PSY&CD Department Phone/Email 

Phone: (805) 756-2033
Email: psycd@calpoly.edu

Click here to submit an item for Tuesday Newsday

 

STAY CONNECTED. STAY INFORMED. STAY ENGAGED.

1. Read Tuesday Newsday every week! (Will be in the PSYCD Department Canvas starting September 1st.)
2. Follow the PSYCD Department on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
3. Get involved in the Poly Child Development Club, the Psychology Club, Psi Chi (the National Honors Society for Psychology), and or the Cognitive Neuroscience club (see below). 

 

PSY & CD Spotlight

Interested in being featured in our Tuesday Newsday? We are currently receiving submissions for our weekly PSY & CD Spotlight and we are excited to spotlight our students, faculty, and staff! Submissions can be entered HERE. 

 

Share Highlights with the PSY & CD Department

Welcome to the start of the 26-27 academic year! We invite you to share your favorite moments and highlights with the PSYCD Department all throughout the year! Submit your pictures, along with a brief description using the link below. Highlights include, but are not limited to, class activities, research, awards, internships, and more.

Share your Highlights! 

 JUMP TO...

• Department News
• Course Offering Updates and Registration Information
• Campus Events and Resources
• Off-Campus Opportunities 
• Jobs and Grad Program Opportunities
• Have Questions? Get Advising and Office Hours Info 

Moving Tuesday Newsday to PSYCD Department Canvas

Dear PSYCD Department students, faculty, staff, and campus and community partners, thank you for following Tuesday Newsday on the PSYCD website throughout the years! We will be moving Tuesday Newsday into the PSYCD Department Canvas beginning Week 2, September 1st.

Current PSYCD majors, minors, and PSY graduate students will receive an invitation for the Department Canvas by the end of Week 1. Please monitor your Cal Poly email address and accept this invitation to access the Canvas site.

If you did not receive an invitation, please check your spam folder first, then submit a Department Canvas Access Request. The department staff will review and approve requests. Please monitor your Cal Poly email address for a Canvas invitation if approved. 

For submitting items for Tuesday Newsday, please email information and graphics/flyers (if any) to psycd@calpoly.edu. Submissions for Tuesday Newsday will close on Mondays at 5pm. Thank you! 

 

Biopsychology Teaching Assistant Position

Dr. Antony and Dr. Bennion are looking for a teaching assistant for biopsychology (PSY 2240). Requirements are having taken biopsychology (previously PSY 340) and the availability to work up to 6 hours / week, though many weeks will be less than this. Pay is $17/hr. Please email both professors by the end of 8/28 if interested (kbennion@calpoly.edu, jwantony@calpoly.edu). 

 

Opportunity to Work on Sports Gambling Research

Dr Bennion and Dr. Antony looking for a research assistant for fall term and potentially spring terms. This is a paid opportunity ($17/hr) to work on a study related to sports gambling using electroencephalography (EEG) and eye tracking that would require ~ 10 hours / week. Please see this link for more information and to apply: https://tinyurl.com/bamlabRA26.

 

SLO Counseling Services

 

COURSE UPDATES AND REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Permission #s for Internship

We expect the last batch of permission numbers to be distributed by the beginning of week 2. If you do not receive one by Monday, please contact Beatriz in our department office.

Waitlists

Most professors in our department wait until the first week of classes to figure out if they can add a student, and if needed distribute permission numbers.

Fall 2026 - Courses with Open Seats

As of 8/25

• CD3305
• PSY 3323 (Helping Relationship)
• PSY3370 (Introduction to Clinical and Counseling Psychology)
• PSY4405
• Biopsychology (PSY2240)
• CD/PSY2229  (Professor Omli's section)  
• CD2254

Questions about Semester Conversion and GE courses?

Check out the major-specific information that CLA advisors have created: https://cla.calpoly.edu/navigating-semester-conversion

Department specific semester conversion info can be found here.

*Please check your email from Fall for the recording of the first informational sessions for majors - watching that video before attending the workshop will help you get the most out of the session

 

What are "Supervision" Courses and how do I add them?

Some of our upper division courses are supervised in small groups or individually and can only be added by permission number:

 

• Fieldwork Internships (453/4453, 454/4454)
• Research Internships (448/4448, 449/4449)
• The second part of senior project (CD/PSY462, soon to be 4462 on semesters)
• Independent Study (400/4000, 401/4401)

 

For fieldwork internships, you must go through our fieldwork placement process the term before you enroll in internship (via a department canvas page).

For senior project, you must be enrolled in senior project symposium the quarter before 462 (on semesters: you must fill out a department survey the term before 4462). In both cases, you will be assigned a faculty supervisor and given enrollment information at the *end* of the term prior (i.e., *after* you have registered for other courses).

 

Research internships and independent study are arranged via agreement with a specific faculty member who has agreed to supervise the student project or internship. 

 

Tentative Course Offerings (TCO)

The PSY&CD Tentative Course Offerings page has been updated for Academic Year 26-27 (including Summer 2026). Plan ahead: https://psycd.calpoly.edu/undergraduate/tentative-course-offerings

College-wide, you can check out Summer courses here: https://cla.calpoly.edu/summer-cla-tentative-course-offerings

 

****FIELDWORK INTERNSHIP UPDATE****

Students who are eligible to do internship in FALL semester will find updates here.

• plan to graduate in Fall 2026 or Spring 2027
   
• have completed one of the following Professional Skills courses
  • COMS 3316 or 316: Intercultural Communication
  • COMS 3320 or 320: Intergroup Communication
  • PSY 3304 or 304: Intergroup Dialogues
  • PSY 3323 or 323: The Helping Relationship
  • PSY 3350 or 350: Teamwork

FIELDWORK INTERNSHIP PROCESS

Please email Dr. Laura Cacciamani who will be coordinating Internships starting Fall 2026. 

INTERESTED IN A RESEARCH INTERNSHIP?

There are additional options beyond the 'research track' (applications due at beginning of Junior year). When faculty members are looking for research interns, we will post that info in the Tuesday Newsday. Another way to seek out research experience is to talk to your professors in office hours about your interest in research and whether they know of any projects or will keep you in mind for future projects. A few of our students have secured research internships with faculty in other departments at Cal Poly and in some cases it is possible to substitute internship units for the PSYCD internship requirements.

 

Research Track Applications Open

Are you a junior PSY/CD major thinking about pursuing a Ph.D. after graduation? Consider applying to the department's Research Track! The Research Track aims to provide PSY/CD students who have a strong interest in pursuing a Ph.D. with an opportunity to participate in advanced independent research training. The track begins in junior year with a research internship (starting in Spring) under the supervision of a faculty member and continues into senior year, culminating with a two-semester independent empirical senior project. Applicants must be junior PSY or CD majors with a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 and major GPA of 3.5. 

Below is a list of the faculty members who are potentially accepting new Research Track students this year. We encourage you to read about their research on their faculty webpage in order to find the best fit with your interests, and reach out to them to discuss their research further prior to applying (please do not apply to faculty members not on this list). 

Dr. Jennifer Beatty-Wright

Dr. Jay Bettergarcia

Dr. Laura Cacciamani

Dr. Natasha Duell

Dr. Ivan Hernandez

Dr. Sean Noah

Dr. Julie Vaisarova

To apply, please fill out the form at this link: https://forms.gle/BCXmTjTwXpEnRu3m9

For more information on the timeline and expectations of the Research Track, please see the attached information sheet. Questions can be directed to Dr. Cacciamani at Lcacciam@calpoly.edu. Applications are due by Friday, September 25.

________________________

 

Research Internship Opportunity: Learning Experiences in STEM Classrooms

The pedagogical practices that undergraduate students encounter in their STEM courses have a wide variety of impacts on their learning experiences. While discipline-based education researchers have begun to explore the impacts of some pedagogical practices on STEM students’ learning experiences, the landscape of these practices is vast and ever evolving. Differences in learning contexts (e.g., course environment, instructors’ implementation styles, etc.) may result in differential impacts for students, even in two courses that use the same practice(s). In order to provide the best possible education to students, we must continue to improve our understanding of the ways that pedagogical practices impact students’ learning experiences. Therefore, the Vaughan Research Group is interested in investigating the impact of popular, novel, and/or innovative pedagogical practices on student learning experiences in chemistry classrooms. Current research projects include: 

1. Investigating students’ affective experiences (e.g., self-efficacy, motivation) related to grading practices in chemistry courses  

2. Investigating instructors’ perceptions and implementations of traditional and alternative grading practices in chemistry courses

3. Exploring the impact of laboratory course delivery styles (e.g., studio, traditional, course-based undergraduate research experiences) on chemistry students’ meaningful learning.

Student researchers in our group will develop their skills in discipline-based education research. Depending on individual interests and current projects, students may collect and analyze qualitative data (e.g., literature, interviews, course artifacts) and/or quantitative data (e.g., survey responses). Students interested in learning more about our work or joining the research group should contact Dr. Elizabeth Vaughan (ebvaugha@calpoly.edu) to schedule a meeting.

Note: this experience can be 2 semesters (Fall and Spring) and can count towards research internship (PSY 4448 and 4449).

 

 

****CALLING ALL SENIORS*****

If you are now a senior based on completed coursework, make sure that your intended graduation date is updated with the Cal Poly “changing your graduation term” form at the registrar website.

 

Grocery Store Shuttle

ASI Student Government is proud to share that we are collaborating with Campus Health and Wellbeing to bring a Grocery store shuttle to campus! More information will be available soon! 

 

CLA Group Career Counseling

                                  

The Puente Program

Puente translates from Spanish to bridge because we like to say that we create the bridge to success. The Puente Program is a state funded program generally found in Northern California high schools and community colleges as a college preparatory program. At Cal Poly we are a club that advances the lineage of puente beyond their high school graduation or associate's degree.

This year is the first year that puente has expanded onto college campuses in order to have former puente students from high schools or community colleges come onto campus and feel an immediate community that they can identify with. Along with being a social club for Puentistas, we also host several campus tours for Puentistas who are thinking about applying to cal poly. Puente is important because it primarily serves low income, first generation students in order to restore equity and help them cross over the bridge. Puente is a family and it is open to anyone who wants to succeed, but especially those who want to see others succeed!

https://now.calpoly.edu/organization/cppuente

cppuente@calpoly.edu

Campus Health Resources 

-Health services

-Pharmacy 

-Mental health services through Health Center

-Mental health services via our department's clinic

-Food pantry

Kennedy Library Resources

On Campus Study Locations

Click here for a list of study locations on campus. This list includes real-time occupancy information for some of the temporary spaces.

 

 

 

JOBS AND GRAD PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES

Childcare Jobs

Looking for paid experiences working with children? Be sure to join the Poly Child Development Club Jobs Facebook group! 

The PSY&CD department does not advertise family care opportunities in the Tuesday Newsday; see the "Poly Child Development Club Jobs Page" at https://www.facebook.com/groups/371465039705611/. You will have to request to be added to the group and then, once approved, you will be able to post.

 

CAL Fresh: You may be eligible!

We are an on-campus organization known as CalFresh Outreach. We aim to raise awareness of student eligibility for CalFresh benefits, which can provide students with up to $291/month for groceries if they qualify. 

Because of expanded eligibility through “Local Programs that Increase Employability (LPIEs),” an estimated ~15,000 students at Cal Poly are now eligible, even based only on their major. Approved programs include:

• most undergraduate majors in CLA
• every undergraduate major in CENG
• every undergraduate major in CAFES
• every undergraduate major in COSAM
• every undergraduate major in CAED
• most undergraduate majors in OCOB
• many grad programs

Enrollment in one of these majors alone could make a student likely eligible for CalFresh benefits (they must also meet basic eligibility criteria). This short survey is a great resource to explore eligibility & share with students: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CALFRESHQUIZ.