The Clinical Psychology Program at UND is designed to prepare students to function as scientist-practitioners in a variety of employment settings. Accordingly, emphasis is placed on the routine application of the scientific method, the acquisition of empirically-supported clinical assessment and intervention skills, and the integration of science and practice in addressing problems facing individuals, families, and communities. We encourage students to seek careers which support the application of behavioral science research in the delivery of psychological services. Although our program has the flexibility to allow students to tailor their training toward careers emphasizing either the science or practice of psychology, the faculty emphasizes the integration of science and practice (i.e., applying science to practice and practice to science) as the defining feature of our training model. Graduates are expected to manifest their scientist- practitioner identities in all aspects of their professional behavior no matter the career choices, job titles, role responsibilities, and/or daily activities that they subsequently embrace. Our program educates scholars, researchers, and clinicians who serve the people of North Dakota as well as the rest of the nation and world through our teaching, research, and application of behavioral science. Our first Ph.D. clinical psychology graduate was in 1960. The Ph.D. program in clinical psychology has been accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1969 (750 First Street, Washington, D.C. 20002, 202-336-5979).

The Clinical Psychology Program and UND is augmented by the Department's Instructional Skills Training Track which was established to increase the emphasis on training graduate students to be effective instructors. The program consists of two content courses, a supervised teaching experience, and a teaching placement. The intent is to provide experiences that develop necessary skills for effective instruction and allow the faculty to document a student's progress in obtaining these skills. The Instructional Skills Training Track provides our clinical program with a vehicle to enhance student interest and ability in teaching psychology at the college level.

Our department was selected by the American Psychological Association and subsequently mandated by federal legislation (Indian Health Care Improvement Act, 1992) to be the home of the Quentin N. Burdick American Indians in Psychology Program. As a result of this legislation, our department has developed the Indians into Psychology Doctoral Education or INPSYDE (pronounced inside) program as a vehicle for meeting the objectives of this federal initiative. Our INPSYDE program seeks to: a) increase awareness of, interest in, and motivation for training and careers in mental health among Native American students, b) build and maintain pipelines between tribal colleges and the University of North Dakota, c) recruit Native American students for undergraduate and graduate study in psychology, d) provide academic, financial, personal, and cultural support for Native American students, e) provide psychological services to under served Native American communities, and f) develop new, and enhancing current, culturally-relevant courses and field-based experiences in clinical psychology. Our INPSYDE "program" is both a funded federal project (providing opportunities for all enrolled clinical graduate students) as well as a specialized track of the clinical Ph.D. program with usually two American Indian clinical students admitted annually (9 presently in the student body).

Clinical Training

All clinical graduate students in our program are exposed sequentially (link clinical curriculum) to course work, research, and practicum training that is graded in complexity and evaluated on the basis of cumulative success. The basic course requirements include standard courses in experimental design, univariate and multivariate statistics, clinical assessment, behavior pathology, psychotherapy and advanced therapeutic interventions, professional issues and ethics, and various foundation courses which provide broad and general education in the social, developmental, biological, and cognitive/ affective bases of behavior. History and diversity courses are also required. Completion of the core curriculum enables advanced students to develop specific interests by drawing upon faculty expertise in laboratory and clinical mentorships. Clinical students ultimately complete up to four years of supervised practicum training prior to application for a fifth year clinical internship prior to graduation. Students must also complete both a Master's thesis and Ph.D. dissertation. Roughly half of our clinical Ph.D. students complete their degree in five years with the overall average in our program being about 5.5 years.

Admissions

Students are admitted to the graduate program with the expectation that they plan to obtain the Ph.D. degree. Applicants must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution and have successfully completed 18 hours of psychology courses which include Introductory Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Statistics, and Research Methods. Applicants must submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination, including the Advanced Examination in Psychology. Letters of recommendation, the applicant's vitae, and academic transcripts are also required. Application forms are distributed by the department upon request. No separate application for financial assistance is required. The Department Admissions Committee does not review an application until it is complete. The deadline for applications is January 15.

Select this link for a detailed description of the review process.

Financial Support

Our clinical psychology training program only accepts students for full-time enrollment and work in our five-year track toward the Ph.D. All students are required to maintain full-time enrollment throughout their time in the program. Students who complete all the curriculum requirements for their Ph.D. degree except the dissertation are required to enroll in Continuing Enrollment credits (fee of $100 per credit hour).

Tuition and Fees cost estimates can be found on the main university web page. Tuition costs are almost always waived for all of our first (and second) year clinical psychology students. Students enrolled during their second year must obtain North Dakota state residency to assure a full tuition waiver (e.g., second year waiver based on ND tuition rates). Students are always obligated to pay their own fees since they are never covered by tuition waivers. In recent years the department has been able to waive most of the tuition costs of clinical students through their fourth year in the program.

First and second year students are awarded ½-time (16 hrs/wk) graduate teaching assistantships (GTAs) which pay roughly $1,249 per month for incoming graduate students and $1,509 for those who assume GTA duties who have already earned their M.A. degree. Our third and fourth year external practicum placements all pay at different rate. We have had long-term success, however, in placing almost all of our third and fourth year external practicum students at sites that do pay wages comparable to those earned through the GTA. While our program does have a long record of stable practicum placement funding for third and fourth year clinical students, we cannot assure the full funding of rotations years in advance for prospective students.

Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program Contact Information

Department of Psychology (701-777-3451)
University of North Dakota
Post Office Box 8380
Grand Forks, ND 58202-8380

Director of Clinical Psychology Training (alan.king@und.nodak.edu)
Department Chairperson (mark.grabe@und.nodak.edu)