BU Psi Chi climbs up the Hilltop

It’s official. Bradley University’s Psi Chi chapter is the best in the Midwest! For the first time in its history, Bradley’s Psi Chi chapter was notified in April that it would be receiving the prestigious 2009-2010 Psi Chi Regional Chapter Award. After 42 years, it is quite an honor to finally achieve this status.

In order to be eligible for this award, a chapter must have a strong history of quality programming, voting in elections, an increase in membership, and reports submitted to Eye on Psi Chi. Our chapter far exceeded these standards. Hosting an average of four events each month that included numerous speakers, philanthropic events, social exchanges, and several professionalization workshops, Psi Chi members were certainly busy. A few highlights included camping out on the quad for Habitat for Humanity’s “Shack-a-thon,” bowling with Tri-Beta, CV and personal statement workshops, and even traveling to Des Moines where we exchanged ideas with Drake University’s Psi Chi.

One of our most successful events took place in November 2009 when our chapter invited a food psychologist, James Painter, Ph.D., to the Hilltop. Each guest was asked to present a nonperishable food item upon admission, and, amazingly, we filled Neumiller Lecture Hall with hundreds of students and collected more than 150 pounds of food to donate. After such a success, Psi Chi members worked diligently to maintain this level of excellence. Our food pantry donation was difficult to top, but Psychology Department members raised more than any other organization that participated in Relay for Life at Bradley in April by garnering $3,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Bradley’s Psi Chi chapter certainly has a bright future. With help from alumni, we have been able to thrive. Our chapter has ambitious plans for next year, and we thank you for your continuous support. Who knows? Perhaps this time next year, we will be writing an article about winning the Psi Chi National Chapter Award.

The MPA Experience

A few weeks before the end of the semester, fourteen students along with Dr. Tim Koeltzow, Dr. Anthony Hermann, and Dr. Derek Montgomery traveled to the Midwestern Psychological Association Annual Meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago. In comparison with only two student presenters in 2009, this year was monumental due to the large Bradley presence at the conference. Six other students and I had the opportunity to present our own research posters at the meeting. My study focused on “Rearing Spontaneous Hypertensive Rats in Enriched Environments: The Effects on a Model of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,” Filka Andonova presented “Children’s Ability to Utilize Speech and Eye Gaze Cues to Detect Deception,” Carson Cornelius discussed “The Effects of Self-Though Rehearsal on Self-Esteem and Cognition,” Whitney Fosco examined “Effects of Delayed Responding on Interference Control Among Preschoolers, ”Ashley Miller presented “Psychopathic Tendencies in Relation to SES Across Nations,” Negeri Reynolds discussed “Experiencing Joy When One’s Future is Threatened,” and Nina Tiberi researched “The Effects of Methylphenidate Administration Routes in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat: The Importance of a Non-Injection Control.”  Presenting posters at a regional conference was a rewarding experience; I even had the opportunity to discuss my findings with a few students doing similar research who participate in a well-known lab that I’ve become familiar with through my own literature reviews.

In addition to the learning experience of presenting our own findings, students had plenty of time to attend numerous talks that focused on a wide variety of psychological domains, from social stigma to cognitive development, from psychobiology to educational psychology. A large group of Bradley students and other MPA goers started the day early and listened to our own Dr. Anthony Hermann present “Perceptions of Others’ Esteem: Individual Differences Within and Across Cultures” at 8:30 am.  Students dispersed throughout the day, some going to a statistics workshop and others visiting a long list of talks according to their academic interests. One of the greatest benefits of attending this conference was for students to network and meet faculty members at other universities of interest; one student introduced herself to a leading researcher at one of her preferred graduate schools and exchanged contact information. Experiences like this are what will give us students that extra edge during the graduate school application process.

Executive board members of Bradley’s Psi Chi chapter also presented a “Best Practices” poster at MPA entitled “Revisioning the Psi Chi Governance for Success.” We were able to discuss our own successes and challenges with Psi Chi members from other universities during this poster session and also during a more structured exchange. Later on Friday afternoon, we all attended the Psi Chi Awards Presentation and Reception during which I had the honor of accepting a Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Award for my poster presentation and our Psi Chi chapter received the Regional Chapter Award for all of the incredible work and change we have shown throughout the academic year. If that wasn’t exciting enough, the Bradley team also won the psychology trivia game at the end of the reception; we represented the department well!

Members of the Bradley Psi Chi executive board receiving the Regional Chapter Award at the Psi Chi Awards Presentation and Reception

Students and faculty enjoying dinner at Exchequer Restaurant & Pub in downtown Chicago

Overall, the trip to MPA was academically and professionally enriching, but it also was a great social experience to spend more time with faculty members and other psychology students in the department.

Happy Psychology Week!

Friday Trip To Drake

Recently Psi Chi and Psychology Club had the pleasure of going to Drake University to meet with their Psi Chi chapter. After making a quick stop at Iowa 80, the world’s largest truck stop, and listening to our new theme song, Convoy, we arrived at the university. During our meeting with Psi Chi members and their advisor, Dr. Klipec, we discussed how expanding the size of our executive board and strengthening the connection between Psi Chi and Psychology Club has really helped our organization improve. We all exchanged ideas about faculty involvement, group cohesion, and increasing participation. The meeting was helpful for both chapters to get new ideas and maintain high levels of motivation.

After the discussions, we attended a presentation by our own Dr. Koeltzow on cocaine-seeking behaviors in rats and the effects of their environment on their likelihood to relapse. We were then given an enlightening tour of the Drake psychology facilities; their rat labs were full of advanced technology and countless gadgets, leaving us a little jealous. To end the day, we went to Jethro’s BBQ with Drake’s Psi Chi to get to know the students more and engage in conversations about graduate school, Psi Chi, and being a psychology major.

Overall, the trip provided our chapter with a sense of cohesion and reminded us of how much we have improved over the past year. With me being the newest member to the team it was a great experience to meet another Psi Chi chapter and to get to know our own executive board a lot better. As our Psi Chi chapter continues to grow, we hope to visit other chapters in the region to exchange ideas and help promote best practices.

Happy Valentines Day

Update on an Alumnus

Daniel Shore, at his internship

Daniel Shore, a former Psi Chi executive board member, was given a great opportunity as an “intern under Bruce Levine, the baseball reporter for ESPN Radio AM 1000 in Chicago” for two months after graduating in May 2009.  His story was posted in Bradley’s Journals from the Road.  Congratulations, Dan!

MPA

Psi Chi, Psychology Club, and the psychology department are all starting to make plans for the Midwestern Psychological Association conference.  We’re going to have a large presence for Bradley this year:  Psi Chi executive board submitted an abstract, spearheaded by Marybeth Southard, for the Best Psi Chi Practices forum and it was accepted; and several individual students are also showing independent research posters.

We hope to have you join us!  For more information on car pools and roommates, please contact any officer of the clubs.

Please view the MPA poster (pdf) or the MPA’s website to get more information about speakers and workshops.

Painting an Awesome Experience

The Whole Gang with Dr. Painter.

Crocker and Laura Weidner, our November Psych Club Member of the Month

We wish to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. James Painter for his engaging and truly informative presentation on obesity and the growing (literally) issue of portion sizing.

Thanks also to everyone that contributed to the food drive (we collected 158 lbs of food!!), to those that voted in our Distinguished Alumnus election, and to the continued interest in our rocking Psych Club T-Shirts.

This event is the embodiment of the ability of Bradley University and the Psychology Department to inspire student leadership, to orient one another towards caring beyond ourselves, and to advance a continuing commitment to excellence. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Our Honored Guest, Dr. James Painter

Election Day for Hailstorm and Pauli Girl

Gifts for the Peoria Area Food Bank

Super Thanks to Jango for all her hard work and masterful allocation of resources.

The High School Project

Hailstorm and Kim Possible sharing the Wisdom

Very, very pleased to have launched the informational presentation to help orient high school students to the opportunities and expectations of four-year collegiate psychology programs.
We wish to thank Peoria Notre Dame for giving us an audience, and we look forward to sharing our experiences with others.

Kathy Baker Day

Terrific Event! Thanks to all that contributed to yet another opportunity to recognize excellence!
And thanks again to Kathy Baker for all she does.