Job Analysis for a Psychology Professor at James Madison University

Kristin Gross, Elisa Martinez, Christy Bautista, Darby Quave

Introduction

Job Titles: Assistant Psychology Professor

Associate Psychology Professor

Full Psychology Professor

Typically a professor at a four-year university begins as an Assistant Professor without

tenure. After five years, other faculty members will assess the professor in several ways: quality

of teaching, number and quality of publications, service, collegiality with other departments, etc.

If the professor passes this assessment, they will be promoted to Associate Professor. The highest

title a professor can hold is a Full Professor (College Psychology Careers, 2017).

Education

In terms of education, a masters degree may be sufficient for some positions at

community colleges. However you need a Ph.D. in order to pursue a tenure-track position at a 4-

year university (like James Madison University). Preferably, someone in this position would

have a Ph.D. in Psychology or an advanced degree with at least 15 credits or more in

psychology. Qualified job candidates may also hold an advanced degree in a related discipline

such as counseling or sociology.

Important Work Values Necessary For This Work:

Achievement: A professor uses their strongest skills and feels good about their work.

They are also allowed to research and teach subject matter that they are interested in.

Independence: A professor has the opportunity to supervise their own research labs and

different organizations that they are involved in. They also have the opportunity to be

creative and find new ways of doing things.

Relationships: A professor works with a diverse group of people who come from many

different cultures and backgrounds. They have the opportunity to help others succeed in

their future. They also form relationships with their boss, fellow faculty members, and

students.

Support: A professor has a boss that stands by their faculty members in order to make

their department successful. Professors have access to the right tools, training, and

resources to provide the best education for their students (College Psychology Careers,

2017).

Interests That Are Fulfilled Aia This Work:

Social - Professors have the opportunity to interact with undergraduate students as well as

other professors. They help students by contributing to their intellectual growth. They

foster important research and support James Madison University and the Psychology

Department.

Artistic- Professors have the ability to try different teaching methods. They also are free

to choose the research and service they wish to engage in.

 Investigative- Professors are involved with researching, problem solving, critical

thinking, etc. (Summary Report, 2017).

Uses for This Job Analysis

This Job Analysis serves as a holistic overview of a psychology professor. Its used to

identify the duties and requirements expected for this position. This Job Analysis is tailored

towards psychology professors at James Madison University and helps determine the criteria

important for success in this job field.

Organizational Setting

James Madison University is a public liberal arts university with a total of seven colleges,

including College of Arts and Letters, College of Business, College of Education, College of

Health and Behavioral Studies, College of Integrated Science and Engineering, College of

Science and Math, and College of Visual and Performing Arts. The Psychology Department is a

integral part of the College of Health and Behavioral Studies.

The Psychology Department is overseen by Kevin Apple, the Department Head. He is

supported by his two Assistant Department Heads, Suzanne Baker and Monica Reis-Bergan. The

Psychology Department works to educate students in, and contribute to, the science of

psychology as its mission (Mission for Department of Psychology, 2007). The Psychology

Department has clear objectives which include: knowledge of psychology, research methods in

psychology, critical thinking skills in psychology, application of psychology, communication

skills, sociocultural and international awareness, personal development and career planning and
development (Mission for Department of Psychology, 2007).

Description of Work Context in the Department

A psychology professor at James Madison University is expected to perform in the

following three areas: teaching, research, and service. Because of this, there is a variety of

different work contexts. This includes a variety of different environments, forms of relationships,

and tasks. The environments includes time spent in a classroom setting, office hours,

conferences, research lab, etc. A professor establishes relationships with undergraduate and

graduate students and faculty in the Psychology Department as well as other departments in the

university. Day to day tasks range anywhere from sending emails, lecturing, attending meetings,

grading assignment, etc.

Job Analysis Method

To start our research, we collected CVs from two professors in the Psychology

Department, JoAnne Brewster and David Szwedo. JoAnne Brewster is a Full Professor in the

Graduate Department of Psychology. David Szwedo is an Assistant Professor in Department of

Psychology as well as a First Year Advisor. We obtained these CVs by emailing these

professors. Please refer to separate attachments for copies of the CVs.

In order to learn more about the undergraduate psychology professor job role specific to

James Madison University, we conducted an in-class interview. The interview consisted of a

panel of four undergraduate psychology professors from different psychology disciplines. The

panel consisted of the following people: Jessica Irons, Jaime Kurtz, Melanie Shoup-Knox, Jeff

Dyke, and Tracy Zinn.

 Jessica Irons is an experimental psychologist and has worked at James Madison

University for 11 years. Jaime Kurtz focuses on social and positive psychology and has worked

at James Madison University for seven years. Melanie Shoup- Knox concentrates on behavioral

neuroscience and been a professor at James Madison University for four years. Jeff Dyke focuses

on behavioral neuroscience as well and has worked at James Madison University for seven years.

Tracy Zinn concentrates in industrial-organizational psychology and has been at James Madison

University for 14 years.

As a class, we asked them a total of six questions (see APPENDIX A). All the professors

contributed to answering each question. These questions addressed the following aspects of the

job position: teaching, research, and service.

Along with the interview, we also used outside sources to gather more general

information on psychology professors. One of these sources was O*Net Online, which is a

occupation information database. This source shed light on the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, or

Other Characteristics (KSAOs) in general that a psychology professor should have. It also

indicated values or interests that match the occupation.

Another online source we used was CAREERwise Education, which serves a similar

function as O*Net online as an occupation information database. It identified the importance of

work values for this position. Lastly, we used was the James Madison University Psychology

Department website. This source was important for identifying the overall mission of the

department, as well as additional information on faculty members.

Job Analysis Outcomes

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, or Other Characteristics (KSAOs) we see fit for this job:
1. Enthusiasm and Passion For Psychology: Being excited and and intrigued by psychology.

Enjoy learning and teaching on the subject and appreciate its importance.

a. Engage students in lecture

b. Stay up to date with current information

c. Choose topics to research

d. Get involved in service that is meaningful

2. Student-oriented: Placing the needs of students first and fostering intellectual growth and

academic achievement whenever possible.

a. Allow students to choose what they want to research

b. Encourage students be a part of published research

c. Keep students best interests in mind when updating curriculum

d. Be a good representative of the students to the Psychology Department

3. Flexibility: Openness and adaptability to changing circumstances.

a. Balance the three components of a psychology professor at James Madison

University depending on the priority at the time

b. Choose which classes to lecture and what time

c. Wait for research funding money

4. Communication Skills: The ability to convey information effectively and efficiently.

a. Say what you want clearly and directly to students during lecture, office hours and

emails

b. Give students feedback on projects and exams

c. Advocate for research to get funding and approval

d. Include fellow faculty members in department changes through emails

5. Establishes Academic Term Goals: Expectations that you want to accomplish by the end

of the semester.

a. Create a syllabus for students at the beginning of the semester to establish

expectations

b. Create deadlines for research students to submit their findings to conferences

c. Measure the progress of a committee you head

6. Ability To Use Technology: The ability to use computers and related technology

efficiently.

a. Upload files to canvas

b. Utilize Microsoft programs to convey lectures over a projector

c. Utilize Excel to report findings from research

d. Type grants and submit them for approval

e. Send minutes out from committee meetings

7. Approachability: People feel comfortable coming to you with any question or issue.

a. Students feel like they can come to office hours

b. Faculty members confide in you for important decisions

c. Be open-minded to working with diverse students and faculty with a range of

personalities

d. Students feel as though they are respected by you

8. Knowledgeable In The Field Of Psychology: Having expertise in psychology from

formal schooling. Obtaining the most relevant and current information in the field.

a. Answer students questions about class material to further discussion

b. Be familiar with literature review that pertains to your own research

 c. Utilize psychology concepts in real-world environments

9. Professional: Acting in a manner that is appropriate for an academic work setting.

a. Use appropriate formal language when interacting with both students and faculty

b. Abide by established ethics when practicing research

c. Dress appropriately for formal settings

d. Be a good representation of James Madison Universitys values, mission, and

standards

10. Critical Thinking: Evaluation of situations or problems and coming up with the best

solution.

a. Analyze and interpret research data findings

b. Re-state complex information to better student understandment

c. Confront student-teacher conflict and evaluating how to resolve the issue

APPENDIX A

What are your greatest strength as a professor and what are some areas that need further

development?

How does research funding work and how often does the department ask you to publish? Is the

funding related to how often you publish?

How do you balance time between all three components (research, teaching, service)?

How are you evaluated now and how would you like to be evaluated? Do you like that process?

In what way have you fulfilled your service requirement in your time here?

What is an ideal faculty member and what would they do?

 References

College Psychology Careers. (2017, September 27). Retrieved from http://www.minnstate.edu

Mission for Department of Psychology. (2007, March 11). Retrieved from

http://www.psyc.jmu.edu/ug/mission.html

Summary Report for: 25-1066.00 - Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary. (2017, August 1).

Retrieved from https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/25-1066.00