SIUC hosts Chicago State faculty, students

July 14, 2006

SIUC hosts Chicago State faculty, students

by Sun Min

The Department of Psychology this weekend is hosting Chicago State University associate professors Francene Bellamy, Lindsay Bicknell-Hengtes and Karen McCurtis, assistant professor Tanisha Guy, and graduate students in psychology Mary Campbell, Latonia Crenshaw, Aisha Lusk and Asabi Dean. They will meet with university administrators as well as faculty and students from SIUC's psychology department to learn more about the program.

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Media Advisory

Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend a psychology workshop and interview participants on Monday, July 17, from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 285D in Life Science II Building at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. To schedule an interview, contact Francene Bellamy at 773/771-9624.

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"The ultimate purpose is to get more students and faculty of color into Illinois universities," said Kathleen Chwalisz, SIUC associate professor of psychology and director of the counseling psychology doctoral program. "We're doing this at SIUC and with the psychology department here because it has an excellent track record in graduating students of color with doctoral degrees so it seems like a natural pairing if the two schools build a research collaboration and a pipeline to get Chicago State students excited about psychology and better trained for graduate programs."

Chicago State University representatives said they are encouraging their students to attend schools such as SIUC because it "is an institution that is sensitive to their experiences and needs so they can build on their commitment to working with diverse and urban communities," said Bellamy, a coordinator of the program. "They're leaning what is possible. It's one thing to see it on paper but by visiting SIUC, they are coming face to face with faculty and mentors who can make inroads for them."

The workshop is also an opportunity for leaders from the two schools to formalize a bond. "We have often used relationships with other universities as a means of recruiting excellent students, particularly students of color. We know they'll send us excellent students and they know they'll be sending their students to an environment with good mentoring and good training. It's really beneficial to everyone involved," said Chwalisz.

Seymour Bryson, SIUC associate chancellor for diversity, secured funding for the program through a Higher Education Cooperation Act grant from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Organizers hope to build on the concept. "If this relationship is successful, it could be expanded to other programs at both schools," Chwalisz said.

Recruiting high-quality students and faculty and enhancing diversity are among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.

Collaborating by Design – Faculty
and students from Southern
Illinois University Carbondale
and Chicago State University
participate in a workshop on
Friday, July 14. SIUC’s
psychology department is
hosting the Chicago State
contingent through the weekend
as part of an effort to
build a network between the
two institutions. Download
Photo Here