UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Storrs, Connecticut
Psychology Department

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BACKGROUND:
Title: Industrial/Organizational Psychology with specialization in Human Factors/Ergonomics (MA, PhD)
Est: 1985
Semester
Granted last 3 years: MA 10, PhD 7
Part-time: no
Distance learning available: no
HFES student chapter: no
Program: A major focus of this program is research methodology and application of these skills to work-related issues of business, government, and industry. Students can elect to specialize in either the Human Factors/Ergonomics or the Personnel/Organizational track of the program. Course work in the first year promotes an understanding of how ergonomics design and personnel/organizational issues interact in complex sociotechnical systems. The program is designed for students seeking the PhD via full-time study. A 9-month field research or internship experience is required.
Contact: Robert Henning, I/O Division, Psychology Department, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Rd., Box U-1020, Storrs, CT 06269-1020; 860/486-5918; Robert.Henning@uconn.edu, http://www.iopsychology.uconn.edu.
Catalog: (free) Graduate Admissions Office, Box U-6A, University of Connecticut, 438 Whitney Road Extension, Storrs, CT 09269; http://www.uconn.edu.

APPLICATION:
Deadlines: 12/15
Fee: $55 (online), $75 (paper)

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: 3.0
GRE: Required, but there is no specific formula used for evaluation.
Other: Applications are evaluated and examined by the faculty once per year on a case-by-case basis.
Research: high
Work experience: low
Letters: high
Interview: low

ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: 66
Accepted: 10
Entered program: 5
Openings/year: 3-5

TUITION AND FEES:
Resident: $9,450/year + $1,776 fees
Nonresident: $24,534/year + $1,776 fees

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
% receiving: 100
Amount: $16,756/$15,072/$14,323
Available: TA (15 hrs/wk, tuition exempt but not fee exempt)
Apply: with application

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MA: 24 units, oral thesis defense, no languages or practical experience, thesis research, 2 years
Nonthesis option: yes
PhD: 20-24 units beyond MA, written and oral exam, no languages, research study and dissertation research, 9 months field research/internship, 5 years

CURRICULUM:
Required courses: I/O Proseminar I & II (6), Analysis of Experiments (Statistics) (3), Quantitative Methods (Statistics) (3), Research Methods (3)
Electives (4 required): Human Judgment and Decision Making (3), Occupational Health and Safety (3), Design and Analysis of Human-Machine Systems (3), Work Systems and Performance (3), Simulation and Training (3), Work Motivation (3), Leadership (3), Selection and Placement (3), Performance Appraisal (3), Organizational Stress (3), Occupational Health Psychology (3)
Required courses outside department: 0
Recommended courses outside department: 0
Class size: 4

RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: The graduate program in industrial/organizational psychology has four dedicated research labs equipped for a wide range of experiments involving human participants. These labs have capabilities for continuous computer-based measurement of behavior, biobehavioral monitoring of small work teams, video presentations, and real-time control of experimental variables. Labs are interconnected via a departmental network and have access to the university mainframe computer. All students have computer/Internet access.
Teaching: Most teaching assistantships require about 15 hours of work per week in support of instruction. TAs are required to participate in training sessions. In most cases these assistants teach undergraduate labs.
Current research: All graduate students are required to participate in research whenever in residence, and faculty-led research teams meet regularly. Some recent topics in the human factors area include workplace health promotion through participatory ergonomics, safety and health of workers engaged in computer-mediated work, effects of computer-mediated communication, worker control of performance feedback during computer-based work, use of force feedback in simulated telerobotic control, studies of worker judgment and cognition, effects of work schedules on occupational health, transportation systems, and the psychophysiology of team work. Recent research topics related to personnel and organizational psychology include work-related and non-work-related sources of stress, age stereotypes at work, the impact of electronic performance monitoring in the workplace, worker participation in labor unions, cognitive processes in the appraisal of work performance, early retirement decisions, workplace incivility, aging, work ability, and work-family conflicts.

STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active: 15 men, 12 women
First-year students: 4
Mean scores: PhD (note: all students are accepted into the PhD program): GRE 525 v, 634 q, 4.3 aw, GPA 3.6

FACULTY:
Janet Barnes-Farrell, PhD 1980, Pennsylvania State U; psychology
Brian Connelly, PhD 2008, U Minnesota;
Robert A. Henning, PhD 1986, U Wisconsin; industrial engineering
R. James Holzworth, (emeritus) PhD 1974, Bowling Green U; psychology
Vicki Magley, PhD 1999, U Illinois; psychology
Steven Mellor, PhD 1985, Wayne State U; psychology
Donald I. Tepas (emeritus), PhD 1963, SUNY at Buffalo; psychology

[Updated October 2009]