[386] MTSU graduate psychology program ranked tops nationally

Undergrad program also ranked highly in separate ranking

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —An MTSU program that prepares graduates to make workplaces better has received top kudos from a professional group and a private-sector website.

The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology ranked MTSU’s industrial-organizational psychology master’s program tops in the nation. The society published its final rankings in the Spring 2018 issue of The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist.

“The rankings are based upon objective data covering several dimensions of program quality,” said Patrick McCarthy, the graduate program’s director and an MTSU psychology professor.

The institutions’ final scores were based on an average of the scores in four categories — applied experience, curriculum, faculty experience/information and student accomplishments/information. McCarthy provided the data for the study. 

In addition, www.schools.com ranked MTSU No. 6on its list of the best universities in the country for an organizational psychology degree. The website claims to provide information on about 200 academic programs in colleges and universities in all 50 states.

MTSU is affiliated with the Center for Organizational and Human Resource Effectiveness, or COHRE, which serves as an independent consulting unit that offers valuable experience to MTSU’s industrial-organizational psychology students. 

Some of the clients COHRE has served since its 2003 inception include Goodwill Industries, Nissan, Procter & Gamble, State Farm, Cracker Barrel and several local, state and federal governmental agencies. 

COHRE describes industrial-organizational psychology as “a diverse field with various specialty areas of investigation, including basic personnel functions, psychological processes that underlie employee behavior in workplace settings, group processes at work and the conditions of work.

“The knowledge and understanding gained from research are put to practical use as they are applied to issues of critical relevance in organizations. Key issues include selection, training, assessment, compensation, leadership, work attitudes and organizational development.”

For more information about MTSU’s industrial-organizational psychology graduate program, contact McCarthy at 615-898-2126 or patrick.mccarthy@mtsu.edu. To learn more about COHRE, contact its director, Michael Hein, at 615-898-2127 or michael.hein@mtsu.edu.