Hi Tipsters,
I have a few questions for y'all (I spent some time in Houston last 
month--hence the y'all. Houston is one of my favorite cities.) Here's the 
situation, and then the questions. Our univerisity has a couple of "3+2" 
programs where students complete three years of undergrad, then while they are 
completing their grad degree, some of the grad classes complete the undergrad 
program. They then graduate with a bachelor's degree during their first year of 
grad school. That means, essesntially, that a student can get a bachelor's 
followed by a master's in as little as 5 years. Or, in one program (3+2 1/2), 
they can get their bachelors and a doctorate (NOT a PhD but a doctorate in 
physical therapy--DPT) in 5 1/2 years. A couple of my upper-level classes fit 
that program. For example, students in our Master of Occupational Therapy 
program take my 400-level Behavioral Neuroscience course, which partially 
completes their BA or BS in psychology as 1st-year OT students and students in 
our DPT program take my graduate-level Neuroanatomy course, which then 
paritally fulfills their BS in psychology.
 
Some of my department members see this as "double-dipping" (hard to argue with 
that one) and appalling, some see it as a strategic marketing plan, others see 
it as fulfilling a need and supplying a solid education. My questions are, how 
many of you have similar programs in your insitutions, and how are they 
perceived? How do YOU feel about this practice? I'm preparing to meet with the 
program directors of the above-mentioned programs, and I'm trying to solidify 
my thoughts on this practice. We have the largest major on campus, yet many of 
our students don't identify with our major, instead referring to themselves as 
"pre-OT" or "pre-PT" (those don't exist as majors), so it often seems as though 
these students are merely passing through and don't give their psych degree the 
value it deserves. 
 
I'm not even sure what this type of program is called, but I'd like to know 
what kind of research exists on the pros and cons, so if anyone can suggest key 
search terms (or research articles), please do so.
 
Any and all thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Carol
 
 
Carol L. DeVolder, Ph.D. 
Professor of Psychology Chair, 
Department of Psychology 
St. Ambrose University 
518 West Locust Street 
Davenport, Iowa 52803 
 
Phone: 563-333-6482 
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
web: http://web.sau.edu/psychology/psychfaculty/cdevolder.htm 
 
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