Opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology comes to UCC

A new partnership with Bushnell University has opened the opportunity for UCC psychology majors to complete their bachelor’s degree in Douglas County.

UCC faculty, along with faculty from Bushnell University, were concerned that there was no way for a student with an AAOT earned at UCC to finish their degree without making an arduous commute. Ryan Melton, Ph.D, the associate dean of psychology and counseling at Bushnell, was empathetic to this struggle because he himself lives in Roseburg and makes the commute to the Bushnell campus in Eugene. Melton reached out to UCC President Rachel Pokrandt, and the new psychology program was created.

Bushnell University, located in Eugene, is a Christian university which offers a major in psychology and religious studies. As stated on the Bushnell University website, “Here, students answer God’s call in their lives and prepare to make a positive difference through career, family, church, and community.” The school also boasts a 97% degree completion rate within four years.

This new program will require students to apply for admission to Bushnell University because it is the entity furnishing the degree. Students may be required to adhere to Bushnell’s code of conduct, which includes rules for the content of social media accounts. Any student involved with the program should be careful to review these agreements beforehand, as they would with any code of conduct they are bound to.

The program will be administrated primarily by Bushnell staff traveling to teach at UCC’s campus. If UCC faculty wishes to participate in the program as instructors, they are required to become adjunct professors of Bushnell. This means they will need to sign a declaration of Christian faith and have the required credentials to teach at a four-year university.

If students are interested in the program and agree with Bushnell’s faith-based mission, starting in fall term of 2022, UCC students who have completed their AAOT with a psychology pathway will be able to enroll in the new program to earn the remaining 62 credits needed for a bachelor’s degree in psychology. The estimated time to complete the degree will be an additional two years on top of the time spent acquiring the AAOT.

Georgann Willis, associate professor of psychology at UCC and Melton worked hard to ensure the program was satisfactory to both institutions involved. “Both UCC and Bushnell University were very invested in providing this educational opportunity for Douglas County,” Willis said.

Because Bushnell University uses a different term system than UCC does, with their classes lasting 8 weeks, the schedules of the projected classes had to be adjusted. The Bushnell-UCC schedule is listed below.

• Fall 2022 Session 1 runs August 29-October 23
• Fall 2022 Session 2 runs October 24-December 18
• Spring 2023 Session 1 runs January 17-March 12
• Spring 2023 Session 2 runs Mar 13-May 14
• Summer 2023 Session 1 runs May 15-July 2
• Summer 2023 Session 2 runs July 3-August 20

“I am excited for the school and fellow psychology students because having access to an undergraduate degree through UCC means more flexibility and cost friendly tuition, though I would prefer a secular program,” said Rachel Arceo, a UCC psychology major. With the new psychology program, students will be able to pursue a bachelor’s degree from their home of Douglas County.

For questions on the program, please contact Bushnell University at 541-684-7201.

Contact me at:
UCCMainstream@yahoo.com

For more articles by Rian Berriman please click here.