Program

• Standards

  We have been a member of the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science since 2014, and we adhere closely to the academy's articulated principles and values of clinical science.

  Accordingly, we offer a multifaceted curriculum of coursework, practicum and professional development designed to equip students with the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies to succeed as professional psychologists. We acknowledge the inextricable link between research and practice by encouraging students to bring their clinical experience to bear on research questions, and to bring an empirical lens to the assessment and treatment of psychological disorders.

  

• Evidence-Based Practice

  Our goal is to prepare students with the skills and competencies to acquire, manage, and effectively use evolving knowledge of treatment targets, models, methods, and settings. We encourage students to produce, advance and deliver research evidence in ways that foster its consumption by researchers, educators and clinicians.

  The commonly accepted definition of “evidence-based practice” as the confluence of research evidence, clinical expertise and client characteristics (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, & Haynes, 2000) informs our framework for training that focuses on building skills for critical consumption of and contribution to research and building expertise for clinical decision-making.

• Program Goals

  Our program is designed to support all students in reaching a minimum level of competence on each of the following education goals and learning objectives, informed by federal priorities for research and practice, literature on evidence-based mental health care and competency benchmarks in professional psychology.

  Goal 1: Students will demonstrate competency to advance knowledge through research relevant to children and families in the discipline of psychological clinical science.

  • Objective 1a. Students will be able to synthesize literature and present a compelling rationale for stated hypotheses.
  • Objective 1b. Students will be able to generate an innovative and compelling set of research questions, with clear public health significance.
  • Objective 1c. Students will be able to plan and execute a sound and rigorous method for answering research questions.
  • Objective 1d. Students will be able to select and execute sound analytic approaches for their research questions.
  • Objective 1e. Students will be able to interpret and describe results and summarize conclusions, noting limitations to their method, implications for the field, and future research questions informed by the results.
  • Objective 1f. Students will be able to communicate their research orally.
  • Objective 1g. Students will be able to communicate their research in writing.

   

  Goal 2: Students will demonstrate competency to deliver evidence-based clinical care for children and families.

  • Objective 2a. Students will be able to select, administer, score, and interpret psychological assessments for children and adolescents.
  • Objective 2b. Students will demonstrate ability to conduct a comprehensive clinical interview.
  • Objective 2c. Students will demonstrate ability to form a positive and productive therapeutic alliance with children and families.
  • Objective 2d. Students will apply data-informed decision making toward the case conceptualization and diagnosis of psychological disorders.
  • Objective 2e. Students will apply data-informed decision making to treatment planning for psychological disorders.
  • Objective 2f. Students will be able to deliver evidence-based treatment for psychological disorders.
  • Objective 2g. Students will use ongoing data-informed assessment of patient progress to inform treatment planning and termination.

   

  Goal 3: Students will demonstrate knowledge in psychological clinical science.

  • Objective 3a. Students will demonstrate broad knowledge in areas of assessment and treatment related to psychopathology of childhood and adolescence.
  • Objective 3b. Students will demonstrate depth of knowledge in a defined area of growing expertise within the discipline of psychological clinical science.
  • Objective 3c. Students will demonstrate knowledge across broad and general areas of psychology (cognitive, affective, social, biological).
  • Objective 3d. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the history of psychology as a discipline.

   

  Goal 4: Students will demonstrate professionalism in the research and practice of psychological clinical science.

  • Objective 4a. Students will apply ethical concepts and awareness of legal issues regarding professional activities with children, families, and communities.
  • Objective 4b. Students will demonstrate awareness, sensitivity, and skills in working professionally with diverse children, families, and communities.
  • Objective 4c. Students will display respectful interpersonal communication, openness to feedback, and effective use of research mentorship and clinical supervision.
  • Objective 4d. Students will demonstrate knowledge of strategies and awareness of benefits associated with interdisciplinary collaboration with other professionals in research and practice.
• Ethics & Diversity

  We spend significant time, in an ongoing way, considering comprehensive and empirically informed methods by which to train our students on issues of ethics and diversity, as these represent foundational professional competencies of both research and practice that are critical to a successful career in psychological clinical science.

  Ethics is a broad area critical to both patient care (e.g., maintaining awareness of personal bias, managing uncertainty, privacy and confidentiality, team-based decision making and treatment planning, aligning practice with codes of professional conduct) and research activities (e.g., informed consent, representative sampling, inclusion of underrepresented minority groups, culturally meaningful measurement, familiarity and compliance with IRB policies and procedures). Ethical conduct is exemplified by respect for cultural diversity and individual differences that characterize patients, participants, and populations receiving and participating in prevention, treatment, and health care services and research.

  Informed by a rich body of literature on ethics and diversity in psychological clinical science, we determined there to be several advantages to integrating training in these areas across multiple courses and throughout multiple years of training, thus providing students important opportunities to advance their knowledge and application of knowledge in an increasingly sophisticated way. In addition, by integrating ethics and diversity across multiple curriculum formats (coursework, practicum, and professional development), students receive opportunities to consider these issues in a variety of ways that include class discourse, clinical supervision, research meetings, and brown bag discussions that expose them to a wide variety of faculty experiences and perspectives, and ongoing opportunities for dialogue in small and large groups. Therefore, ethics and diversity are introduced early and revisited throughout training.

  Competence related to ethics and diversity is assessed annually with designated course assignments (Year 1: Psychological Clinical Science I, Year 2: Foundation Practicum II, and Year 3: Dissemination and Implementation Research) and upon completion of each advanced practicum through comprehensive student evaluations.

Courses

At each stage of our sequence, students engage in a fully integrated set of research and clinical activities to ensure that their delivery of psychological assessment and treatment services is informed by the scientific literature and that their developing research questions and methods are informed by their clinical experiences.

We offer a solid foundation and breadth of training in:

• Developmental psychology, emphasizing the dynamic and complex interplay between the individual child and their ecology (e.g., parents, family, peers, schools and community)
• Developmental psychopathology, emphasizing adaptation, coping and resilience
• Cultural diversity, particularly access, quality and impact of mental health care
• Methodology and statistics

For more information, consult the Graduate Catalog.

• Introduction to Clinical Psychological Science

  This 2-semester (6 credit) sequence provides a historical perspective on science and, in particular, psychological clinical science. It introduces seminal readings; and familiarizes students with the most current tensions and controversies of our day.

  Required courses include Psychological Clinical Science I: Historical Perspectives and Current Controversies and History and Systems.

• Assessment and Intervention in Childhood Psychopathology

  This three-semester, 9-credit sequence introduces the continuum of mental health care from assessment to treatment in the primary domains of childhood psychopathology. Courses are designed to cover:

  1. Prevalence; phenomenology; disparities by race, ethnicity, or gender; onset age; and trajectory/course
  2. Classification and evidence-based assessment
  3. Key influences in the development and maintenance of disorders, including genetics, learning, cognitive/information processing, and family and peer relationships
  4. Evidence-based prevention and treatment intervention approaches

  
  Required courses include Assessment and Treatment I: Internalizing Disorders; Assessment and Treatment II: Externalizing Disorders; and Assessment and Treatment III: Developmental, Learning, and Pediatric Disorders.

• Research Methods and Design

  This two-semester, 6-credit sequence provides students with a foundation of knowledge related to research method and design for clinical psychology, with particular attention to the unique features associated with studies along the basic to applied research continuum. Course readings and materials integrate seminal papers in the field with current papers from peer-reviewed journals.

  Students will become familiar with a wide range of designs (e.g., randomized controlled trial, meta-analysis, mixed-method) and will become competent to select an appropriate design for their research questions, acknowledge inherent limitations, consider potential methodological artifacts and plan for studies with modified design to tease apart the most urgent and critical questions facing psychological clinical science.

  Required courses include Research Methods in Clinical Psychology and Dissemination and Implementation Research. In addition to formal course requirements, students are encouraged to seek additional methods training through mechanisms such as the APA summer Advanced Training Institutes (e.g., Research Methods with Diverse Racial and Ethnic Groups).

• Analytics

  This four-semester, 12-credit sequence includes three required courses that make up the department’s common core (for students across psychology programs) plus one advanced analytic elective selected by students in consultation with their mentors based on the unique and specific analytic needs of their dissertation and overall research agenda.

  Required courses include Quantitative Methods I, Quantitative Methods II, and Multivariate Analysis in Applied Psychological Research. Analytic electives may be selected from within or outside of the psychological department and include but are not limited to Structural Equation Modeling, Categorical Analysis, Longitudinal Analysis, Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Missing Data Analysis, Multilevel Modeling, Data Science, Causal Inference, and Mediation Analysis.

  In addition to formal course requirements, students are encouraged to seek additional quantitative training through mechanisms such as the University of Kansas Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis (CRMDA) Summer Institutes in Statistics (“Stats Camp”) and the University of Michigan Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research.

• Breadth Requirements

  Five breadth requirements are planned for students to develop minimal levels of competence in the areas of cognitive, affective, biological, social, and developmental aspects of behavior, corresponding to APA Standard II.B.1.a Discipline-Specific Knowledge, Profession-Wide Competencies, and Learning/Curriculum Elements Required by the Profession. Students are encouraged to select from an approved list of courses offered within the psychology department.

  Students select from the following five options to meet the cognitive bases of behavior requirement: Cognitive Development, Memory and Consciousness, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology, or Cognitive Neuroscience. Students select from the following options to satisfy the biological bases of behavior requirement: Biological Basis of Behavior Development, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Advanced Neurobiology, Biological Bases of Behavior, or Cognitive Neuroscience. Of note, two courses satisfy the requirement for both the biological and cognitive aspects of behavior categories: Clinical Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. All students are required to enroll in Proseminar in Social Psychology to satisfy the social bases of behavior requirement,Affective Bases of Behavior to satisfy the affective aspects of behavior requirement, and Assessment and Treatment III: Developmental, Learning, and Pediatric Disorders to satisfy the developmental aspects of behavior requirement.

Projects & Internship

Program milestones have been designed strategically to ensure a balanced combination of breadth and depth of expertise in clinical research and to build scholarship that enhances student marketability for academic careers in psychological clinical science.

• Master's Project

  In order to obtain their Master of Science and advance to doctoral candidacy, students must complete a Master’s Project, a manuscript submitted for publication on which the student is the lead author. The project is based on the student’s independent research during the first two years of graduate training.

  The manuscript may be an empirical, review or conceptual paper. It will require approval from the student’s committee, consisting of a primary mentor and one additional reader from our program's core or affiliated faculty. Students are expected to work closely with their mentor, exchanging drafts and revising the manuscript over the course of their second year. Students are required to provide their additional reader with a minimum of one month to review the manuscript and provide feedback. Readers may request a revised draft of the manuscript before providing approval. Students are expected to complete course requirements and submit their Master’s Project for publication by the end of spring semester of their second year.

  Completion of an approved Master’s Project is required for receiving the MS degree on the student's transcript and for advancing to doctoral candidacy. Students who have not completed an approved Master’s Project by the end of spring semester of their second year will be notified in writing of this Benchmark Pending following the annual student performance review, and will meet with their primary mentor to plan for timely completion of this requirement. Students who have not completed an approved Master’s Project by the end of fall semester of their third year may risk losing their funding.

  For more information, consult the Master's Thesis Process for Doctoral Students.

• Doctoral Candidacy

  Students who have completed the requirements for the master’s degree are expected to advance to candidacy at the end of their third year of training. Advancing to candidacy requires successful completion of a two-part competency exam comprising the following:

  Dissertation Grant Application: Students will submit a dissertation grant application (NRSA, R36, or equivalent) by the end of spring semester of their third year (corresponding to grant deadlines and in consultation with their primary mentor). Students are expected to work closely with their primary mentor on this application, and to seek consultation from additional faculty as needed.

  Candidacy Paper: Students will submit their second lead-author manuscript for publication. The manuscript may be an empirical, review or conceptual paper, but either this paper or the Master's Project must be an empirical paper. The submitted manuscript will require approval from the student’s primary mentor and one additional reader from our program's core or affiliated faculty. Students will submit the manuscript for publication by the end of spring semester of their third year.

  Students are encouraged but not required to work on their grant application and candidacy paper concurrently, as both are likely to reflect a comprehensive literature review and growing expertise in an area of research.

• Doctoral Dissertation

  Following advancement to candidacy, students will adhere to the University Graduate School requirements for a doctoral dissertation.

  Committee: Per UGS guidelines, dissertation committees will include three faculty members from within the Department of Psychology plus one FIU faculty member from outside the department. Students may invite a fifth member from outside of FIU to join their committee, with approval from UGS.

  Prospectus: Students will submit to their committee a copy of their dissertation grant application (submitted as part of the requirements for advancement to candidacy) plus an amendment that details how the research design will be revised in the event of no funding (e.g., changes to sample size, compensation guidelines, recruitment, or analytic method). Dissertation committee members should receive the prospectus at least two weeks prior to the committee meeting. Students will defend their prospectus during a two-hour meeting planned with the dissertation committee that includes a brief slide presentation (about 30 minutes) followed by question/answer period. Students are not permitted to serve food during their prospectus meeting. Potential modifications to research questions and design will be discussed. The final approved prospectus should reflect all required modifications and becomes a contract between the student and their committee for work to be completed.

  Dissertation: A doctoral dissertation can be based on varied methodology (e.g., quantitative or qualitative studies, original or secondary data collection, open trial or randomized trial, experimental or quasi-experimental designs). As is becoming the norm in this field, the doctoral dissertation can be a submission-ready manuscript in style and length. Accompanying the dissertation study are a curriculum vitae and reprints of the student’s publications that demonstrate the body of scholarship pertaining to or supplementing the dissertation. Students may request additional meetings with committee members as needed. In addition to content and formatting requirements set forth by the UGS, the final dissertation portfolio should include the following a curriculum vitae; reprints of student publications that demonstrate the overall body of scholarship pertaining to the dissertation; and dissertation study. Students are encouraged to complete and defend their dissertations by the end of their fifth year, before leaving for internship. Students are expected to complete and defend their dissertations by the end of their sixth year.

  For more information, consult the Doctoral Dissertation Process.

• Internship

  All students are required to enter the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers Clinical Psychology Internship Match. We support our students in becoming competitive for this program. 

  Two committees provide workshops, panel discussions, and presentations aimed at developing skills important to the internship match. The Professional Development Committee provides workshops to all students and includes information on CV preparation, tracking hours, ethics, and career paths and opportunities. The Internship Committee provides complementary workshops, panel discussions, and presentations, but focuses more on supporting students during the year they are applying to an internship. As such, the Internship Committee assists students with site selection, preparing the APPIC application, interviewing, and pre- and post-match support.

  The Internship Committee coordinates with current faculty to contact internship sites of highest interest to our students. In this way, we can introduce our program to internship sites and inform them about the students we train. During the periodic planned evaluations of our students, we also review students’ progress toward developing a strong internship application.

  Applying for the APPIC Clinical Psychology Internship Match

  1. Students are eligible to apply for internship during the fall semester of their fifth year. In order to enter the match and accept an internship, students must have achieved the following:
     • Master’s Project submitted for publication
     • Competency Examination, and must be in
     • Good Academic Standing (grades B- and above, overall GPA 3.0 or above)
     • Submission to the University Graduate School of the following D-forms:
       • D1: Appointment of Dissertation Committee
       • D2: Application for Candidacy
     • Dissertation Prospectus Meeting has been held and the appointed dissertation committee has approved the prospectus (or approval is pending, contingent on requested revisions and signature by chair)
     • D3: Dissertation Proposal form is pending IRB approval
     • Coursework (75 credits) has been completed (or will be completed by December of the same year in which the student is applying)
     • A minimum of three Advanced Clinical Practicums (15 credits and 500 clinical hours) have been completed, including one that provides training in assessment, one that provides training in treatment, and one that serves as a breadth practicum
     • Students who wish to apply sooner than their fifth year are encouraged to discuss this with their primary mentor and then, with their mentor’s permission, submit a petition to the internship committee for early application. This option is most relevant for students who entered the program with a master’s degree
  2. Students will submit to the Internship Committee a list of internship sites to which they wish to apply. Lists will be due no later than Sept. 15. Students will receive feedback from the Internship Committee within two weeks of submitting their lists.
  3. Students will provide the DCT with materials (e.g., curriculum vitae, summary of research goals) to assist in preparation of the DCT statement. These materials are due no later than Oct. 15.
  4. In the event of a non-match during Phase I, students will enter Phase II. In the event of another non-match, students will discuss with their primary mentor, the DCT and the Internship Committee; several options may be considered, including a possible in-house customized internship and reapplying the following year. These discussions will be held on a case-by-case basis and decisions will depend in part of funding available; training opportunities; and student goals, needs and preferences.

Clinical Practicum

Our practicum provides didactic and experiential training opportunities related to the delivery of psychological services in a manner consistent with professional standards of clinical psychology practice and American Psychological Association ethical principles.

Clinical training begins with a required two-semester Foundation Practicum sequence, followed by a minimum of three elective Advanced Practicum experiences, though most students enroll in more than three.

• Foundation Practicum I: Assessment - First Year, Spring Semester

  Foundation Practicum I introduces didactic and experiential training in foundational relationship skills, assessment skills, intervention skills, diversity, ethics and professional development. Foundation Practicum provides students with breadth of clinical training experiences, including exposure to a range of presenting problems and empirically supported assessment and treatment approaches, which will serve as a foundation upon which to pursue depth of clinical training in specific areas. Emphasis on developing competence in a broad range of clinical practice activities coincides with the first-year clinical course sequence, which facilitates foundational knowledge in psychological clinical science.

• Foundation Practicum II: Treatment - Second Year, Fall semester

  Foundation Practicum II consists of seminar, clinical placement (practicum), and supervision experiences that begin the process of developing competence in psychological treatment, thereby providing a foundation for future clinical coursework and practica opportunities. Students are introduced to theories and principles of psychological treatments for children, adolescents, and their families (e.g., initial evaluation; diagnosis; case conceptualization; choosing the appropriate evidenced-based treatment; treatment planning; treatment monitoring; treatment termination), as well as ethical, cultural and professional issues related to treatment (e.g., confidentiality, suicide risk assessment, mandatory child abuse reporting).

• Advanced Practicum

  Following successful completion of the Foundation Practicum, students complete a minimum of three Advanced Practicum experiences during their third and fourth years of study in the Clinical Science doctoral program. 

  Emphasis on the development of intermediate to advanced competence in specific types of clinical activities coincides with the third- and fourth-year curriculum that facilitates an intermediate to advanced knowledge base in clinical psychological science.

  Students are required to submit their hours for approval by their practicum supervisor at the end of each practicum, and encouraged to maintain a log of clinical activities via Time2Track.

Professional Development

Graduate education in psychological clinical science is a time of enormous professional and scholarly expansion and refinement, during which students actively engage with mentors to develop advanced skills in their transformation into independent clinical scientists. As a doctoral program in clinical science, superior science-based professional development is strategically interwoven throughout all aspects of the program in order to ensure that graduates enter the clinical science marketplace with an attitude toward lifelong learning and the core foundation, advanced training, requisite skills, and professional savvy, responsibility, and humility to competitively pursue positions of advanced leadership.

• Training Objectives

  Professional development has been designed to provide a combination of didactic, experiential, structured and semi-structured training opportunities in the practical aspects of scholarly productivity to facilitate the competencies needed for professional advancement. Critical areas emphasized include:

  • Developing effective time management skills
  • Attaining an optimal work-life balance to set the stage for a personally rewarding and professionally satisfying career
  • Understanding the professional opportunities afforded by a doctorate in clinical psychology
  • Distinguishing professional opportunities from professional distractions
  • Building a linear program of research
  • Securing funding for research
  • Writing effectively
  • Navigating the peer review process
  • Navigating the IRB process
  • Communicating effectively with colleagues and supervisors
  • Building a competitive curriculum vitae
  • Developing professional networks
  • Understanding the clinical internship match process
  • Developing strategies for effective interviewing
  • Preparing a job talk
  • Understanding considerations of ethics and diversity as they interface with research, practice and professional advancement

  Upon completion of the doctoral program, students are expected to demonstrate at minimum an Intermediate level of competence in each domain.
• Training Requirements

  Mentor Model: For every year in the program, students hold membership in an identified core research laboratory that continuously provides applied, experiential, small group, and 1:1 learning opportunities with an identified research mentor in all practical aspects of scholarly productivity and professional advancements. Laboratory-based membership follows an apprenticeship model of training, with doctoral students treated as junior colleagues intimately involved in all laboratory activities—from securing grant-funding to seeking IRB approval, collecting data, conducting the research and data analyses, preparing manuscripts, responding to peer-reviews, and considering next-needed studies.

  Course Curriculum: The clinical science curriculum is designed to equip students with the skills and competencies needed to succeed and advance as scientists and scholars. Matters of professional development (e.g., ethics, diversity, writing, and presentation skills) are explicitly incorporated into class material and into assignments for evaluation across courses.

  Dissertation Grant Applications: In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the doctoral degree, all clinical science students are required to submit at least one major grant application, and two lead-author publications for peer review, in collaboration with and under the direct mentorship of clinical science faculty members. These required experiences not only help students build their CVs and a program of fundable research, but also strategically provide students with mentored experiences in fundamental professional activities at the heart of professional success in psychological clinical science.

• Training Workshops

  In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the doctoral degree, all clinical science students are expected to attend the Professional Development series. In addition, students who have primary mentors affiliated with the CCF are expected to attend the speaker series at the Center for Children and Families. Exceptions require advanced permission from primary mentors and the Director of Clinical Training.

  • CCF Speaker Series: The CCF Speaker Series includes a variety of opportunities for students and other trainees that facilitate core competencies needed for professional development. Speakers from FIU and outside FIU present on research focusing on children and families. In addition to presentations by the esteemed faculty in the clinical, developmental, and legal programs at FIU, world-renowned researchers regularly present in this series. Past seminars have included presentations by Drs. Alice Carter, Nathan Fox, Paul Frick, Nora Newcombe, and Nora Volkow. Current students, visit the CCF Speaker Series homepage for more information, a schedule of upcoming sessions, and recordings of previous sessions.
    
    
  • Professional Development Series: Throughout the academic year, the professional development committee (in collaboration with the Director of Clinical Training) develops the schedule for topics for this series that help to supplement the other training aspects of the program. The faculty and student co-chairs of the committee along with the other members of the committee work closely with students and faculty to decide on relevant topics to be included each year. Speakers include clinical science faculty, as well as faculty from other departments, and experts outside of FIU. Each presentation is followed by a brief question and answer session. Topics in the past have included:
  • • Grant writing
    • Navigating the mentor-mentee relationship
    • Applying for internship
    • Navigating the job market
    • Successful Women in Academia guest panel
    • Data Blitzes: biannual opportunities for graduate students to formally present their research in slide or poster format as they would at a national conference. Each student research presentation is roughly 10 minutes.
• Presentation Opportunities

  Miami International Child & Adolescent Mental Health (MICAMH) Conference: The annual MICAMH conference is one of the world's leading interdisciplinary conferences on state-of-the-art, evidence-based prevention and treatments for mental health and educational problems in children and adolescents. Keynote lectures, didactic presentations, and hands-on breakout workshops are combined to teach trainees the basic principles of effective psychosocial, psychoeducational, pharmacological, and combined interventions, including clinic-based treatments, schoolwide interventions, and parent training. Students are strongly encouraged to attend and receive opportunities to formally present their work during scientific poster sessions.

  Graduate Student Appreciation Week (GSAW) Scholarly Forum: UGS hosts an annual spring Graduate Student Appreciation Week that begins always with the 2-day Scholarly Forum highlighting graduate research at FIU. The forum has increased in size over the past few years, and currently includes 100+ presentations. The forum includes poster sessions and oral presentations, provides a platform for graduate students to showcase their research, compete for awards and cash prizes, gain professional experience, and compete for a place at the state’s Graduate Symposium. Students may submit proposals to the Graduate Professional Student Committee.

  For more information, visit http://gradschool.fiu.edu/gsaw/

  Conference Travel: Scientific conferences and related professional travel can offer students unparalleled opportunities to learn firsthand the latest findings in their areas of interest, to present their work in professional settings, to directly communicate with a broad array of professionals and leaders in the field, and to develop cross-institution networks that are critical for professional development. Annual or biennial meetings that many of the faculty and students regularly attend include the American Psychological Association (APA), Association for Psychological Sciences (APS), Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), and the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD). To support and promote FIU graduate students in Clinical Science to attend professional conferences, all students are eligible for $500 in annual reimbursement for professional travel from the FIU Graduate and Professional Student Committee (GPSC), as well as an additional $200 in annual reimbursement for professional travel from the FIU College of Arts, Sciences & Education (CASE).

  For more information on how to apply for travel funding and reimbursement, visit https://case.fiu.edu/psychology/resources/travel-funding-and-reimbursement/index.html

• Teaching Opportunities

  Students are encouraged but not required to teach during their graduate training. The Director of Graduate Studies is responsible for TA allocations that are intended to support the undergraduate mission of the university. Students funded on a TA line will likely assist with undergraduate courses (typically when enrollment exceeds 100 students), with undergraduate Research Methods as the most common initial assignment.

  Courses may be at the Modesto A. Maidique campus, Biscayne Bay Campus, or may be online. Students may be assigned to assist full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, or advanced graduate students. Responsibilities may vary but are expected to include the following: attend class, hold regular office hours, respond to student emails within 24 hours, assist with grading, proctor exams, and occasionally facilitate lectures or lead discussions. Some students may be assigned to the proctor pool rather than an individual course.

  Students who have completed their Master’s degree en route to the PhD are eligible to become an instructor of record. The Department of Psychology requires that students teach a section of Research Methods, with standardized syllabus and format, under the supervision of Dr. Ryan Winter, before they are permitted to teach a larger lecture course (e.g., Child Psychopathology), upper-level seminar (e.g., Personality, Psychology of Parenting) or their own proposed course. Students preparing to teach their own course are encouraged to explore resources available at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

• Professional Development Resources

  PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

  The Professional Development Committee is responsible for ensuring that empirically informed cohort-appropriate professional development goals and opportunities are strategically integrated into doctoral training via mentor teams, course curriculum, speaker series, and regularly scheduled faculty panels that highlight a range of topics including but not limited to scholarship (e.g., curriculum vitae, authorship, manuscript submission, grant writing, research ethics), clinical service delivery (e.g., diversity, ethics), and health and well-being (e.g., work-life balance, time management). Their task is to ensure that graduates enter the clinical science marketplace with the core foundation, advanced training, requisite skills, and professional savvy, responsibility, and humility to competitively pursue postdoctoral and junior faculty positions.

  Current CSCAP students, please visit the Professional Development Committee’s SharePoint site to find more information on upcoming events, recordings and resources, and newsletters.

  FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

  Opportunities to apply for supplemental funding are strongly encouraged. Available funding opportunities are highlighted in the monthly Professional Development Committee newsletter. Internal funding opportunities available through the CCF and FIU and include:

  • CCF Seed Funding: The CCF provides funding opportunities for students who have mentors affiliated with the CCF. Seed funds can typically be requested up to $5,000 for one calendar year. Funding opportunities and amounts are subject to change.
    
  • Psychology Department Seed Fund Awards: The Psychology Department’s Awards and Advancement Committee offers a Graduate Student Seed Fund Awards program. The purpose of the Graduate Student Seed Fund Awards program is to assist Psychology graduate students with research costs (equipment, subject payment, copyrighted materials, software, etc.). These awards are competitive and based on demonstrated need and merit. The Seed Fund program aims to fund as many competitive proposals as possible, even with partial funding. Budgets in the proposals are not to exceed $2,000. At least one Seed Fund award will go to fund and promote a student from an underrepresented minority group or research with underrepresented minority populations. Calls for seed funding are offered twice a year (Fall and Spring).
  • External Funding: A number of professional organizations regularly offer funding opportunities, which are highlighted in the monthly Professional Development Committee newsletter.