The Oklahoma State University clinical psychology program was recently recognized as the nation’s leading producer of American Indian Ph.D. graduates in the field of psychology by newsmagazine, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.
OSU’s American Indians Into Psychology (AIIP) program is a central reason for the department's success. The AIIP program, in its 17th year, seeks to recruit qualified American Indian students into the field of clinical psychology.
Dr. John Chaney, director of the AIIP program and Regents Professor of psychology at OSU, explains how the program, which is funded through grants from Indian Health Services (IHS), affords American Indian students unique educational opportunities through not only scholarships, but perhaps more importantly, a sense of community.
When Chaney received his doctorate in clinical psychology in 1991, there were only 11 American Indian Ph.D. students across all psychology disciplines in the entire country. Last year, there were only 10.
“We are still the most underrepresented group when it comes to getting Ph.Ds, but our program has produced 20 or 21 since 1997.” Chaney said. “I think the numbers would be far less without the IHS funded AIIP program.”
The OSU clinical psychology program accepts eight Ph.D. students each year, and American Indian students, on average, usually end up filling one to two of those slots. There are no slots reserved for American Indian students, however, as all applicants are evaluated solely by their qualifications.
Through recruitment and “a lot of time on the road”, Chaney, his assistant, and his graduate students are able to bring interested and qualified American Indian students to OSU’s psychology program, and that is why the OSU psychology program has such successful acceptance and graduation rates when it comes to American Indian students. Some students have come from as far as Wyoming and Washington. Approximately 37 tribes have been represented in the AIIP program over the past 17 years.
The sense of community the AIIP program offers American Indian students easily carries over into the clinical psychology program as a whole. AIIP has become such an integral part of the program’s identity that the office has become a "hub" for all psychology students, even if they are not American Indian. With a recent IHS grant totalling $1.2 million over the next five years, the AIIP program will continue to help students for years to come.