Tuesday Newsday: March 12th

PSY&CD Department Phone/Email 

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

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STAY CONNECTED. STAY INFORMED. STAY ENGAGED.

1. Read Tuesday Newsday every week.
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3. Get involved in the Poly Child Development Club, the Psychology Club and Psi Chi (the National Honors Society for Psychology). 

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• Department News
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• Off-Campus Opportunities 
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PSY&CD SPOTLIGHT

For this week's PSY&CD spotlight feature, we are highlighting Psychology professor, Dr. Kristen Makena. Read more about her below!

Dr. Kristen Makena, Psychology Professor 

What are your favorite names?

My favorite names are ones that people have chosen for themselves. After my great aunts final divorce she decided to choose her own last name. She was a teacher and loved summers so she chose to be Caroline Summers. When I went through a divorce years ago, her idea had stuck with me so I also chose the name Makena. It has letters of my nieces names Hayden and Maddox, it is a beach in Hawaii that I love and it means “many gathered” in the Hawaiian culture. I think life is about our connections with others so it became my next identity. To carry on the tradition my best friends daughter (my “niece” by choice) and fiancé who loved the idea will be changing their last name when they get married in October. They chose Hawthorne since they loved the idea of the roots of a Hawthorne plant/tree as the foundation for their marriage. It is the meaning behind these choices that make the names special.

When and where were you happiest?

The answer to this question for me is very different now than it would have been years ago.  I used to look forward to joyous occasions and live between those times.  However, I am finding increasing joy in just being content where I am in the moment. Having been in the Central Coast now for almost 3 years there is natural beauty everywhere I turn. I find joy in the birds, the ocean and the changing seasons.  In contrast, knowing the my mother is reaching her end of life, I am also finding more purpose and intent with the decisions I make and things that I choose to do.  Without the ups and downs of life so that we would not find nuggets of insight to move us along our life path. 

What is your current de-stressing activity?

My current de-stressing activity is a creative sketchbook.  I am not particularly creative, but when I find I am grappling with something I put the topic to paper either through journaling, drawing, or watercolor painting.  I find that this allows me to work through the situation and generally let things go or find a solution to the situation. 

Nominate someone for the weekly spotlight!!!

If you're interested being in the spotlight or nominating another student, faculty member, or staff member in our department, please fill out this google form.

Join the Graduation Celebration Committee!

If you are interested, fill out this Google Form

Cal Poly Preschool Bake Sale

The Science of Mindfulness Webinar 

Learn more about the science of mindfulness. Dr. Jonathan Schooler and Dr. James Elliott will discuss mindfulness techniques, benefits, and implications for psychophysiology research. They will also discuss their research, the data they collected, and potential uses.

Schooler and Elliott conduct research at the Memory Emotion Thought Awareness Lab (META) on the impact of meditation and mindfulness techniques on attenuating mind-wandering. They explore techniques for enhancing mindfulness that improve behavior and sharpen focus of participants.

Click here to watch it on-demand!

SUPERVISION PERMISSION NUMBERS

SPRING 2024 CLASSES WITH AVAILABLE SEATS

PSY 252 Social Psychology

PSY 329 Research Methods in Psychology

PSY 480 Cognitive Neuroscience

PSY 405 Abnormal Psychology 

CD 256 Developmental Psychology

CD 431 Assessing Children's Development and Environments

CD Students Interested in Teaching

Queer Theory Course

TH470 Ancestral Theatre with Visiting Professor Andrew Saito

Course for students interested in HR and management: BUS 388

Organizations draw on many resources to meet goals and gain a competitive advantage. While we often think of these resources as tangible assets such as cash (i.e., financial capital) and equipment (i.e., physical capital), equally important are the intangible assets found in an organization’s people (i.e., human capital). This course is about how organizations develop their human resources, particularly through strategic employee training and development—one of the core pillars of talent management in organizations. We will cover how to design, deliver, and evaluate effective training and development programs that align employee knowledge and skills with changing organizational needs. This course is designed to help you:

• Recognize the role of training and developing in an organization’s strategic planning. 
• Evaluate employee performance gaps and training needs.
• Apply knowledge of learning principles and instructional methods in the design of a training program and learning environment.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of training and development initiatives.

BEHAVIORAL GENETICS PSY 344 - SEATS FOR SENIORS FIRST

Priority for PSY 344 goes to seniors graduating in June (we have an internal waitlist). If you have emailed Beatriz, she will send you a permission number if there is space for you in the class. If there is not space we are keeping you on an internal waitlist, but you will not receive an email until there is a seat. UPDATE: All seats are now given out/promised to students. *IF* a seat becomes available, Beatriz will email the next person on our list. 

ADDING TECH LAB (CD302)

CD students who would like to take CD 302 in Spring: starting Monday 2/26 you can contact Beatriz Peralta at bperal01@calpoly.edu to request a permission number. If there is not space we are keeping you on an internal waitlist, but you will not receive an email until there is a seat.UPDATE: All seats are now given out/promised to students. *IF* a seat becomes available, Beatriz will email the next person on our list.

UPDATE ON CD356

UPDATE: We will not be able to offer a section of CD356 until Summer. If you are a CD major graduating in June who cannot take this course in Summer, please contact Dr. Langner to discuss a course substitution (clangner@calpoly.edu).

SENIOR STANDING

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 on the registrar website.

FIELDWORK INTERNSHIP PROCESS

******IMPORTANT INTERNSHIP UPDATE FOR STUDENTS INTENDING ON DOING AN INTERNSHIP IN SPRING*****

 Please fill out the appropriate survey on canvas so we know your plans for spring (i.e., continuing at the same site for 454, starting a new site for either 453 or 454). You do not need to have secured a site yet, this is just telling us your plans. Email Dr. K Jessica Kaczorowski with questions - jkaczoro@calpoly.edu

If you are a senior and do not have access to the internship canvas site, please contact Beatriz Peralta (bperal01@calpoly.edu).

ENROLLING IN FIELD INTERNSHIPS FOR SPRING 2024

We are wrapping up the planning for field internships for Spring 2024. PERMISSION NUMBERS will not go out until the very end of the quarter. Email Dr. Jessica Kaczorowski (jkaczoro@calpoly) with any questions about internship. 

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.

Tentative Course Offerings (TCO) for 2023-24

Please always check our TCO because it is where we first publish our updates:

https://psycd.calpoly.edu/undergraduate/tentative-course-offerings

FYI: ***The listings for Summer 2024 are UPDATED*** and Fall will be updated soon.