1990. The department’s programs reflect our efforts to teach students how to think scientifically about clinical problems, how to provide clinical service with skill and appreciation for the highest ethical and professional standards, how to evaluate the impact of clinical services using empirically-derived methods, and how to advance psychological knowledge through research and scholarship. This philosophy is also explicitly stated in handbook materials that students receive during initial orientation in the program. The overall philosophy of the educational program is consistent with that of the Mission Statements of the College, Graduate School, and University contained in Appendix 2.

The curriculum plan, described more specifically in B3 below, (a) provides broad grounding in the substantive core areas of psychology, (b) develops general clinical competencies through an orderly sequence of didactic instruction, general practicum experiences in assessment, intervention, and psychological consultation, (c) develops a knowledge base in critical thinking, scientific methods, and data analysis, (d) provides opportunities whereby students develop the ability and desire to generate new knowledge through research and scholarly activity, and (e) provides clinical and research training in a defined area of concentration or specialty. The integration of science and practice is achieved in three main ways. First, we require continuous simultaneous enrollment in research and clinical activity once the core practicum starts in the second year. Second, we expose students, in both core and advanced training experiences, to clinical research environments that engage them in activities such as data collection, program evaluation, instrument development, and outcome research. Third, we require students to interact with a variety of faculty mentors in the clinic and the laboratory, and evaluate their ability to apply scientific principles and current knowledge to the analysis of clinically relevant problems. Faculty members are encouraged to establish their own ‘centers of excellence" that blend the scientific, clinical and didactic foci of education in their area of study while supporting the overall mission of the department. Thus, faculty activity integrates science and practice as a core responsibility.

The doctoral program is administratively separate from the general Psychology doctoral program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and is unique in its status as a freestanding clinical psychology program within an academic health science center environment. This administrative arrangement affords students direct access to the patients, professionals, and academic support services of the Health Science Center (HSC) and has engendered a strong tradition of interdisciplinary research and clinical collaboration with other HSC colleges, particularly Medicine and Dentistry. In both research and clinical activities, students learn to operate within the interdisciplinary health care team, learn to make contributions to clinical care and research that can be translated into the language of other disciplines, and are exposed to a broad variety of professional role models and clinical problems.

B2. Graduates of the program are expected to demonstrate specific competencies in research and clinical activity to prepare them for the independent practice of psychology in a variety of settings. Graduates are expected to be able to independently contribute to the knowledge base of psychology through the publication and presentation of original research work. They are expected to be knowledgeable consumers of psychological research results, and to have the ability and inclination to incorporate advances in knowledge into their own practice. They are expected to be skilled in the delivery of a broad variety of assessment, intervention, and consultative services and are expected to be able to design, implement, modify, and evaluate such services in accordance with local needs. Graduates are expected to be cognizant of major sources of individual and group variation and to understand how such diversity affects psychological processes, clinical presentation, and responsiveness to intervention. Graduates are also expected to deliver professional services and to conduct research in a manner that shows dedication to applicable ethical, professional practice, and legal standards.

The educational program builds these competencies behaviorally by requiring students to engage in requisite activities under the guidance and mentorship of a broad base of faculty. The ability to contribute to knowledge through research and publication is fostered through a graded series of research projects and through explicit assistance in developing products of the research they perform. In the 1999-2000 year, 43 students reported publishing at least one paper in a peer-reviewed source, and students who published reported an average of 1.76 papers for the year. Core instruction in research and experimental design requires students to learn how to critically evaluate existing research and to communicate their research plan within the context of a formal grant proposal. Through the core and advanced practicum sequence, students are required to perform assessments, conduct interventions, and provide consultations across the entire age span. Careful review of clinical progress, and the keeping of clinical activity logs, ensures diversity in caseloads and experiences. Finally, appreciation of applicable ethical, practice, and legal standards is achieved through didactic coursework, directed supervision of clinical material, and modeling by program faculty.

Attainment of these competencies is evaluated through regular programmatic review of student performance and, after graduation, through analysis of alumni performance and activity data. While students are in the program, they are evaluated each semester for their research performance (executed by the major research mentor), and their clinical performance (executed by all faculty supervising the student that semester). Also, program faculty conducts annual reviews of student performance in research, clinical activity, and coursework. Results of this evaluation are individually communicated to each student by the Program Director. Based on individual meetings, formal goals for the next training period are then set.

B3. The formal Curriculum Plan and Program Requirements Summary is presented in Appendix 9. The overall plan consists of five basic components: First, students undertake a core curriculum that provides coverage of the core substantive areas of assessment, intervention, psychopathology, ethics and professional issues, research design/statistics, and psychological measurement. In the core, students are also exposed to the current body of knowledge in foundations of psychology (biological bases of behavior, cognitive/affective bases of behavior, social aspects of behavior, history/systems, and developmental bases of behavior). Second, students are continuously engaged in practicum training beginning with the fourth semester and culminating with the intensive one-year internship that is usually taken during the last year of training. Beginning with the fourth semester, they participate in a four-semester core practicum experience that provides basic clinical training in assessment, intervention, and consultation. The core practicum features rotations in health/medical psychology, clinical child/pediatric psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and primary care psychology. Once the core practicum has been successfully completed, students continue to enroll (for at least 1 credit in each of five semesters) in advanced intervention practicum where they carry an ongoing caseload of psychotherapy cases. During this period, they are expected to engage in a minimum of two contact hours per week, and are expected to document their clinical experiences by maintaining clinical activity logs. Third, students engage in advanced study in an area of concentration that provides both socialization into, and substantive training in, a psychological specialty area. The department offers areas of concentration in clinical child/pediatric psychology, clinical health psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and emotion neuroscience and psychopathology. Students may also individually design an area of concentration (e.g., forensic psychology, public health policy) under the tutelage of the supervisory committee. The area of concentration requires from 12-19 credits of classroom work (see student handbook) plus an advanced specialty practicum. Fourth, students are engaged in research activity every semester of matriculation. During the first five semesters, they engage in a first-year project designed to provide a mentored research experience that leads to a formal presentation at a departmental colloquium during the fourth semester. Students are highly encouraged to publish their work and to present it at local, regional, national, or international conferences. During the fifth semester, the formal write-up of the first year project is prepared in thesis form. Successful defense and acceptance by the Graduate School culminates in the awarding of the Master’s of Science degree. Notably, of students who entered the program in 1998, 54% have either published their first year project or presented it at a national scientific meeting. After obtaining their Master of Science degree, students develop an independent research focus that, under the guidance of a supervisory committee, leads to the doctoral dissertation. The final component of the curriculum consists of advanced program electives, including an advanced statistics course and one advanced course in psychological intervention. Although some of the curricular components are "sequenced" (e.g., the core takes place before advanced training), others run simultaneously or "in parallel" (e.g., the simultaneous enrollment in programmed research and clinical practicum experiences).

The core curriculum provides instruction and experience in the foundations of psychology, in the scientific, methodological, and theoretical foundations of professional psychological practice, and in the theoretical and methodological foundations of psychological assessment, measurement and intervention. All courses in the curriculum address issues of cultural and individual diversity in a manner consistent with the course topic. Appendix 23 provides course syllabi along with specific descriptions of how this is accomplished. As examples, psychopathology courses specifically address diversity in symptomatic presentation, prevalence, and approach to assessment/diagnosis. Assessment courses address issues of appropriate normative standards, content validity, and examiner-examinee differences.

New developments in the curriculum have focused on maximizing the strengths of our setting and faculty and on providing new instructional alternatives designed to enhance the integration of science and practice. First, we will offer a new course in social psychological aspects of attitude formation and prejudice in 2002 as part of the core curriculum. This course will examine issues of diversity (racial/ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and disability) from a social perspective. Second, we now offer integrated clinical/research experiences as advanced specialty practica. In these practica, students are exposed to specific clinical research populations and will participate in both empirical research and clinical service delivery activities. Two such experiences (a course in empirically-supported treatment featuring Parent Child Interaction Therapy [Eyberg & Boggs] and a clinical research practicum in Pediatric Transplant Adherence [Quittner]) were offered during Summer term, 2000, and additional practica in Organ Transplantation (Rodrigue), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (J. Johnson), Spinal Pain (Robinson), Telehealth (Glueckauf), and School-Based Mental Health Services (Evans) are planned for upcoming semesters. Third, we plan to offer informal discussion groups between individual faculty and students in which issues relating to the development of professional identity as a clinical psychologist can be more directly addressed and discussed. We plan discussions about career trajectories, balancing family and professional responsibilities, specific issues affecting female professionals, and other topics as a way of helping students to directly consider and reflect upon personal choices they must make in forging an identity as a professional psychologist. Finally, a professional writing seminar is in place and is now regularly available as an advanced elective for interested students. In this seminar, students learn to critique written products of other participants, and learn to write more incisively and effectively in response to critical feedback. Plans for the future include enhancement of curricular offerings in health and public policy, outcomes assessment, health care economics, and other emerging topics.

B4. The major site for core practicum training is the Psychology Clinic at Shands Hospital, located within the HSC complex adjacent to faculty offices and laboratories. The Psychology Clinic provides inpatient and outpatient assessment, treatment, and consultative services in response to referrals from other hospital departments, outside physicians, agencies, school systems, attorneys, and other sources, with almost 9,000 patient visits per year. The clinic operates as a faculty group practice, and allows exposure to a broad range of patients both within general clinic assignments and within the center affiliations that are directed by departmental faculty (Center for Pediatric Psychology and Family Studies, Center for Research on Telehealth and Healthcare Communications, NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention). Additional practicum sites include the Gainesville Veterans' Administration Medical Center (where students obtain advanced experiences and supervision in psychological intervention), The University of Florida Psychology Center at Shands at Lake Shore Hospital in Lake City, FL, the Eastside Community Health Clinic and the Rural Health Clinic in Jasper, FL (where students obtain core training in primary care psychology), and the Shands Rehabilitation Hospital in Gainesville (where students obtain experience in assessment, consultation and intervention with postacute stroke and brain-injured patients). Students have also obtained supervised practicum experiences in the following units within the Shands/Health Science Center complex: the Pediatric Diabetes Outpatient Clinic, the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry Specialty Clinic, the University of Florida Craniofacial Center, the UF Spine Center, and the UF Facial Pain Center. Finally, students have numerous opportunities to attend and participate in interdisciplinary clinical decision-making conferences in the UF Transplantation Program and the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program.

Domain C: Program Resources

C1. Core faculty are all those budgeted in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, plus two other faculty members who have made significant and consistent contributions to teaching, research training and clinical supervision. One of these faculty members is budgeted in the Department of Psychiatry and one is budgeted in the College of Health Professions Dean’s Office. The department has an additional list of affiliate faculty who participate in a more limited fashion by serving on doctoral committees, teaching occasional lectures, or performing more circumscribed roles as a research advisor or clinical supervisor. The core faculty meets on a weekly basis to discuss departmental and program issues. Faculty tend to cluster in one of the formal areas of concentration (clinical neuropsychology, clinical health psychology, clinical child psychology, emotion neuroscience/psychopathology), although "membership" in an area is not a formal designation. Some faculty participate in more than one area, and master’s supervisory committees are designed to cut across areas. Area faculty meet once per month to discuss issues related to research, didactic, or clinical training within the area. Each area also meets weekly in an ongoing research seminar where faculty and students present their work. See A3 for additional information about the administrative and faculty roles in the program.

Although a diversity of clinical and research interests are represented on the faculty, all are committed to the scientist-practitioner model of graduate education and training in clinical psychology. They exemplify this model through high quality teaching, research and clinical activities. For example, in the 1999-2000 academic year, faculty published 2 books, 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and 19 book chapters. In addition, faculty and student research was presented 127 times at national and international meetings. During that same time period, external grant expenditures totaled $2,730,169, and faculty were involved in the delivery or supervision of approximately $2,011,044 in clinical services, involving 2,670 assessment cases and 5,253 therapy visits. In fiscal year 1995 our research grant expenditures were $1,384,511, while in fiscal year 1999-2000, expenditures totaled $2,730,169. This is the result of increased grant proposal output by the faculty that reflected $3,403,308 for first year funding for proposals submitted in 1995 to $9,227,513 in proposals in 1998-1999 and $8,034,993 in proposals in 1999-2000. This increase in grant funding reflects a shift in faculty funding away from clinical dollars to grant dollars. Clinical revenue remains relatively consistent with continued service of faculty in the Clinic and the addition of clinical faculty who provide direct service and who augment clinical training and supervision.

In addition to grant productivity, indicators of faculty quality are apparent from yearly faculty effort reports and Curriculum Vitae. Dr. Cynthia Belar received the APA Distinguished Contributions to Education Award in 1997. Dr. Russell M. Bauer became a Fellow of APA Division 40 in 1997, and was awarded the University of Florida Teaching Incentive Program Award in 1999. Dr. Bruce Crosson became a University of Florida Research Foundation Professor (2000), won the College of Health Professions Faculty Research Award (1997, 1999), and won the University of Florida Professorial Excellence Award (1999). Dr. Sheila Eyberg received the Lee Salk Award for Distinguished Service to Pediatric Psychology (1994). Dr. Robert Frank became a Fellow of APA Division 38 (Health Psychology) in 1996, was awarded the Essie Morgan Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievements in the field of Spinal Cord Injury by the American Association of Spinal Cord Injury Psychologists and Social Workers (1995), received the Roger S. Barker Research Award for APA Division 22 (1995), and was the recipient of the Karl F. Heiser Award for Advocacy, American Psychological Association, in 1996. Dr. Robert Glueckauf became Fellow of APA Division 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology) in 2000, and won the Division’s Distinguished Service Award (1998). Dr. Suzanne Johnson received The William R. Jones Most Valuable Mentor Award from the McKnight Foundation (1997), A University of Florida Research Foundation Professorship (1997-1999), the University of Florida Professorial Excellence Award (1998), the Departmental Research Mentor Award (1999), the College of Health Professions Teacher/Scholar of the Year Award (2000), and the Martin P. Levin Mentorship Award from APA Division 54 (2000). Dr. Peter Lang became an APA Distinguished Scientist Lecturer in 1996, won the College of Health Professions Faculty Research Award (1996), and received the University of Florida Professorial Excellence Award (1996). Dr. Michael Perri became a Charter Fellow for the Division on Addictions, American Psychological Association (1995), a Fellow of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (1998), and a Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (1999). Dr. Alexandra Quittner received the Distinguished Research Award from APA Division 54 (2001) and received a Research Career Development Award from NIH (1995-1999). Dr. James Rodrigue won the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Memphis (2000), and Recognition for Significant Contributions to Health Psychology as Book Editor, Division 38, (1997). Dr. Ronald Rozensky won the Karl f. Heiser Award for Advocacy, American Psychological Association (1995), was recognized as a Distinguished Practitioner by the National Academies of Practice (1996), and gave the Stampfl Memorial Lecture at the University of Wisconsin in 1997. Dr. Samuel Sears was awarded the Florida Psychological Association’s Early Career Contribution to Psychology (1998). Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes was a Finalist for the Society for Research on Adolescence Hershel Thornburg Dissertation Award, 2000, and was elected to the Thurgood Marshall Achievers Society in 1999.

Department faculty serve as journal editor (Ronald Rozensky, Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings) and associate editors (Margaret Bradley: Psychophysiology, Journal of Abnormal Psychology; Sheila Eyberg: Journal of Clinical Child Psychology [1992-1996], Behavior Therapy [1995-1998]; Eileen B. Fennell: Journal of the International neuropsychological Society; Robert Frank: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Psychology, NeuroRehabilitation; Robert Glueckauf: Rehabilitation Psychology; Suzanne Johnson, Prevention and Treatment; Michael Perri: The Behavior Therapist [1996-1998]). In addition, faculty serve widely on Editorial Boards of Professional Journals (See Appendix 12 for listing since 1995).

A number of faculty have demonstrated advanced competence in the practice of a specialty in professional psychology through examination and board certification by the specialty boards of the American Board of Professional Psychology (Clinical Psychology: Drs. Rozensky, Belar, Eyberg; Clinical Health Psychology: Drs. Rozensky, Belar, S. Johnson; Clinical Neuropsychology: Drs. Bauer, Crosson, Fennell).

In addition, faculty have also held a number of leadership positions in the discipline over the years. Most recent positions include:
 

APA Board of Educational Affairs (Rozensky)
APA Board of Educational Affairs (Frank, immediate past chair)
APA Board of Professional Affairs (Rozensky and S. Johnson; both immediate past chairs)
ABCN Representative to the ABPP Board of Trustees (Fennell)
American Board of Clinical Psychology ABPP (Rozensky)
American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (Bauer, Crosson, Fennell)
Secretary, American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (Bauer)
Member, International Neuropsychological Society Board of Governors (Bauer)
President, APA Division of Clinical Neuropsychology (Fennell)
Past President, Illinois Psychological Association (Rozensky)
Board of Directors, Association of Medical School Psychologists (Rozensky)
Chair, Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (Belar)
President, SEPA (Eyberg)
President, APA Division of Health Psychology (S. Johnson, Belar)
President, Florida Psychological Association (Geffken)
President Elect, Division of Child, Youth, and Family Services, APA (Eyberg)
President, APA Division of Rehabilitation Psychology (Glueckauf)
Chair, APA Interdivisional Health Care Committee (Glueckauf)

Finally, the department is the co-sponsor of the biannual Florida Conference on Child Health Psychology, which has achieved international attention for its presentation of original research on topics in pediatric psychology. Drs. Boggs, S. Johnson, J. Johnson and Rodrigue have been the major conference organizers over the years. Dr. Quittner has assumed leadership of the April, 2001 Conference. On July 14, 2000, the department sponsored a conference, organized and directed by our graduate students, entitled "Managing Managed Care in the 21^st Century" that featured Russell Newman, Ph.D., J.D., Executive Director of the APA Practice Directorate, as Keynote Speaker.

Non-core faculty include those within the institution and outside who have made significant contributions to the program over the years. These faculty have assumed specific responsibilities as individual student needs for research or clinical training warrant. At the present time affiliate faculty appointments are reviewed yearly. When affiliate faculty have had supervisory responsibility for student clinical training, they are invited to the student review meeting to discuss their written evaluation. The Program Director discusses with all students their offsite training experiences with affiliate faculty, and communicates directly with the faculty supervisors, as a means of quality assurance. The Faculty Core Responsibility document (Appendix 3) describes roles and responsibilities of these affiliates and the level of responsibility they maintain within the department.

C2. The program currently has 78 students. The Admissions Committee places particular emphasis on prior research experience, the breadth and quality of undergraduate preparation in basic science and psychology, letters of recommendations, personal statements, GPA’s, GRE scores, and aptitude for research and practice. Interest areas that are viewed as the best match for our program include clinical child/pediatric psychology, clinical health psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and emotion neuroscience/psychopathology. Consistent with program goals, a diversity of career paths is supported by the program. Applicants are reviewed and top candidates are invited for a recruitment weekend. This weekend affords students an opportunity to learn about the graduate program and about the physical and intellectual in which the program resides. Faculty and incumbent students interview applicants and make judgments regarding about the students interests and training needs provide "best-fit" with program offerings. Those unable to attend are offered telephone interviews.

The quality of the student body continues to be outstanding by most any measured standard. According to the most recent UF Admissions Decisions Study (1997-98) CHP students have the highest average combined GRE scores and GPA of doctoral students when compared to averages across all colleges at the University of Florida (Average Verbal GRE 618. Average Quantitative GRE 669). In addition we are one of the most competitive programs in the Graduate School, with a 7% (vs. 32%) admission rate. In house statistics for the 1999-2000 year revealed 221 applications and 27 offers of acceptance (12% accept rate). Of those students offered admission, 12 (44%) enrolled in the program and began classes in August 2000. Additional indices of student quality and activity can be found in Table 10 and in student activity reports (available for inspection).

The program accepts 12-15 students per year. The size of the incoming class is determined, in part, by faculty judgment about the number of students that is optimal for delivery of quality clinical, research, and didactic instruction. Efforts are undertaken to foster peer socialization through formal (e.g., first-year course in "Introduction to Clinical Psychology") and informal (social) means. Over the years, incumbent students have developed meaningful and important mechanisms for socializing new students into the department. Students are introduced to research through involvement in laboratory teams, and to clinical work through assignment to a "vertical team" for assessment and intervention training. The Program Director meets regularly with each class of students, as well as elected student representatives, to identify important issues affecting student life, professional development, and faculty-student relationships.

Students reflect, through their personal/intellectual development, and through their involvement in professional activities, the program’s goals, objectives and philosophy. The manner in which the program’s activities are reflected in student achievement, performance, and identification is detailed in Table 10.

C3. We believe that overall the program has sufficient resources to achieve its training goals and objectives, although areas for more progress are highlighted below.

C3(a). Faculty Support. Program faculty are 12 month employees of the State University System. A 9-month contract has not been an option. The department supports the continued development of faculty through the payment of up to $750 in professional dues and the allocation of funds for professional development ($2000 in l999-2000). In addition, the department sponsors a weekly Teaching Conference that is APA approved for continuing education credits. A list of recent Teaching Conference topics, presenters, and learning objectives is provided in Appendix 10.

C3(b). Clerical and Technical Support. The department has 27.0 FTE support for faculty, and 12.0 FTE for departmental support staff, which includes office staff, the staff of the Psychology Clinic, and computer technical services. One FTE of staff support has been devoted solely to the doctoral program, but despite an expansion of duties in the doctoral program and the addition of other academic support activities to this position, no new FTE have been added in 10 years. This is currently being reviewed by departmental administration. The department also supports 1 FTE technical support for computer services (computer installation, repair, configuration). The Dean’s Office provides clerical and technical support for the academic program, and also provides fiscal assistance to faculty and students in personnel matters. The Dean’s office also provides 2.0 FTE in network technical support and computer programming.

C3(c). Training materials and equipment. Each faculty office is equipped with a networked Pentium-based computer with standard software including the Microsoft Office 97 Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), SPSS (v. 10.0), Reference Manager 9, and Pegasus Mail 3.1. The network package also includes a web browser (Netscape Navigator 4.5) for Internet access, which includes protocols for accessing digital resources of the University of Florida/State of Florida library system. All faculty has direct access to on-line medical records and hospital scheduling resources from their private office. Each tenure track faculty is provided laboratory space for research training that is also equipped with at least one Pentium computer for student use. At this time, most laboratory computers are also networked. The network itself provides expandable space for large-scale data storage and daily backup and archiving. Technical support for the development of web-based instructional programs and for multimedia development is available in the Dean’s Office. The clinic has one-way mirrors as well as video observation and taping facilities for use in clinical supervision and research. A large variety of tests and measurements needed for clinical practice is available, and faculty provide input with regard to new tests and protocols that should be added to the Clinic toolbox. The university libraries form the largest information resource system in the state of Florida, containing more than 3.3 million volumes, 6.3 million microfilms and thousands of full text electronic journals. The health center has its own library that carries many of the journals of interest to scientist-practitioners in health care. Representation of psychology journals among the collection is excellent, in part because library appropriations have made it possible for faculty to request subscriptions based on need and projected circulation.

C3(d). Physical facilities. Historically, and in previous accreditation reports, space has been a significant problem for this program. However, in July 1995 the department moved into 3384 square feet of newly renovated clinical space and obtained 1500 square feet of additional space for research and teaching. Currently, the department occupies 4137 square feet in faculty office space, 1614 square feet in support staff offices, 10,767 square feet in faculty laboratories/student work space, 4651 square feet of clinic (service delivery + intern office) space, 1460 square feet in classroom and conference room space, and 1227 square feet for the departmental Wellness Center [vending machines, exercise equipment, lunch room & mailboxes], for a combined total of 23, 856 square feet. In 2003 the department will again be moving into approximately 7,900 square feet of new space in the Health Professions, Pharmacy, and Nursing Complex, which will essentially replace existing faculty offices and some research laboratories. Funded research projects and funded Centers will retain assigned space that is currently occupied in the existing department space.

C3(e). Access to practicum sites. The department faculty and staff operate the Psychology Clinic, directed by Glenn Ashkanazi, Ph.D. The clinic is physically located on the ground floor of the 578-bed Shands Hospital/UF Health Science Center (HSC) complex, adjacent to faculty offices and laboratories. This Clinic, and the Faculty Group Practice located within, services the Shands Teaching Hospital and its outpatient clinics. Most core faculty members hold an assessment/consultation clinic one or two days per week in which students on core or advanced practicum assignments participate in a supervised "vertical team". Students work side-by-side with interns and post-doctoral associates in performing assessments and consulting with patients, medical staff, and other health professionals. Students also carry intervention cases in the Psychology Clinic, assigned according to training needs at a weekly staffing attended by all faculty and trainees on the team. In addition, faculty also practice at offsite locations such as the Eastside Community Health Service and the rural AHEC sites, where students complete core rotations in primary care.

Additional Resources. In Fall 1998, the 120,000 square foot University of Florida Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute opened, enriching the teaching and learning environment for students of brain and behavioral science at the Health Science Center. This state-of-the-art facility is supported in part by an initial $18 million grant from the Department of Defense, and by $40 million in additional construction and in-kind matching funds from Shands Teaching Hospital and the Health Science Center Colleges. The strong enthusiasm of the State of Florida's backing of the UFBI effort was reflected by a new $2.7 million per year targeted appropriation to help support the UFBI's brain and spinal cord injury research programs and to aid in the recruitment and retention of UFBI faculty and staff. Furthermore, it is also likely that the State will provide more than $2.3 million per year for the operations and maintenance costs of running the new UFBI building. The building houses a variety of laboratories and multimedia teaching facilities serving 12 interrelated programmatic research initiatives: 1) Neurogenetics, Virology & Gene Delivery/Knockout; 2) Developmental Neurobiology & Neuro-Oncology; 3) Brain and Spinal Cord Traumatic Injury, Stroke & Epilepsy; 4) Sensory Systems, Movement Control & Parkinson's Disease; 5) Neural Control of Immune, Endocrine & Other Homeostatic Systems; 6) Neural Signal Transduction, Plasticity/Memory & Drug Discovery; 7) Neurotoxicology, Substance Abuse & Addiction; 8) Neurobiology of Aging & Alzheimer's Disease; 9) Cognitive Neuroscience & Mental Illness; 10) Computational & Network Neuroscience; 11) Functional Neuroimaging & Structural Neurobiology; and 12) The Center for Advanced Practical Neuroscience. Perhaps the most important aspect of this programmatic initiative is the impetus it has given to promoting functional working relationships between basic scientists and clinical faculty aimed at stimulating applications of science to the problems of man. With over 200 faculty from over 50 different departments, divisions, Centers and programs, the UFBI is clearly considered to be a major focus of the strengths of the University now and well into the next century.

The Malcolm Randall (Gainesville) Veterans' Affairs Medical Center is a general medical, surgical, and psychiatric facility with 473 authorized beds and a 60-bed Nursing Home Care Unit. The Gainesville facility provides comprehensive primary, secondary, and tertiary care for veterans in its service area. Pre- and post-hospital care is provided through approximately 230,000 patient visits annually to the ambulatory care and the associated outpatient clinic programs. In addition, this medical center is one of the few nationwide that support a Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC). The Medical Center is affiliated with the University of Florida Health Science Center colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Professions, in which the professional staff of the VAMC hold faculty appointments. Three department faculty (Crosson, Dede, Glueckauf) participate in the recently awarded $3.5M VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Brain Rehabilitation Center, the purpose of which is to enhance and provide research programs focused on the development of effective/efficient post-acute rehabilitation for veterans with cognitive and motor impairments due to cerebrovascular disease, degenerative diseases, or focal injuries associated with trauma. The VAMC is a frequent practicum training site for advanced graduate students seeking psychotherapy experiences with a seriously disabled or chronically ill population.

An additional resource is the NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, Directed by our Graduate Research Professor, Peter J. Lang, Ph.D. The broad aim of the Center is to study emotional stimulus processing in all its directly measurable manifestations, i.e., as affective report, behavior and patterns of expressive physiology (facial, visceral, and neuromuscular), and to understand the relation of these processing measures to functional changes in the brain. An important further aim is to study the interaction of emotional reactivity with attentional demands, as attention is modulated by stimulus characteristics, motivational state, and the behavioral and social context. Through their interactions with the center, students learn state-of the art methods for evaluating affective processing, including dense-array electrophysiological recording, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and multichannel psychophysiological techniques. An international list of collaborators brings students into contact with world-class researchers through laboratory visits and formal colloquia.

In addition, there are a number of collaborating units that have provided practicum sites for our advanced students. A description of potential advanced practicum sites is found in Appendix G of the CHP Student Handbook. Practicum sites that have been actively used during the reporting period are detailed in Table 2.

Student Support. Issues of student stipend support are addressed in F2c below. The current average stipends for incoming students are $12,111 (assistantships) and $15,000 (fellowships) plus 29-32 credits of tuition payments the first year. In 1996-97, the corresponding figures were $7,592 for assistantships and $8,000 for fellowships, while in 1998-1999, the figures were $10,000 and $15,000, respectively. The department also provides $100 to each student who is the first author on a paper published in a refereed journal, and to students who present their research at both the college research fair and the annual meeting of FPA within the same academic year. There are also cash awards for research and clinical performance given at the annual college convocation (Appendix 11 contains a description of the Department’s annual award program).. Student research is supported through the maintenance of the laboratory computers, and occasional small grant funds from centers. However, current funding does not provide for the entire cost of graduate education, and our graduates are leaving the program with a median of $11,500 worth of debt (average = $22,629, SD = $23,312). Twenty-four percent (24%) of our graduates leave the program with no debt (national statistics for University-based Ph.D. programs (U) = 28%, for Professional Schools (P) = 19%), 24% have debt between $1-$10,000 (U = 21%, P = 7%), 19% have debt between $10,001-$20,000, (U = 18%, P = 5%), none have debt between $20,001-$30,000 (U = 13%, P = 9%), and 33% have over $30,000 (U = 15%, P = 41%).

C4. This program is not a consortium.

Domain D: Cultural and Individual Differences and Diversity

D1. Recruitment and retention of students and faculty. Student recruitment efforts include participation in the Graduate Minority Program of the UF Graduate School, the Florida A&M University Feeder Program, the UF Undergraduate Minority Mentor Program and individual correspondence to each minority candidate listed by the APA Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs. Our current student body consists of 21% minorities, of whom 100% have been supported through departmental or graduate school minority fellowship funds. We have also valued diversity of life experience in our recruitment process; thus we have several students who have come to psychology as a second career (e.g., from business, computer consulting, journalism, homemaking), and several with citizenship in other countries. One of our students just graduated with her second Ph.D. degree in psychology, this time in clinical psychology, in preparation for the development of clinical child training and services at the University of Jordan, where she is a tenured faculty member.

We believe that our retention of students from diverse backgrounds is in part related to the following:

1. The department has successfully competed for supplemental summer tuition support for minority students from the University Office of Minority Affairs. In addition, one student (Guido Urizar) was awarded the Delores Auzenne Fellowship from the Office of the Vice Provost.
2. There has been an increase in the number of faculty who are mentoring research and scholarly projects related to minority health issues. For example, Dr. Belar was the editor of the volume "Sociocultural and Individual Differences" for the Bellack and Hersen Comprehensive Clinical Psychology project; in addition she recently co-authored a chapter with four graduate students on Women’s Health: A Cultural Perspective. Drs. Bauer, Dede, S. Johnson, Perri, Eyberg, Sears have mentored minority undergraduate students in the past five years. Drs. Bauer & Dede are currently mentoring students within the University of Florida Minority Mentor program. During the 2000-2001 academic year, Dr. Dede is a member of the University of Florida Minority Mentor Program Steering Committee.
3. Two students were funded by the department to attend the First Annual National Multicultural Conference and Summit chaired by then APA President Richard Suinn; these students then presented to departmental meetings and at the Friday Teaching Conference so all could share in aspects of the conference.
4. Dr. Dede holds monthly meetings with African American students.
5. Our minority students have had leadership roles such as membership on Curriculum Committee (LaToya Aker), Health Professions Student Council (Jane Querido), Student President, FPA (Johanna Esquerre), American Psychological Association Graduate Student Board (Tamara Duckworth).
6. Dr. Suzanne Johnson was honored in 1998 by the McKnight Foundation for her excellence in mentorship of one of our African American minority students.
7. In 1999 three of our minority students (Tamara Duckworth, Jane Querido, & Robert Newton) received recognition for outstanding leadership in the UF Multicultural Recognition Program.

Faculty recruitment efforts have included (a) the recent hiring of an African American female faculty member into a Clinical Assistant Professor position. Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes began faculty duties on August 15, 2000, and provides clinical service delivery and supervision at the Eastside Clinic and in the Psychology Clinic’s Child service, and (b) the recent hiring of an African American female social psychologist (Dr. Lisa Brown) who will devote the majority of her time to research and research mentoring and will teach our social psychology/diversity course. Her research lab is in the Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention.

D2. Curriculum issues. In order to systematically address issues of diversity the program requires that every course in our curriculum address issues of diversity as well as the ethical and professional issues related to course content. The cover sheet for each course syllabus submitted with this self-study describes how this is accomplished in the context of each course (Appendix 23). In addition, a specific objective of the qualifying examination is that the student "demonstrate(s) the ability to discuss issues of ethics and diversity as they relate to the various topics chosen for examination" (See CHP Student Handbook, Appendix 4). With respect to clinical training, a specific objective is that the student will have assessment and intervention experiences across the life span and these experiences should be reflective of a range of human diversity, such as gender, cultural, ethnic and racial diversity. Diversity of caseload is monitored weekly in vertical team meetings, quarterly through review of clinical logs by the Program Director, and yearly by the Clinical Progress Committee, with specific recommendations made as appropriate. During the vertical team meetings, the clinical activity of faculty, post-docs, interns, and students is reviewed, and new therapy case assignments are made based on outcomes from that week's assessment clinics. The team leader, along with faculty supervisors, work to ensure that caseload diversity is maintained throughout the student's enrollment in practicum. Grades in courses, practica and the qualifying examination assess student knowledge and awareness of diversity issues and implications. Thus, attention to issues of diversity is integral to all education and training in our program.

In addition, we provide opportunities for special focus on issues of diversity within our didactic program. For example, topics of diversity are addressed in the Friday teaching conference presentations (See Appendix 10) and we have invited speakers to our classes who have specific expertise in special topics (e.g., Dr. Carolyn Tucker – ethnic diversity in health care; Dr. Stuart Schwartz – gay and lesbian issues; Dr. Maria Vera – Latino culture; Shands Hospital Chaplain - religious issues; representatives from the Deaf Culture). As indicated earlier, Dr. Lisa Brown, a new faculty member in the Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, is a social psychologist who is mounting a new research agenda to study psychological and affective issues in prejudice from an emotion neuroscience perspective. The course Diversity in Clinical Psychology has been offered on a regular basis and a new seminar in women’s health research was offered for two semesters in 1998-99. This seminar included participation by many of the prominent women researchers from different disciplines in the health sciences center who addressed not only academic material, but professional development issues for women. Professional and personal gender issues have also been addressed through a series of evening sessions with open invitations to interested students and faculty. A new course on social bases of attitude formation and prejudice will be offered as part of the required sequence in Spring 2002.

Domain E: Student-Faculty Relations

E1. The CHP Student Handbook (Appendix 4) and UF Graduate Student Handbook (Appendix 5) address multiple issues regarding student-faculty relationships. These documents include the "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct," (CHP Student Handbook, Appendix N) Publication Policy Guidelines (CHP Student Handbook, Appendix L), Grievance Procedures (CHP Student Handbook Appendix O, UF Graduate Student Handbook, pp. 35-37). These documents also contain discussions of mentorship and supervisory responsibilities. In addition, routine questions asked of each student during their annual individual meeting with the Program Director are "Have you been treated respectfully by faculty? Are you aware of any ethical problems? Are you obtaining sufficient mentorship/supervision?" If problems are identified, students nearly always prefer counseling that empowers them to seek individual solutions rather than pursue other avenues, but they are always apprised of their rights.

As requested, the following list contains all of the formal complaints filed within the last ten years. Records regarding these complaints are maintained either in the student’s file, or the Dean’s Office.

1. 1992 - Grievance regarding dismissal from program
2. 1994 – Grievance regarding refusal to certify readiness for internship
3. 1996 – Complaint concerning faculty-student relationship
4. 1997 – Grievance regarding lack of uniformity in applying departmental policies

regarding qualifying examinationsE2-3. Accessibility of faculty to students is ensured by the fact that our space is largely contiguous, so research laboratories that house students are close to faculty offices and the clinic space is within close walking distance. In the clinic our faculty and students work literally side by side, thus our faculty members serve as role models for research, practice and the integration of science with practice as consistent with our training goals. Feedback from our students and alumni about our faculty role models has been overall highly positive. For example, in our recent Anonymous Doctoral Program Review, completed by 55 recent graduates of the program, the program received a rating of 4.3 (out of 5) in its success in integrating theory and practice. The effectiveness of faculty role models received a 3.9 rating, effectiveness of research mentorship received a 4.2 rating. Complete results of this survey are found in Appendix 24. We are not aware of any incident in which diversity issues among students have been treated with disrespect.

Areas for continued attention and improvement include (a) developing more formal, universally applied procedures for ensuring that issues regarding personal and professional development as clinician-researchers are specifically addressed during regularly-scheduled supervision meetings, and (b) developing a means by which faculty and students together can learn and implement cutting edge supervisory techniques. The latter is an important goal for the next few years. The vast majority of doctoral programs do not provide direct formal exposure to supervisory instruction . We intend to provide such experiences for both faculty and students as a way of more effectively addressing this important aspect of professional development.

Finally, the students have twice, 1999 and 2000, submitted our Department in the APAGS "competition" for department of the year (see student letter in Appendix 13). This reflects a student body with overall positive attitudes toward their graduate experience.

E4. The CHP Student Handbook and UF Graduate Student Handbook are provided upon admission and reviewed in orientation sessions with incoming students. The orientation session consists of presentations by the Dean of the College of HP, the college financial officer, representatives from Student Health, and a review of program requirements and resources by the Program Director and program assistant. After students are given sufficient time to review the material contained in the CHP Student Handbook, they are required to communicate in writing that they are familiar with, and understand, the contents of the CHP student handbook. This handbook (Appendix 4) specifies program requirements (pp. 10-16), course policies (p. 17), evaluations and standards (pp. 17-19), as well as information about student resources (pp. 2-10 plus appendices). The UF Graduate Student Handbook (Appendix 5) lists graduate student resources (p. 1-28) as well as graduate student policies, procedures and requirements (p. 29-75). In addition to program orientation and written materials, students are advised of support services as needs arise on a case-by-case basis by faculty or by the program director. The CHP Student Handbook is also reviewed with the faculty on an annual basis and was last updated in August 2000.

The Program Director serves as the initial advisor until the student selects a research mentor for the first year project during the first semester. Subsequent planning is accomplished in conjunction with this mentor, or subsequent mentors, until the student forms the doctoral supervisory committee at the end of the second year. A formal program of studies is prepared when the student declares their area of concentration, and is reviewed yearly. The Program Director always remains a resource in the planning process. In addition, planning takes into consideration the student’s annual self-assessment (Appendix 14), student interests, student training needs as determined by faculty, curriculum requirements and program resources. The student self-assessment is one of our efforts to promote the skills required for life-long learning as a professional psychologist. Faculty advisement responsibilities are detailed in the Faculty Core Responsibility document.

The faculty evaluates the student’s progress in all aspects of the program. Although feedback is provided on a continuous basis in the context of supervisory relationships, formal feedback occurs at numerous, specific points throughout the program as described in the CHP Student Handbook (Appendix 4, pp. 17-19). These include semester course grades, quarterly practicum evaluations, annual review by the Clinical Progress Committee, research progress (semester and annual), qualifying examinations, and thesis/dissertation defenses. A formal review of academic, research and professional progress of every student is conducted annually by the faculty. A statement of the student’s overall progress is conveyed to the student in a letter from the program director; this letter includes advisement as to further training needs and overall status in the program. Examples of these letters can be found through inspection of student files.

Students with difficulties. If a student does not obtain a satisfactory grade in any required course, it is remediated by repeating it or by otherwise presenting evidence that satisfies the instructor that the student has acquired knowledge necessary to earn at least a B (e.g., re-examination, additional assignments). The course instructor determines the method of remediation. Other methods of helping students with academic difficulties have included tutoring and enrollment in special courses (e.g., performance anxiety management, assistance in the ADA Office of Student Disabilities).

Students experiencing difficulties in clinical performance are advised about the nature of those difficulties and are provided with opportunities for additional learning (e.g., assignment of particular types of cases, additional practica). Sometimes, a special supervisory team or mentor is assigned to a specific student.

Students experiencing difficulties in research training are advised about the nature of those difficulties and are given opportunities for remediation (e.g., collaborative work on additional projects, counseling to take additional methods courses).

Students experiencing difficulties in professional behavior are counseled about the nature and seriousness of the behavior. Special essays on ethics have sometimes been required. Probation and termination are options. Any decision of the program director and faculty regarding the student’s status in the program may be appealed to the chair of the department, who abstains from participation in formal faculty voting that may take place in the individual case. As noted before, students are informed of due process procedures.

Domain F: Program Self-Assessment and Quality Enhancement

F1&2. Program self-assessment is a multifaceted process that includes ongoing dialogue with students and faculty, comparison with national standards, review of student activities and progress, formal alumni surveys, formal retreats and other information gathering processes. Each program review process is briefly described below, followed by a description of how we have dealt with previous feedback from the COA and an analysis of our current outcomes as related to our program objectives.

1. Monitoring of student progress as more fully described in Domain E is an important component of program review process. This includes an annual review by the faculty of each student in the program using the following data: grades, practicum and research evaluations, progress toward meeting research training objectives as reviewed by the supervisory committee chair, progress toward meeting clinical training objectives as reviewed by the Clinical Progress Committee, scholarly productivity, and the student’s own self-assessment of education and training needs and goals. This review process helps identify systematic program weaknesses and serves as a way of better understanding collective and individual student needs.
2. Students complete course evaluations each semester on every course including practicum. Summary ratings of teaching/supervision are provided to program administrators, and these ratings, along with individual comments go directly to teaching faculty.
3. The Graduate School conducts exit surveys of all master’s and doctoral students.
4. The Program Director meets regularly with elected student representatives from each class to monitor program issues and problem solve as issues arise.
5. Together with the Chair, the Program Director meets each semester with the entire student body in part to monitor program issues.
6. The Program Director meets annually with each student in the program to review aspects of the program, their supervision/mentorship, and to discuss any related concerns. At this meeting, the student’s goals for the coming year are also reviewed.
7. The Program Director presents an annual report to the faculty in the Fall semester using data from the student annual review process, faculty activity records, exit interviews, and national data. Program strengths and weaknesses in meeting goals are identified.
8. The Curriculum Committee, comprised of elected faculty from each area, one appointee by the Program Director and four students, spearheads advances in the curriculum, reviews program issues/policies and brings issues to the faculty for input.
9. The faculty discusses program issues at regular meetings and at formal retreats. For example, topics such as admissions policies, objectives of the qualifying examination, and policies regarding teaching responsibilities and supervision have been focused for faculty review during meetings in the past year. Since the last site visit there have been two faculty retreats devoted solely to program issues (1996 and 1997) and one departmental retreat for strategic planning (1999).
10. Since the last site visit, program faculty have continued their leadership roles with respect to education, science and practice and thus have brought national perspectives to local issues. Faculty performance in leadership roles is itemized in Section C1 above and is apparent from the CoA short vitas provided in Table 3.
11. The previous Program Director was a member of the strategic planning task force for the UF Graduate School.
12. Because of the unique setting our "training" clinic, that is, the psychology service to the Shands Hospital and Health Science Center, we are required to carry out routine continual quality improvement [CQI] activities to support hospital accreditation standards. As such, we do a quarterly CQI report that looks at all aspects of clinical services (see an example in Appendix 25). This information, when necessary, can be fed back to clinical teams, the training program, and/or individual supervisors to assure that student [and faculty] provided services meet standards and guidelines of care as expected by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of HealthCare Organizations.
13. Finally, all faculty participate in a peer evaluation of their in class teaching skills as required by the College.

The specific data gathered on a systematic basis regarding program functioning include yearly student and faculty activity reports (Appendix 14) that contain productivity data for research, clinical activity, and coursework/teaching. Periodic alumni surveys are conducted, and frequent contact with program alumni occurs and is stimulated through dissemination of (and feedback on) the Departmental newsletter (CHP Clips) twice a year. Annual reports regarding admissions activities, minority recruitment/retention, and student funding status are generated and used for program review. Student evaluations of teaching, research mentorship, and clinical supervision are reviewed by the Chair and Program Director: Appendix 26 contains various evaluation forms that provide raw data on which program evaluation resides. Regular student meetings with the Program Director and semesterly student meetings with the Chair provide additional data regarding student training needs and other concerns. Table 10 provides summary outcome measures on program performance.

Based on a review of the data gathered for this self-study period and presented in Table 10, we find that:

1) The program has been largely successful in achieving its major objectives in education and training of students in research, clinical activity, professional socialization, and integration of science and practice. Data in Table 10, student and faculty activity reports and alumni surveys suggests a high degree of involvement and productivity in these major components of professional activity. Further attention needs to be devoted to

1. enhancing our efforts to prepare students to assume new roles in the changing marketplace
2. enhancing opportunities for students to learn supervisory and teaching skills
3. further specifying core competencies in research and clinical activity
4. increasing the number of graduates who combine research and clinical activity in their everyday work (currently 44%)

1. increasing the number of graduates who obtain specialty board certification

2) In the past five years, program faculty have been increasingly successful in obtaining extramural support for their research. This has had two distinct benefits for the program. First, it has decreased reliance on clinical revenue, thus allowing us to more directly align faculty and student activities in the clinic with student training needs and program objectives. Second, research training opportunities have increased dramatically, both with the success of incumbent faculty and with the addition of new faculty who conduct extramurally funded research. The existence of diverse research programs within the department has also greatly enhanced advanced clinical/research training opportunities within the department’s areas of concentration. Current availabilities (e.g., empirically-validated child treatment, an adherence practicum that integrates research and practice with pediatric transplants, adult organ transplantation, neuropsychological assessment and rehabilitation, among others) reflect the strengths and specialty areas of the faculty. With increasing faculty time devoted to research, continued efforts will need to be devoted to insuring the stability of the core curriculum. This will be accomplished through faculty assignments in accordance with the Faculty Core Responsibilities Document. A related short-term goal is to determine faculty teaching assignments in 5-year increments so that students can effectively develop a plan of study based on known course availability during their expected residency in the program.

3) Alumni evaluations of their graduate education is quite positive, and attests to the broad preparation they feel they have received in the major domains of scientific and professional activity. The results of the Anonymous Doctoral Program Review (Appendix 24) suggest areas for further program enhancement and development.

1. First, we need to find ways to better prepare our students to be effective teachers by enhancing opportunities for them to engage in supervised teaching. One recent development at the college level, the initiation of a Bachelors’ in Health Science degree, will undoubtedly lead to an increase in formal graduate teaching assistantships within the department. Additional efforts to expand undergraduate teaching opportunities are also being pursued.
2. Second, curricular offerings in health care and public policy, program development and evaluation, outcomes assessment, empirically-validated treatment, and substance abuse need to be enhanced. Resources within the College of Health Professions already exist whereby many of these curricular needs can be addressed through joint programs or collaborative teaching arrangements.

In addition to these data compiled from alumni since that last site visit, we also have outcome information about the leadership roles many of our students have played in psychology. For example, several students who have trained in our department have been or are currently Directors of clinical psychology doctoral programs themselves. Examples of leadership activities and other outstanding achievements derived from Alumni Surveys and the Department Newsletter are listed in Appendix 20.

F2c. Response to previous feedback from the Committee on Accreditation. We appreciated the number of positive comments in the last review process (See Appendix 21 for previous site visitors report), and have addressed the two issues highlighted by the CoA as described below:

Issue #1. "The faculty need to reconsider the heavy course load required of students, relative to their need for research and other reflective, scholarly developments as professional psychologists."

Response: For the next several years following the last accreditation visit we reviewed our entire curriculum, identified areas of potential redundancy and developed strategies to deal with known problems (e.g., Psychology department proseminars) as identified by students, faculty and site visitors. The result was a new curriculum which was formally adopted after a faculty retreat in October 1997 and which was thereafter implemented in stages until full implementation in the 99-00 year. Based on feedback from faculty instructors and students entering the program in 1999, the curriculum was further modified to its current form. This curriculum, which is more fully described in Domain B, enables the core curriculum to be completed in the first two years so that the second two years can be more fully devoted to the pursuit of research and practice in areas of individual interest. The major features of the initial and current curriculum revisions include: (1) development of introductory courses within our department that incorporate the broad domains of psychology as foundations for clinical science and practice, (2) reorganizing the initial psychotherapy course (Introduction to Psychological Intervention) so that its content reflects an introduction to theory and practice in conducting treatment that leads naturally into initial therapy practicum. Further development in integrating theory and practice in treatment occurs during the Advanced Psychotherapy course, (3) adjusting the core practicum requirement so that the 4^th semester is devoted to training within a primary care setting, (4) reducing the required number of ongoing, weekly psychotherapy cases from 4 to 2 throughout the program, (5) making the course in projective assessment elective rather than required, (6) consolidating research design and statistics so as to integrate this subject matter as relevant to clinical psychology research. As indicated above, an ongoing developmental trend within the advanced curriculum is to offer specialized coursework within a faculty member’s primary area of expertise that capitalizes on the opportunities for integrated didactic, empirical, and clinical training with designated populations. A list of currently available experiences of this kind is presented in Appendix 15.

Issue #2: "The financial basis of student and faculty support needs to be strengthened. In the case of faculty, in particular, clinical workloads need to be monitored so as not to compromise faculty research and student training needs."

Response: Over the years we have steadily increased our level of student support, although we still find it less than desirable. We are currently offering $12,000 plus 29-credit tuition waivers to first year students (an increase of nearly $5000 since the last visit). It is still guaranteed for only one year, but in reality every one of our upper level students desiring funding receives support through research grants, fellowships, contracts or clinic monies. For our 1999-2000 entering class we were able to offer 5 of the 15 students multi-year packages of $15,000 per year. For the our 2000-2001 entering class, we were prepared to offer six such packages, and were able to recruit four of the targeted students out of a matriculating class of 12. In 1999 we also received $90,000 in recurring dollars from the Office of the Provost in response to our requests for increased student support and after an exhaustive survey of benchmark programs and their faculty productivity and student support levels. As indicated above, the faculty has been successful in nearly doubling extramural grant support during the last two years. Grant expenditures during the 1999-2000 year totaled $2,730,169. This increase in grant funding has allowed students to receive funding to work on projects within their scientific areas of interest and thus decrease the need to for students to seek funding outside the department.

The new Chair has made it a goal to seek four-year funding for all students and this new money from the provost was a first step in achieving that goal. We have not yet reached our ultimate goal of having four years of "guaranteed" support for every student in the program, but we have had no student leave the program for financial reasons. With respect to the monitoring of clinical workloads, the chairman has worked to have the Psychology Clinic schedule cases for faculty that are consistent with training needs. Review mechanisms exist through the Executive Committee and the Friday Clinic Team staffings. The clinic maintains its required service load to the Health Science Center as augmented by the new clinical faculty, while tenure-track faculty have increased research grant support with more time devoted to scientific endeavors. Tenure-track faculty now are empowered to adjust their own caseloads in the Clinic based on teaching needs of students rather than on solely financial goals. Areas of Concentration and Clinical Team leaders review the scheduling of cases with the Program Director, Clinic Director, and Chair to assure that the primary mission of training takes the lead in Clinic operations. Core clinical training responsibilities are listed in Faculty Core Responsibilities Document (Appendix 3).

F2d&e. Other curriculum changes that have been made since the last site visit were not made in response to COA feedback, but rather reflected our understanding of our institution’s mission and goals, changes in health care, the evolving body of scientific and professional knowledge, and feedback from students and alumni. Specific developments include:

1. Inclusion of health psychology as a core domain of knowledge
2. A rotation in primary care as a core practicum experience (begun 1998)
3. New seminars in Professional Issues and Ethics, Women’s Health Research, Health Promotion, ADHD, Rehabilitation Psychology, Neuropsychology of Aging, Empirically Supported Treatments (upcoming).
4. Inclusion of current topics in departmental symposia, e.g., health care financing, violence in the schools, ethics of authorship, specialties in professional psychology, managed care, multicultural counseling (See Appendix 10)
5. Availability of an advanced "writing course" designed to improve grant-writing skills of our students and to enhance the research mission of the department through the learning of practical grant-preparation skills.
6. Formation of a new Friday morning clinical staffing meeting, lead by faculty, in four small teams, to review assessment cases and to make treatment referrals to students. This allows the faculty weekly oversight of student training needs, caseloads, and general discussion of interesting or difficult cases. This has assured integration of all faculty into the clinical training milieu.
7. Formation of an "Introduction to Clinical Psychology" course for first-year students designed to provide initial professional socialization, increase awareness of ethics and professional issues, and to assist in initial adjustment to graduate student life.

Domain G: Public Disclosure

G1. The following documents are found in the appendices:

1. Brief Program Description. The trifold brochure found in Appendix 16 is available to any interested party who requests it. In addition it is mailed to potential minority candidates that have been identified through university programs, by departmental faculty, or the APA minority program. It provides a brief description of the program with reference to the department’s Website where complete information and application materials can be found.
2. Department Website (http://www.hp.ufl.edu/chp/). The contents of the department’s Website are included in Appendix 7. The Website includes information about our goals, training model, admission policies, curriculum requirements, faculty, facilities and resources, ongoing research and clinical activities and program outcomes, among other information. The Website is updated on a regular basis. The Graduate Program participates in the CUDCP full disclosure program, which involves the posting of rolling three year program data. The University of Florida Website (http://www.ufl.edu) provides a wealth of information and resources for students, from downloadable forms to the entire Graduate Catalog.
3. The 2000-2001 Clinical and Health Psychology Student Handbook is included in Appendix 4. This handbook is given to each entering student and includes more detailed information about the policies and procedures of the program as well as a copy of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. It is best described as a living document in that it is updated yearly to include newly developed policies, and after inquiry of current students and faculty, further clarification of existing content. If there is a change in program requirements, students have a choice of staying with the requirements under which they entered, or meeting the new requirements.
4. The 2000-2001 University of Florida Graduate Catalog is found in Appendix 6. This document is available to every graduate student. It includes the academic calendar, admissions policies, general regulations, financial information, research and teaching services and student services. The Departmental listing (pp. 99-100) includes all faculty appointed to the Graduate School through our department, and contains the current listing of course designations and prerequisites. Graduate Faculty appointments are periodically reviewed by the Executive Committee to determine that faculty are maintaining active participation/availability in the educational program as are the affiliate faculty reviewed yearly as to their contributions to the program.
5. The UF Graduate Student Handbook (Appendix 5) is mailed to each graduate student by the Graduate School or provided to them in their orientation packet. Among other information, it includes information concerning the academic calendar, registration, grading, tuition, graduate student resources, and policies governing academic integrity, grievance, sexual harassment, and research with human subjects.
6. The UF Semester Deadlines brochure (Appendix 17). Multiple copies are kept in the program office for students and faculty. Information regarding Graduate School deadlines is also available on the UF Website.
7. The Collective Bargaining Agreement between The Board of Regents State University System of Florida, University of Florida and Graduate Assistants United, United Faculty of Florida (Appendix 18) is kept in the program office.
8. Psychology Clinic Policy and Procedure Manual (Appendix 19). This manual governs policy and procedures to be followed within the Psychology Clinic and is given to, and reviewed with, all students during their pre-practicum sequence.

Domain H. Relationship with Accrediting Body

The program has filed yearly reports with the Committee on Accreditation, notified the Committee regarding the change in directorship (see Appendix 22), and has paid all fees associated with the maintenance of its accredited status.

APPENDICES

Appendix 1. Mission Statement: Department of Clinical & Health Psychology

Appendix 2. Mission Statements: College of Health Professions, The Graduate School, and The University of Florida

Appendix 3. Faculty Core Responsibilities Document

Appendix 4. Clinical and Health Psychology Student Handbook

Appendix 5. University of Florida Graduate Student Handbook

Appendix 6. University of Florida Graduate Catalog

Appendix 7. Contents of Clinical and Health Psychology Website (http://www.hp.ufl.edu/chp/)

Appendix 8. University of Florida Faculty Handbook

Appendix 9. Curriculum Plan and Program Requirements Summary

Appendix 10. Departmental Teaching Conference: List of Continuing Education Topics, Presenters, and Learning Objectives

Appendix 11. Department of Clinical and Health Psychology Annual Student Award Program

Appendix 12. Faculty Membership on Editorial Boards

Appendix 13. Graduate Student Submissions for APAGS Department of the Year Award

Appendix 14. Student Annual Self-Assessment Form, Faculty Activity Report

Appendix 15. Specialty Practicum Offerings

Appendix 16. Trifold Informational Brochure

Appendix 17. Semester Deadlines Announcement

Appendix 18. Collective Bargaining Agreement

Appendix 19. Psychology Clinic Policy and Procedure Manual

Appendix 20. Examples of Graduate Outcomes

Appendix 21. Previous APA Site Visit Report

Appendix 22. CoA Correspondence during Reporting Period

Appendix 23. Course Syllabi with Face Sheets

Appendix 24. Results of Anonymous Doctoral Program Review

Appendix 25. Sample CQI Report

Appendix 26. Evaluation Forms

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This page was last updated Feb. 5, 2009.