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Our Mission
The Department of Psychology is dedicated to understanding the complexity of the human mind and behavior. The Psychology faculty is comprised of scholars with expertise in diverse areas who are actively engaged in the discovery of new knowledge and its application, the education of undergraduate and graduate students, and serving the needs of the larger community. In fulfilling these objectives, the Department of Psychology is guided by the following core values: developing a conceptual framework that encourages lifelong learning, promoting critical thinking about “popular” psychology as well as the scientific literature, encouraging the discovery of self-knowledge and understanding, and raising awareness about how gender, race, ethnicity, and class affect human behavior and perspectives.
Instruction in the methods and content of the field of psychology is provided within the Liberal Arts and Sciences tradition of encouraging intellectual and personal development. The curriculum offers a diversity of learning situations and includes many opportunities for writing. The undergraduate program prepares students for graduate study or entry-level employment. The graduate programs are designed for those who intend to continue at the doctoral level, to gain employment in applied or scientific settings, or to obtain advanced training related to present employment. The Department is committed to the ongoing assessment of its programs.
Both undergraduate and graduate students are required to study research methods and statistics in order to comprehend the empirical nature of psychology. The ethical principles of the field are stressed, so that students come to value the dignity of the individual, the importance of promoting human welfare, and the maintenance of scientific, academic, and professional integrity. We focus the educational experience on information students can take with them and use for the rest of their lives. Critical to this is the development of transferable skills. To this end, we provide opportunities for students to collaborate with faculty on research and to engage in a variety of fieldwork experiences.
What Can I Do With This Major?
- Data Analyst, Researcher, or College Professor
- Clinical, Counseling, or School Psychologist
- Professional Counselor: Mental Health Counseling, School Counseling, Couples & Family Counseling, or Vocational Counseling
- Licensed Social Worker
- Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor
- Applied Behavior Analyst
- Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialist
- Elementary and Secondary School Teacher or Administrator
- Human Resources Manager
- Instructional Coordinator
- Occupational or Recreational Therapist
- Probation Officer and Correctional Officer
- Treatment Specialist
- Recreational Therapist
Address
Psychology Department
SUNY New Paltz
600 Hawk Drive
New Paltz, NY 12561-2440
Main Office
Hilary Chalmers, Administrative Assistant
WH 361
Phone: 845-257-3470
Fax: 845-257-3474
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours:
ACADEMIC YEAR HOURS: M-F 8:30 am-12:30 pm and 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm
SUMMER HOURS: 8:00 am -1:00 pm and 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Giordana Grossi, Department Chair
WH 362
Phone: 845-257-3091
Fax: 845- 257-3474
E-mail: [email protected]
Undergraduate Advising Assistants
WH 361
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: Posted on door of WH 361
Subject Pool Coordinator
WH 361
Phone: 845-257-3497
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: Posted on door of WH 361
Department Directory and Faculty Office Hours
Full-time faculty profiles and Web site links
Contact Information
Psychology Department
- Location: Wooster 361
- Phone: (845) 257-3470 / Fax: (845) 257-3474
- Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM-1:30 PM & 2:00-5:00 PM
(8:00 AM-12:30 PM & 1:00-4:00 PM during summer) - Department Administrative Assistant: Ms. Hilary Chalmers ([email protected])
- Department Chair: Dr. Giordana Grossi ([email protected])
- Assistant Chairs: Dr. Cliff Evans ([email protected])
Psychology Programs
- Location: Wooster 361
- Phone: (845) 257-3470
- Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-12:00 PM & 1:00-4:00 PM
- Psychology Graduate Program Director: Dr. Elizabeth Hirshorn ([email protected])
Additional Contacts
Undergraduate Advising Assistants
- Location: Wooster 361
- Phone: (845) 257-3497
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Office Hours: Monday 9:00 AM–3:00 PM; Thursday 10:00 AM–4:35 PM; Friday 10 AM–1:25 PM
- If you need to declare, drop, or change a major/minor, please come see the undergraduate advising assistants.
- Advising Information for Psychology Majors and Minors
- For advising issues, please seek out your faculty advisor first (listed on your progress report). Most advising issues can be handled at the faculty advisor level.
- If your faculty advisor cannot address your issue, please see the undergraduate advisors or the Dept. Chair (Dr. Grossi) or the Assistant Chair (Dr. Evans).
Subject Pool Coordinator
- Location: Wooster 361
- Phone: (845) 257-3497
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Office Hours: Monday 9:00 AM–3:00 PM; Thursday 10:00 AM–4:30 PM; Friday 10 AM–1:30 PM
- Psychology Department Subject Pool online system
Faculty and Other Contacts
Main Office Information
- Location: Wooster Hall 361
- Hours:
- ACADEMIC YEAR HOURS: Monday-Friday 8:30 am - 12:30 pm and 1:30 to 5:00 pm
- SUMMER HOURS: 8a.m.-1p.m. and 1:30-4p.m.
- Phone: 845-257-3470
- Department Administrative Assistant: Hilary Chalmers ([email protected])
- Department Chair: Dr. Giordana Grossi ([email protected])
- FIND US ON FACEBOOK (NP Psych Community Group - great for keeping students, faculty, staff, and alumni connected!)
- Contact the Undergraduate Psychology Association (UPA) here!
- Contact our chapter of Psi Chi here!
- New Paltz's psych community joins the Hashtag Revolution! If you've got department-related pictures (from a conference, event, class, etc.), please feel free to tag them with BOTH #nppsych and #npsocial (and make sure settings are set to PUBLIC for these pics). This is apparently the big new thing! Happy hashtagging!
Information for Majors and Students
- Undergraduate Advisor Hours
- Undergraduate Psychology Handbook / Guide
- Detailed Contact Information (whom to contact for questions about advising, subject pool, or graduate programs)
- Psychology Subject Pool: Go to the subject pool online system (Sona) or read the subject pool guidelines.
- Registration Information: Please see the Advising Newsletter, which includes information on PSY498 course topic descriptions, how to sign up for Crisis Intervention, Internship, and Practicum, and more for the upcoming terms.
- Worried about graduating on time? Please see this note from the Chair
Other Information
- Newest Issue of Alumni Newsletter (The Self Monitor): 2025
- Archived issues of our Alumni Newsletter (i.e., The Self Monitor) can be found here.
- Department News
- Process for Disseminating Departmental News
Message from the Chair
The Psychology Department at SUNY New Paltz has a long-standing history of cultivating student success in the basic and applied behavioral sciences. With approximately 20 full-time faculty members, our department includes leading faculty with expertise on such diverse areas as psychology of disaster mental health, cognitive neuroscience, social development, the psychology of female objectification, constructivism, perceptual development, gender identity, ethnic and racial identity, academic development of historically under-represented students, positive psychology, the psychology of emotions, basic cognitive processes, academic motivation, the affect/cognitition interface, visual perception, best practices in school and mental health counseling, and more. Our department hosts several undergraduate programs, including the standard psychology major, that are designed to provide students with rich and broad academic experiences in psychology. We also host highly successful graduate programs in scientific psychology, mental health counseling, and school counseling. And we work closely with two highly active student organizations: The Undergraduate Psychology Association and the New Paltz Chapter of Psi Chi.
Our department has a long-standing tradition of cultivating student work beyond the classroom. Toward that end, we offer several internship-like experiences along with several opportunities for students to collaborate with our faculty directly in the domain of research. Our students regularly co-author academic presentations and publications with our faculty and students often, with financial support of the department, attend and present at academic conferences all around the world.
Alumni of our department regularly achieve greatness - we regularly place students into high-caliber graduate programs (including PhD programs) at schools like Columbia University, Cornell University, Binghamton University, University of Flordia, and more.
We work hard to cultivate a community-oriented approach in the department and we are always happy to hear about the successes of our current students and our alumni - who are the ultimate fruits of our work.
Don't hesitate to contact me directly with any questions about the Department or its many offerings. And many thanks for stopping by our website!
Genuinely, Glenn Geher, PhD; Chair of Psychology; State University of New York at New Paltz
