Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Jimmy D. McCamey Jr.
Interim Chair
Phone: (478) 825-6800
Fax: (478) 825-6161
Email: mccameyj@fvsu.edu
Cheri Troutman
Phone: 478-825-6232
Fax: (478) 825-6233
Email: troutmanc@fvsu.edu
Our department includes classes and majors in Psychology, Social Work and Sociology. For graduate students, we offer master’s degrees in Mental Health Counseling and Rehabilitation Counseling and Case Management. Our undergraduate faculty offices are housed in the Horace Mann Bond building, but we live inside the minds and hearts of our students as we work to facilitate learning about human behavior from the intellectual, emotional, and social perspectives. Our majors are often students who are interested in making a difference in individual lives, families and society. We also attract students who want to do research on human behavior, mental health issues or why societal problems exist.
Our faculty areas of expertise include child psychology, adolescent aggression, counseling skills, social research methods, violence intervention and behavior change. Students engage with professors in and outside the classroom. We believe learning is a full time process that includes class room learning, service learning, and engagement with other learners. To this end we encourage students through class projects, departmental programs, and discipline specific clubs (e.g. Psychology Club) to provide service in the local community. We encourage participation in professional conferences as both attendees and presenters. We invite our students to compete annually with other students through scholarly papers and research on behavioral science issues at the Banks-Pierro-Rutland- Bellamy (BPRB) Behavioral and Social Science Colloquium.
Graduates from the major degree programs have found employment in a variety of work settings including county Department of Family and Children Services, area Mental Health Centers, School Systems, and juvenile justice programs. Other graduates have entered programs for graduate study and hold masters and doctorate degrees in Social Work, Psychology, Sociology or related fields.
Our learning community is strengthened by the fact that while we have a large number of majors, we are a relatively small program that can provide individualized attention and support during your tenure at our university. We appreciate your interest and time exploring our program online, and we hope that you will visit us, find something you like and stay for a while.
The Behavioral Sciences Department is composed of three programs, Psychology, Social Work, and Sociology. The Psychology program provides quality instruction to prepare students to pursue careers in psychology and psychology-related fields. An introductory course is provided across the curriculum to most majors as a core elective for the social sciences. The Social Work curriculum is designed to prepare students for professional careers in social services, including preparation for immediate employment and graduate study. The curriculum utilizes class and field instruction to develop and strengthen the attitudes, values, skills and knowledge essential for helping to alleviate problems that impair the social functioning of individuals, groups and communities. The Sociology program provides curricula that serves as a support to behavioral and social science majors; core courses are provided to most majors that are introductory and focus on man in society and cultural diversity. The sociology major is exposed to curricula that provide a foundation for undergraduates who want to pursue careers in sociological research and teaching sociology in higher education.
