A Vision for the School of Psychology

Psychology – Vision
1
A Vision for the School of Psychology:
Building Upon Our Strengths to Define Our Future
MISSION:
Since 1941, Psychology at the University of Ottawa has been a reflection of the broad spectrum
of modern scientific and applied psychology. The School is committed to expand the
understanding of human behaviour and its development and contribute to optimize mental health
and well-being through rigorous and state of the art research. This forms the basis for its
academic and professional training programs which strive to provide a rich experience to its
students preparing them to excel in their careers and their contribution to society.
L’école embrasse la mission de l’Université d’Ottawa à l’égard du bilinguisme en répondant tout
particulièrement aux besoins de la population franco-ontarienne dans tous ses programmes
d’étude. Son engagement envers la communauté se traduit par des services psychologiques et des
programmes de recherche et d’intervention auprès des groupes défavorisés.
The specific mission of the undergraduate program in Psychology is to provide students with an
understanding of the mental structures and processes that underlie individual human and group
experience and behaviour, the scientific methodologies by which such a knowledge base is
acquired, and the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate scientific and popular claims
concerning behaviour. For a subgroup of our undergraduate majors (particularly those intending
to continue into graduate study), we also seek to provide in-depth research apprenticeships in our
faculty’s laboratories.
The specific mission of our graduate programs in experimental and clinical psychology is to
educate and train students for careers in scientific psychological research, with the outcome
being graduates who will produce and apply scientific knowledge in their research, teaching,
and, for those who pursue careers in clinical psychology, in their clinical work.
VISION:
L’École de Psychologie se distingue comme entité universitaire ralliant dans l’harmonie les
différents domaines de la psychologie fondamentale et professionnelle. Son ouverture aux autres
disciplines, son désir de développer des axes stratégiques qui répondent aux besoins futurs de la
psychologie, son bilinguisme à tous les niveaux, l’expérience exceptionnelle qu’elle procure à
ses étudiants et son engagement envers la communauté font qu’elle incarne la vision de
l’Université d’Ottawa et sert de référence sur le plan national et international.
Psychology – Vision
2
Facing challenges, Expanding our Mission, and Establishing a Vision for the School for the
next 10 Years
Identifying, establishing, and implementing a vision for the School of Psychology was a
concerted effort that involved consultation of its members such that the content represents the
consensus of common purpose with the aim to motivate the members individually and the unit as
a whole and to contribute to a “sentiment d’appartenance”.
Cet exercice a été effectué en prenant en considération le contexte actuel de l’École de
psychologie principalement en ce qui a trait à la croissance considérable de ses programmes au
cours des dernières années, l’anticipation d’un grand nombre de retraites de ses professeurs au
cours des prochaines années et du déménagement dans des locaux modernes au Pavillon Vanier
en décembre 2010.
Cet exercice a également pris en considération l’exercice de réflexion amorcé par l’Université
sur sa vision et son plan stratégique pour les 10 prochaines années. Le comité de la Vision 2020
de l’Université, sous la direction du Comité de la Planification Scolaire a comme mandat
d’examiner la validité de 6 objectifs prioritaires pour l’Université et de définir les initiatives à
mettre de l’avant au cours des prochaines années. Ces objectifs sont de :
- Jouer un rôle stratégique en ce qui concerne les langues officielles
- Marquer sa présence sur la scène internationale
- Développer la connaissance, découvrir et inventer
- Offrir aux étudiantes et étudiants l’expérience la plus riche
- Assurer le bien-être de notre communauté
- Devenir une université verte
Il a semblé important pour l’École de faire son propre exercice de vision et d’examiner comment
elle pourrait contribuer à l’atteinte de ces objectifs tout en établissant les balises de sa mission
pour les 10 prochaines années.
Consultation with members of the different units of the School of Psychology resulted in a
considerable consensus on a number of topics that need to be addressed. Most importantly, the
definition of strategic areas of development was given priority in order to improve our
effectiveness and guide the School in its future initiatives.
Road Map for the Vision Document
This vision document introduces the historical context in which the School of Psychology was
implemented followed by the current context and mission of the School including the strengths
upon which we want to build. We propose changes that the School needs to implement to further
develop these strengths and to better fulfill its mission. The document concludes with general
and specific recommendations representing visionary suggestions forwarded and developed by
members of the School of Psychology.
A) Historical Context
B) Current Context
C) Mission of the School
C) Strategic Areas of Development
D) Future Challenges and Recommended Actions
Psychology – Vision
3
A) Historical Context
Scientific Psychology was introduced at the University of Ottawa through courses offered by the
Faculty of Philosophy with titles such as “experimental psychology”. As early as September 8,
1938, Father Joseph Hébert, University Rector, authorizes the opening of the first laboratory in
psychology. It is in this laboratory room that the beginning of the Canadian Psychological
Association (CPA) is believed to have taken place. Father Shevenell established the Institute of
Psychology in 1941. In 1954, Ottawa was one of the four Canadian universities that trained
psychologists together with the University of Toronto, McGill University, and l’Université de
Montréal.
Administratively, Psychology changed names four times: Institute of Psychology (1941), School
of Psychology and Education (1955), Faculty of Psychology and Education (1965), Faculty of
Psychology (1967) with four departments (general experimental psychology, physiological
psychology, child psychology, and clinical counselling) and finally School of Psychology within
the Faculty of Social Sciences (1978). The status of School rather than that of Department was
chosen to reflect its emphasis on professional training and its autonomy in establishing research
and training agreement with teaching hospitals and clinical psychology clinics in the Ottawa
area. Psychology had in 1961 the largest graduate enrolment of the University with 258 masters
and 152 doctoral students. Increasing its research efforts in the late seventies the School reduced
its graduate enrolment by raising admission requirements, ceasing to offer full masters programs
and admitting students from Honours Baccalaureate directly into the doctoral programs (later
labelled MA/PhD programs). Limiting direct admission to the MA/Ph.D. programs resulted in a
strengthening the research components of both doctoral programs and the quality of theses. The
clinical program was accredited by the American Psychological Association in 1985, becoming
the first accredited program that could be completed entirely in French.
In 1973 the then Faculty of Psychology took all the responsibility for its undergraduate programs
from the Faculty of Arts and implemented the full BA Honours program in 1976. Following up
on the University’s mandate as a research intensive university and its strategic investment in
neuroscience, a BSc in Psychology was introduced in 1999.
B) The School and its Current Contexts
Since 2001, the School of Psychology’s Ph.D. programs have undergone significant growth in
order to respond to both, the University of Ottawa’s Vision 2010 initiative and in response to the
evolution of the profession and the demands for researchers in the field. The enrolment has
grown from 41 in 2001 to 65 in 2009 in the experimental program and from 73 in 2001 to 100 in
2009 in the clinical program (adding 3, year-long internships to the existing 4) for a total of 165
doctoral students (compared to 114 in 2001 - an increase of 69%) . At the undergraduate level
there are now 1700 undergraduate (compared to 1000 in 2001 - an increase of 59%). The School
of Psychology now ranks in Canada amongst the largest and most comprehensive in terms of
program offerings and research productivity in both experimental and clinical psychology.
Malgré cette croissance considérable au niveau de sa clientèle, le nombre de professeurs de
L’École est passé de 47 à la fin des années 90 à 36 en 2002 avant de remonter au niveau des
Psychology – Vision
4
années 90, soit 49 professeurs (l’École de Psychologie compte présentement dans ses rangs 52
postes de professeurs réguliers, 3 de ces postes sont vacants) qui sont principalement associés à
l’un des 5 champs reconnus par le Comité Ontarien des Études Supérieures (COÉS; la
psychologie clinique, cognitive, du développement, des neurosciences et sociale) et 5 professeurs
remplaçants dont la durée du contrat est limitée. En plus des 3 postes vacants présentement et de
3 postes projetés au cours des prochaines années afin de répondre aux objectifs de croissance de
l’École, nous anticipons qu’une dizaine de professeurs devraient prendre leur retraite au cours
des 3 prochaines années.
Le personnel de l’École inclus également 9 membres du personnel de soutien (4 affectés au
secteur académique et 4 au secteur administratif de l’École et à la gestion des fonds de recherche,
1 membre du personnel occupe des fonctions associées aux deux secteurs) et 1 technicienne
affectée au service animalier.
En décembre 2010, la plupart des membres de l’École ont déménagé dans le Pavillon Vanier.
Pour la première fois de son histoire tous les membres de l’École se retrouveront dans un même
édifice. Dans le cadre des rénovations du Pavillon Vanier des modifications importantes ont été
effectués au le Centre des Services Psychologiques et nos salles de classe à l’aide d’équipement
de la plus haute technologie. Certains changements ont été effectués afin de moderniser nos
laboratoires et d’autres changements encore plus importants seront effectués prochainement pour
développer un grand laboratoire moderne pour l’ensemble des membres de l’École. Ces
changements importants à nos infrastructures et à nos ressources physiques et technologiques
devraient nous donner les moyens d’actualiser les éléments clés de la Vision de l’École.
En somme, la croissance de nos programmes, le grand nombre de postes à renouveler, le
déménagement dans des locaux modernes au Pavillon Vanier et l’exercice sur la Vision 2020 de
l’Université représentent une combinaison de facteurs importants qui nous indiquent qu’il est
temps de se questionner sur l’avenir de l’École et son positionnement stratégique vis-à-vis son
rôle comme unité au sein de l’Université et sa contribution à l’essor de la Faculté des Sciences
Sociales et de l’Université.
C) The Mission of the School
Undergraduate Mission
Broadly speaking, psychologists examine a variety of principles and mechanisms underlying
behaviour from physiology to behavioural expression: from genes to culture; and exercise critical
analysis and scientific rigor in their examination. On that basis, the School has developed its
current undergraduate programs.
The School offers different undergraduate programs in both French and English:
Honours BA with Specialization in Psychology (120 cr)
Honours BSc with Specialization in Psychology (120 cr)
Major in Psychology (42 cr)
Minor in Psychology (30 cr)
Jointly with the Faculty of Arts:
Joint Honours BA in Psychology and Linguistics (48 cr in PSY)
Psychology – Vision
5
In educating undergraduate students it is the intent of the School:
1. To provide students with exposure to and a fundamental understanding of the
psychological sciences in order to assist students in developing a fundamental
knowledge base of psychology with emphasis on its scientific nature and rigor.
2. To deliver an integrative educational experience by promoting interactions among
faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students in basic and applied
psychological inquiry, advising, mentoring and community outreach.
3. To provide students with basic skills in critical thinking, quantitative methods, and
statistical analysis.
4. To help students develop research skills by exposing them to research activities early in
their training, by providing opportunities for supervised laboratory practice, and by
providing a more advanced opportunity for supervised research in the context of the
Honours thesis.
5. To provide a curriculum that will help students prepare for graduate school in
psychology, the social sciences, or in related fields such as health or medicine, business
and administration, education and educational counselling, social work, program
evaluation.
Graduate Mission
At the graduate level, the School offers two combined full-time MA/PhD programs, one in
experimental psychology and one in clinical psychology. Upon completion, our graduates are
ready to meet entry requirements to a variety of career choices, ranging from academic positions
to research positions to various applied clinical and combined positions.
There are five main research fields that have been identified in the last Ontario Council on
Graduate Studies (OCGS) consultation as active research areas of the School of Psychology
which it can advertise and in which doctoral students normally conduct their research.
 Behavioural Neuroscience
 Clinical Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
 Developmental Psychology
 Social Psychology
Our School includes a professionally accredited clinical program. In order to provide excellent
and highly diverse clinical training opportunities in English and French, the program has
developed training relationships with more than 20 settings in the Ottawa area, as well as the
Psychology – Vision
6
Centre for Psychological Services (CPS) located within the School of Psychology. As an integral
part of the clinical program, the mission of the CPS is to provide training to doctoral students and
interns in clinical psychology through the delivery of psychological services to the general
population of the Ottawa/Gatineau region.
The CPS is also a pre-doctoral internship site for Francophone and Anglophone students from
Canada and the US. The graduate students and interns in clinical psychology who are affiliated
with the CPS are supervised by professional clinical psychologists who are licensed by the
College of Psychologists of Ontario.
The School also offers a Graduate Certificate in Program Evaluation. This certificate was
created in 2006 as an interdisciplinary program of the Faculty of Education and the School of
Psychology and is offered in English and in French. The mission of this program is to offer
advanced training in program evaluation to individuals in the public, private, and not-for-profit
sectors to conduct high quality program evaluations.
In training graduate students for a career in the psychological sciences, it is the intent of the
School to:
1. Encourage our students to develop their own interests and abilities in pursuing their
personal and professional development in an integrated manner, to become autonomous
and highly effective professionals, rather than provide narrowly focused training in
specific, prescribed methods, techniques, or theoretical orientations.
2. Develop in these students an advanced understanding of behavioural, psychological, and
biological processes.
3. Provide rigorous professional training in theory, research design and analysis, and
varied research skills to enable them to conduct research and/or apply psychology in a
variety of settings including universities, private practice, schools, health and medicals
organizations, social service and government agencies, business, and basic or applied
research firms.
4. Provide detailed scientific knowledge about psychology as well as clinical psychology
training for those students seeking applied training in a career as a clinician scientist, in
accordance with the Canadian Psychological Association guidelines for accreditation in
Clinical Psychology and licensing requirements outlined by the College of
Psychologists of Ontario.
Research
The five fields of research and both graduate programs are firmly rooted in fundamental and
applied research; they are most suitable for students who find research intrinsically interesting.
In agreement with the School’s mission, the research activities span a wide spectrum of research
questions that are supported by the three main sources of funding (SSHRC, CIHR, NSERC) and
a wide variety sources in the Federal Government, the Provincial Government, National Defense,
Psychology – Vision
7
the Ministry of Research and Innovation, and several foundations (e.g., Ontario Neuro-Trauma
Foundation, Ontario Mental Health Foundation, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation,
Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network).
As a center for research in the psychological, behavioural, and neurosciences, the School strives
to:
1. Conduct rigorous scientific research, focusing on both basic and applied principles of
human behaviour and psychological processes as they relate to the different analytic
levels inherent to the 5 research fields.
2. Continue to develop intra- and inter-disciplinary research collaborations that respond to
the complexity of phenomena examined.
3. Foster international communication of scientific information and initiate international
research collaborations.
4. Maintain and expand excellent funding record from major funding agencies, alternative
funding sources, and research contracts to maintain quality and breadth of internationally
respected psychological research.
Franco-Ontario, Bilingualism and Language Duality
The School has been a champion of the University of Ottawa’s mission towards FrancoOntarians, language duality and bilingualism:
1. From the outset, all its programs at both the undergraduate and the graduate level have
been offered in French and in English.
2. The doctoral program in Clinical Psychology can be completed entirely in French or in
English. In addition, the School was the first to introduce a certificate of professional
bilingualism competency for those who complete significant requirements of their
program in both languages.
3. The clinical program, with all its courses and practica components as well as the yearlong, pre-doctoral internship is the only one in Ontario that can be completed entirely in
French.
4. All of its administrative staff and 95% of its regular professors are bilingual.
Service to the Community
The professors of the School provide service on the local, provincial, national, and international
levels, serve on professional organizations and scientific review, grants, and policy committees
and as editors of journals or editorial board members. Several of the School’s members also
occupy leading positions within and outside the University and are recognized as national and/or
international leaders in their respective fields. The School will continue to encourage active
involvement and work towards greater visibility for such services by members.
Psychology – Vision
8
D) Strategic Areas of Development
We envision the School as a nationally and internationally recognized center of excellence for
basic and applied psychological research. In this context, it is proposed to plan future
development in five inter-related strategic areas. These strategic areas, which will serve as the
backbone on our traditional OCGS fields of graduate training and serve as focus of development
for the School’s future initiatives:
 Clinical Research in Psychotherapy and Service-Delivery
 Life-Span Development
 Neuroscience and Cognition
 Social-Community Psychology
 Research Methods and Quantitative Methods in Psychology
Clinical Research in Psychotherapy and Service Delivery
The goal of this strategic area is to increase research focusing on clinical process, outcome and
service delivery questions using the CPS clinical facilities, renamed the Centre for Psychological
Services and Research (CPSR), which include:
- Increased research that directly benefits clients at the CPSR and/or practicum
students/interns in training.
- Facilitating research on clinically relevant issues and research that will contribute to the
larger field of clinical psychology.
- Research that is avant-garde in examining alternatives and innovations in providing
services to linguistic minorities, remote communities, and economically disadvantaged
populations.
Life-Span Development
The goal of this strategic area is to work toward the integration of developmental psychology and
geronto-psychology.
The activities should include:
- Fundamental research (cognitive development, social development, and gerontopsychology)
- Clinical activities (clinical child psychology, family psychology, clinical gerontology).
- Partnerships with Elizabeth Bruyère Hospital and CHEO which are aimed at developing
partnerships that can enhance quality of research on both fundamental processes and the
study of clinical population, services to clinical populations, and training of graduate
students.
Neuroscience and Cognition
Psychology – Vision
9
Following the strong emphasis placed by the University of Ottawa on the role of the
neurosciences in different spheres of research activities, the goals of this strategic area are:
– To integrate the study of brain changes under normal and pathological conditions
– To further develop the research on the neuro-physiological correlates and determinants of
cognition
– To play an active role in the University of Ottawa Brain & Mind Research Institute
– To strengthen partnerships with the Montfort Hospital, the University of Ottawa Institute
of Mental Health Research, and Carleton University (neuroscience specialization)
– To establish partnerships with the Ottawa hospitals in developing research in
neuropsychology
Social – Community Psychology
The goal is to expand social psychology to include inter-disciplinary research on basic principles
in social psychology, applied social psychology, and community psychology. Emphasis is placed
on working towards the creation of a Research Institute that will facilitate the further
development of the Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services (CRECS) and
that will include:
– Research on basic principles in social psychology
– Inter-disciplinary social psychological studies within the School
– Applied research & applied research in the Community
– Focus group research activities and surveys
– Research on social policies and translation of research knowledge
– Systematic research links with the rest of the FSS
Research Methods and Quantitative Methods
Researchers of different research fields rely on different methodologies and different sets of
qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct their research. Undergraduates need to be
exposed early to research methods and quantitative methods in to master basic statistical
concepts; graduate students in each field need to be exposed to advance methodology and the
quantitative and qualitative methods. Sophisticated statistical methods are critical to most fields
of psychology.
The area of research methods and quantitative methods serves as the backbone for our five
traditional OCGS fields of research and graduate training. Therefore, the goal of this area is not
necessarily intended to develop this strategic area in terms of research activities, but to
strengthen the resources in line with the School’s mission and its future initiatives by increasing
the relevant expertise in research methods and quantitative methods across all areas of
psychology.
E) Future Challenges and Recommended Actions
Undergraduate Training
One of the main concerns of the University is the poor rating it receives from its undergraduate
Psychology – Vision
10
students when rating their experience. This seems to be due to the effects of the extraordinary
growth of the student population. In Psychology this has translated into much larger class sizes
and the elimination of laboratory exercises. Finally, the school has lost its own undergraduate
academic secretariat (academic advisors) thus further isolating the students from the
administration of the School. Students have received confusing information on academic matters,
particularly Honours students, because of lack of dedicated expertise. As mentioned above, the
move in 2011 of the entire School represents a unique occasion to improve a sense of belonging,
consistent communication, and more personalized relationships with our undergraduate students.
Different measures should help students feel part of the family of Psychology without isolating
them from other disciplines.
Therefore, we formulate the following recommendations to improve student experience:
Recommendation 1: That the academic secretariat of the School be re-established to
provide academic advising to students in Psychology, particularly Honours students.
Guidance should also involve future career planning as it relates to preparation towards
graduate studies or a terminal degree in psychology.
In the training of undergraduate students, in order to foster greater appreciation of empiricism
and critical thinking:
Recommendation 2: Provide more opportunity to get acquainted with research early in
their university training and introduce human and animal laboratories, and courses with
small group training via teaching assistants on the application of research as an integral
part of the training of psychology students in their second and third year in the program.
Recommendation 3: Provide an overall framework for courses taught in multiple sections
to assure scientific rigor in content and to meet course expectations of students across
sections.
A result of and particular caveat to the unprecedented growth of the undergraduate program has
been the unwieldy size of the honours program limiting personalized research exposure.
Fostering excellence in research training for those students who are more likely to choose
graduate studies in psychology, however, represents an important goal of our undergraduate
training.
Recommendation 4: It is recommended therefore to reduce the number of students
registered in the Honours thesis course using as guidelines academic dossiers that are of
graduate school admission levels.
Graduate Training
The School of Psychology should continue to actively promote and integrate research into
teaching and supervision of students and promote the scientist/teacher/practitioner model.
However, training of graduate students needs to be enriched in order to enhance preparation of
our future graduates for the existing and emerging professional opportunities and to provide
Psychology – Vision
11
students with a large array of tools to be able to have highly effective careers in their chosen
field. To that intent it is recommended:
Recommendation 5: To incorporate in the training of graduate students seminars on
professional opportunities and examples on the preparation it takes to aim at different types
of careers early in the students’ graduate careers.
Across graduate programs at the University of Ottawa, some 30% of our students aspire to an
academic career yet there is limited preparation for students beyond teaching assistantships for
developing the skills needed for formal classroom instruction. One strategy that may provide an
extra competitive edge to our students is to develop a Teaching Certificate program.
Recommendation 6: The graduate curriculum should be revised to include more
components relevant to university teaching and offer an opportunity to obtain a teaching
certificate.
Training Francophones
The School of Psychology is proud of its ability to attract comparatively more francophone
student to our undergraduate and graduate programs. The School remains committed to
providing a large contingent of courses in French at both undergraduate and graduate level,
would like to maintain dual English and French programs in the clinical program, and increase
professional opportunities for Francophone and bilingual graduate students.
The School of Psychology is currently providing opportunities for francophone graduate students
in clinical psychology to complete their entire program, including all practica and the predoctoral internship in French. In fact, the only francophone internship sites in Ontario are those
at CPSR. In order to have the critical mass for the clinical training in French, and to provide
professional mobility to our francophone and bilingual graduates, the School of Psychology
would like to further expand post-graduate opportunities by increasing the course offerings in
clinical psychology to meet registration requirements of the Ordre des Psychologues in Quebec.
To that intent it is recommended:
Recommendation 7: That current course offerings be aligned with licensing requirements
in Quebec; this entails the hiring of new clinical faculty eligible to supervise clinical
trainees immediately and to teach additional clinical courses in French.
Recommendation 8: Additional funding needs to be explored to respond to the increased
resources required to maintain linguistic duality in the training of undergraduate and
graduate students.
Research
The School places a particular premium on providing fertile ground for faculty to exercise what
they are passionate about and best at - to excel in their individual and collective research
Psychology – Vision
12
programs. In order to provide an encouraging environment, and to maximize the fulfillment of its
strategic areas of development, it is recommended to:
Recommendation 9: Facilitate collaborations between the different fields and between
experimental and clinical psychology.
Recommendation 10: Facilitate collaboration between members of the School of
Psychology and other academic units of the University by developing the opportunity to
co-supervise students and to participate in inter-disciplinary research programs.
Recommendation 11: Reduce the impact of teaching load on research by increasing
recognition for working with honours students, recognizing cross-disciplinary work,
favoring teaching of already developed courses.
Recommendation 12: Develop a 3-5 year workload plan for each professor to facilitate
preparation of courses and research activities.
School Members’ Cohesion and Experience
The School wants to promote balance among the different academic endeavours of its professors
including: basic scientific research, applied research, undergraduate teaching, graduate teaching,
Honours thesis supervision, graduate supervision, professional training and development, and
service to the community.
In order to achieve these goals and to increase cohesion among members of the School of
Psychology, a number of initiatives are suggested:
Recommendation 13: Increase communication of the work carried out at the level of the
overall governance, including objectives and implementation of the Vision of the School
through retreats.
Recommendation 14: Help new faculty to plan their career towards certain milestones
(funding, tenure) and provide formalized mentoring by senior faculty members. Actively
mentor junior and mid-career faculty to orient their careers effectively towards differential
foci on teaching, research intensity and/or administration.
Recommendation 15: Facilitate work-family balance and promote mental and physical
health of all members of the School (faculty, support staff, students). Facilitate return from
parental leave and ongoing parental and familial responsibilities.
Opportunities with the Integration of the School in the New Facilities
With the move to the new – and finally unified home of the School of Psychology in the Vanier
Hall, a number of new opportunities have emerged and many more are likely to result.
Psychology – Vision
13
The Centre for Psychological Services and Research (CPSR) has moved into to a renovated
space that provides state-of-the-art information technology that will facilitate clinical research in
important ways. In order accelerate and coordinate CPSR research initiatives a number of
recommendations follow:
Recommendation 16: The institution of a professional director for the centre to provide
administrative expertise and coordination of teaching, supervision, research, and
community liaison to provide more time and opportunities for regular professor to engage
in more research activities in the centre.
Recommendation 17: Creation of a research committee with members of the clinical field
and the director of the CPSR (ex officio) as the organizational unit to coordinate research
efforts in line with benefits to clients and students/interns.
The face of clinical psychology is changing and in the relatively near future, face-to-face clinical
consultations and therapy will no longer represent the norm in clinical service delivery. Online
tutorials and therapist facilitated online interventions are fast becoming new means of effective
and cost-efficient provision of psychological services.
Recommendation 18: The School of Psychology will focus its efforts on the development
of new delivery techniques to be at the forefront of research and training in innovative
service delivery.
The move to the renovated Vanier Hall offers a series of new and exceptional technical
installations that will be at the disposal of all members of the School of Psychology and are
intended to facilitate research endeavors and favor intra- and interdisciplinary research. In order
to be operational, the School needs to re-establish the necessary technical support infrastructure
it once had. More specifically it is recommended that:
Recommendation 19: A highly skilled researcher be hired to coordinate, train and network
the researchers and graduate students, facilitate the implementation of the studies that will
be conducted in the facilities.
Recommendation 20: New technicians be hired to maintain the equipment, and
synchronize the activities going on in the facilities with the other activities of the School
and the Faculty.
The School also proposes to examine creative possibilities to support ongoing projects as well as
emerging research. One area that has experienced significant growth and is expected to expand
to a number of areas in psychology including our strategic areas of development is neuroscience.
The School will strengthen and diversify its research on psychological and brain processes and
better define the position of the School in view of the future plans of the university for the
neurosciences as a strategic area of development and in the context of the establishment of the
University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute (uOBMRI).It is therefore recommended
that:
Psychology – Vision
14
Recommendation 21: The School improves access to imaging facilities and that it
acquires an MRI unit.
The Replacement of Professors that are Retiring and Hiring Priorities
Considérant la croissance importante au cours des dernières années, l’École devra faire face à un
défi considérable alors qu’un grand nombre de professeurs prendront leur retraite au cours des
prochaines années et qu’il sera nécessaire de les remplacer pour maintenir la qualité de nos
services et accomplir les objectifs qui découlent de notre mission et de nos priorités de
développement. Il y aura donc l’embauche de plusieurs professeurs au cours des prochaines
années. Face à ce défi il est recommandé :
Recommandation 22: Que les professeurs soient engagés en tenant compte de
remplacement des professeurs qui ont pris leur retraite récemment, des laboratoires
existants, des ententes avec des hôpitaux de la région et des axes stratégiques de
développement énoncés plus haut.
Recommandation 23: Que 3 positions de professeurs remplaçants à durée limitée soit
renouvelés afin de maintenir la qualité de l’enseignement au niveau du premier cycle.
Services to the Community
The School of Psychology has also been at the forefront in responding to the needs of the
particular context of the University of Ottawa, with the Centre for Psychological Services, the
Certificate in Program Evaluation, the Centre for Research on Educational and Community
Service (CRECS), its contribution to the study of bilingualism and society (i.e., the Research
Chair in Bilingualism and Society). Several graduates of the School are already contributing at
multiple levels within the civil service. The certificate in program evaluation in particular has
been responding to the needs of the federal and provincial governments to employ university
graduates with a high level of sophistication in applied research methods. The School would like
to further develop the area of community health psychology and is recognizing this strength by
working towards a formal recognition of a specialization in this field.
The School has also been an excellent citizen in working together with multiple organizations,
hospitals, community organizations, and all levels of government. A continued effort to foster
and expand these relationships is necessary with the major aim at responding to the University’s
objective of improving its services to its students and the Community, and making the quality of
its services its signature. For all these reasons, it is recommended that:
Recommendation 24: Partnerships with hospitals in the Ottawa region be encouraged to
facilitate the conduct of research with clinical populations, and the research on physical
and/or mental health issues.
Positionnement Stratégique de l’École vis-à-vis la Vision de l’Université de Devenir une
Université « Verte »
Psychology – Vision
15
Aujourd’hui, les enjeux associés à l’environnement englobent plus que les perspectives axées sur
les sciences pures, les sciences naturelles et les nouvelles technologies. Parce que les dommages
causés à l’environnement sont causés par les actions humaines et parce que l’utilisation de
nouvelles technologies implique l’adoption de nouveaux comportements, les questions se
rapportant à l’influence des politiques et la gouvernance, les principes à la base du changement
des comportements humains, de la motivation humaine, des rapports entre individus pour
l’acquisition de ressources, des comportements sociétaux, devraient représenter des aspects
prioritaires de l’orientation de l’université vis-à-vis l’environnement, l’écologie et le
développement durable. L’École de psychologie pourrait jouer un rôle de leader au niveau du
projet de devenir une université verte où le développement durable occuperait une place centrale
au niveau de la recherche, de l’enseignement et de la formation et des liens que l’on entretient
avec différentes communautés. Pour ces raisons, l’École propose d’étudier la possibilité de
développer un plan stratégique qui aurait pour but d’établir de façon progressive l’implantation
de moyens qui contribueraient à l’atteinte de l’objectif de devenir une université verte d’ici 2020.
Recommandation 25 : Que des cours portant sur les enjeux humains et sociaux associés
aux problématiques environnementales soient créés, de façon à ce que les étudiants en
psychologie puissent développer une spécialisation en études environnementales qui soit
reliée à leur programme d’étude principal et que ces cours soient enseignés par les
nouveaux professeurs qui seront engagés.
Recommandation 26 : En accord avec l’importance accordée par l’administration centrale
à l’objectif de devenir une Université Verte, l’École propose d’examiner la possibilité
d’obtenir de nouveaux postes (en plus des postes prévus pour l’École) afin que l’embauche
de nouveaux professeurs intéressés par des thèmes touchant l’environnement et le
développement durable soient envisagée.