Southeast Missouri State University plans to offer an online bachelor of arts in psychology in fall 2015, designed to serve students who are working full time, returning military and others.

"It is meant to complement the on-campus bachelor of science program recommended for students seeking careers in professional psychology. Employment possibilities for students in the online course are business administration, sales, education, criminal justice, human resources, mental health and technical/service writing careers," said Leslee Pollina, department chairwoman and professor in the Department of Psychology.

Courses in the program also are viewed as desirable for students in graduate programs in the university's Harrison College of Business.

The program will have to be approved by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education, which means it could be ready for fall 2015.

"It takes a while to filter it through all the agencies, get all the courses ready [and] make sure we've got all the faculty lined up. That's the plan," she said.

She said the program has been requested for a couple of years because psychology is a popular major that makes a good general degree.

One thing that can't be done as well online is hands-on research experiences that on-campus students get.

"So what we do online is a bit more theoretical," Pollina said. "It is possible to conduct some kinds of research studies completely online, survey kinds of things, for example. [But] there are some things you can't do. ... One of the aspects of doing research as an undergraduate is having a lot of mentoring from an experienced faculty member, and again, that's a lot more difficult to do online at this point."

Once students complete the degree, there are several employment options. The demand for direct-service workers with degrees in psychology/social services is expected to increase by 25 percent by 2020, which is faster than the average for other occupational areas.

"... The people who work with online programs and online courses have been suggesting this for some time because there really is a fairly strong market for it, and students who ... complete the program will actually have some pretty good options for employment afterward," Pollina said. "... Having this online degree program allows us to reach some students in the region, and also beyond the region, who really aren't able to do the on-campus, four-year experience. They might be limited because of their employment, family issues [or] distance, but this way they can actually complete a good, solid college degree."

Psychology courses have been offered at the regional campuses in Kennett, Malden and Sikeston, Missouri, for four years. It has been offered at the main campus sine the early 1970s as a separate department.

"And it's grown considerably. ... We've had a few retirements in the last couple of years, so we're still working on hiring people. I believe we actually have 16 faculty, including the two at the regional campuses, and we're in the process of hiring a couple more," Pollina said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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