The Masters Degree (MA) was established as a way to formalize courses taken and research experience acquired for students enrolled in our Ph.D. program in Clinical-Community Psychology. In addition, the conferring of this degree to students in their second or third year in the doctoral program increases opportunities for them for on-campus teaching, and for externships in community settings. The MA does not increase the course requirements which students will have to take to achieve their Ph.D. but rather specifies core courses and experiences students typically complete by the end of their second year, or by the end of first semester in their third year in the doctoral program, with the thesis requirement included in this degree.  Students will be required to defend the Masters thesis and jointly take an oral comprehensive examination on their knowledge based on coursework and experiences to date at the time of the defense. All students who enter the program without a Masters Degree must complete the requirements for a Masters. In rare cases, students not showing adequate progress toward the Ph.D. may be declined the ability to continue in the doctoral program, and may be guided toward completion of the MA as their terminal degree at the UofSC.

Learning Outcomes

• Students show the ability to develop organized responses to basic questions related to psychopathology, developmental psychology, social psychology, diversity issues, history and systems of psychology, psychological intervention, community psychology, and biological bases of behavior or behaviorism/learning theory or cognitive psychology.
• Students create and maintain appropriate professional relationships with peers, staff, faculty, and members of the community (e.g. punctuality, interpersonal and communication skills, professional dress and behavior). Students adhere to the APA ethical standards in applied work and research.
• Students demonstrate the ability to critique and synthesize research, collect and analyze data, and present research questions and results in oral and written formats. Students demonstrate awareness of how biases influence research, use a systems perspective in research, and works effectively with other researchers and participants.

Degree Requirements (47 Hours)

Required courses for the Masters Degree include the following:

Research Methods and Statistics (9 Hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
PSYC 709	Basic Quantitative Methods in the Analysis of Behavioral Data I	3
PSYC 710	Basic Quantitative Methods in the Analysis of Behavioral Data II	3
PSYC 772	Research Approaches to Human Behavior	3
Total Credit Hours		9

Core General Psychology Courses (15 Hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
PSYC 726	Psychological Problems and Resilience	3
PSYC 727	Foundations of Community Psychology	3
PSYC 749	Principles of Human Diversity	3
PSYC 770	Survey of Social Psychology	3
PSYC 820	Seminar in Developmental Psychology	3
Total Credit Hours		15

Foundations of Clinical Psychology (6 Hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
PSYC 725	Systems and Theories of Psychological Intervention	3
PSYC 761	Psychological Assessment I	3
Total Credit Hours		6

Research Leading to Thesis (8 Hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
PSYC 773	Research in Clinical-Community Psychology	1-3
PSYC 799	Thesis Preparation	1-9
Total Credit Hours		2-12

Practicum (6 Hours)

• 6 hours of Intervention Practicum

Electives (3 Hours)

• 3 hours (other Psyc courses 700 and higher or non-Psyc courses 500 and higher)