Recession Fears Loom Over Student Loans

     Has the precarious state of the economy got you worried about tuition? Perhaps Ann Tran’s interview with the Dean of the California School of Professional Psychology, Dr. Morgan Sammons, will be of interest.
     Ann Tran: How has the economy impacted applications or acceptances to our school? Have they increased or decreased?
     Dr. Sammons: In brief, our acceptance rates are stable in proportion to the number of applications we receive. Since our applications have increased substantially over the past several years, there has been a proportionate decline in acceptances. At this point, we don’t see a direct effect of the economy on the number of applications, although it is too early in the recruitment season to give an accurate count of applications for the coming year. If inquires regarding the programs are a good index, our applications will be up again next year, but it is unclear if this is related to economic factors.
     AT: Our tuition has increased continuously since we have started. Is this a product of our economy or something else? What is the money being used for?
     DS: Tuition is the major source of revenue for the university. Tuition at Alliant is mid-range for private not-for-profit graduate institutions. We do whatever we can to keep tuition stable and are always concerned about making graduate education as affordable as possible. But since our revenues are tuition dependent, when cost increases occur, the university must increase its revenue to meet the rising costs of operation. Tuition revenue is allotted to many different budgets such as our IT infrastructure, maintenance, development, in addition to that directly supporting program faculty and staff.
     AT: What is the state of loans going to be for future years at Alliant? You mentioned that loan companies are consolidating and that it may become more “means-based.” Can you explain what this means and compare it to how loans were determined before? Is there a worry that school loans will decrease?
     DS: According to the Department of Education there is not likely to be a decrease in federal student loans. However according to Alliant’s Director of Financial Aid, the private student loan sector has been increasingly stringent in their loan approval and this may have an effect on students with credit ratings that are less than optimal. “Means-based” grants and loans will remain competitive, as they always have been, and students may need to be better able to accurately demonstrate need.
     AT: Do you have any final recommendations regarding student loans for students at CSPP? Anything else our school is doing to address this issue?  
     DS: We are monitoring the student loan picture closely, and will communicate with students on a regular basis regarding any developments that we think may affect our students.  We are implementing cost-cutting measures in other areas of administration to ensure that we can preserve the quality of programs we offer students.

Let Me Introduce: Dr. Gerald Michaels

By Bridgette Colwell

     Dr. Michaels has been an associate professor in the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Francisco Bay Area campus, for 20 years. He is also the director of the child and family track at the Psychological Services Center, which is a clinic in Oakland that is Alliant-affiliated. Dr. Michaels specializes in parent and child relationships and family development and child assessment. Here at CSPP, he is a professor of psychodiagnostic assessment. He also teaches a research proposal and design course for Psy.D. students and frequently acts as a chair or committee member on students’ dissertations. 
     Before his career at CSPP, Dr. Michaels completed his graduate work at the University of Michigan. He attained a Ph.D. in clinical and developmental psychology. Although it is clear that he is a clinical psychologist, what you may not know is that Dr. Michaels is also a developmental psychologist. He has extensive training in development, with an emphasis on normal children and their developmental processes, Piaget and social development.   
     Currently, Dr. Michaels enjoys teaching, particularly psychodiagnostic assessment, and is working on a new research project through the PSC. The new program focuses on preventative interventions with high school students in charter schools throughout the Bay Area. The goal is to make mental health non-stigmatized and give each student an individualized mental health plan. This project, which takes a wellness and positive psychology approach, is currently underway.

Meet Your Classmates:  Aurora Muñoz

By Kristina Lee

     Meet Aurora Muñoz--a moderated G2 clinical psychology student. Aurora is from the Bay Area and chose to attend the California School of Professional Psychology because of the opportunity to specialize in forensic psychology. Below, she offers some words of wisdom for future G2s. 
     Kristina: What has been the most challenging and what has been the most fun part of this year for you?
     Aurora: Juggling work and school while still staying on top of dissertation work. The best part is learning a lot, although school is demanding, I know I am getting a lot out of it
     K: What about people saying it is impossible to read everything we are assigned? How do you decide what to read?
     A: I think when you come to your second year you learn what is more important to read and not. Readings for the classes that are more intense, like psychodiagnostics and dissertation, will end up becoming your bulk of reading. I think that you end up learning to skim. 
     K: Any advice about managing classes with practicum and work (if you have a job)? 
     A: Find a job that allows for flexibility. If your going to juggle both, I would say go moderated and really make it a point to make time for self-care.
     K: How do you practice self-care?
     A: I've learned to do a lot of self-care. Spa stuff, exercising and allowing myself to take a whole day break from schoolwork when I can.
     K: Lastly, any dissertation advice you wish someone had given you? 
     A: Start talking to faculty right away, rather than waiting for the matching process.

Faculty Interview: Dr. Elena Padrón

By Manny Gonzalez

     As an instructor of Research Proposal Design and Clinical and Ethical Issues, Dr. Elena Padrón is in her second year teaching at Alliant. Having acquired her undergraduate degree in Psychology at UC Berkeley and her joint Clinical and Developmental Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, she eventually returned to her native Venezuela to incorporate what she had developed professionally in a private practice for three years. After embracing her bicultural identity and accomplishing the integration of her professional and personal selves, she returned to California.
     Dr. Padrón chose Alliant due to its multicultural focus and opportunities to work with impressive faculty. Currently, she is working with Dr. Robert-Jay Green on designing an ambitious, nationwide longitudinal research project to study children conceived via surrogacy and raised by Gay fathers. She hopes the study will shed light on our understanding of child development in LGBT families, as well as on the role of father-child relationships in the development of attachment.
     In addition to her research interests, Dr. Padrón established the Latino Professional Development Forum, for students and faculty. The group's focus is to promote a home base on campus for Latinos to develop their professional identities and multicultural clinical competencies, along with providing guidance and social support.
     As a bicultural psychologist, she is the product of two cultures, having the privilege of enrichment from two contextual viewpoints. When asked if she experiences some tension between the two cultures, she indicates that she does, but considers this inherent to being bicultural. She no longer struggles to fit into one cultural context at the exclusion of the other, instead allowing herself to have a more fluid and complex cultural identity.

Meet Your Classmates

Interview by Chastity Harper

Name: William “Bill” Knight
Age: 44
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Current Program: PhD, Organizational Psychology

Undergraduate Institution: University of Houston, Major: Psychology and Sociology, Graduated 1999

Hobbies: Snowboarding, building and selling exotic cars
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? “Besides studying, I spend 5 to 6 days in the gym.”

Why did you choose Alliant? “I wanted a career change; I wanted to do something completely different. I think that keeps you young and alive and I didn’t want to do the same thing for 25 years.”
What do you like about Alliant? “The program is applied.”

What was your career before coming to Alliant? “I worked for an oil company in their aviation department as a pilot.”

Where is your favorite place to visit? “Colorado”

Where is your favorite foreign place to visit? “I’ve been to almost every country except China. I like South Africa, London, Australia, and Moscow.”