Northcentral University

This past year has been a very successful one for the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. We grew in the total number of both full-time and adjunct faculty, significantly increased the number of students we serve, and expanded and improved our academic programs. Here is just a small sampling of the great accomplishments we achieved within our school. • Nine additional full-time positions were added: six full-time faculty teaching Dissertation and Research Courses in PSY, one Foundation Faculty to teach in the new Forensic Psychology program, and two additional full-time faculty in MFS. • The Psychology Department was awarded approval by the Department of Education (DOE) to launch a new MS in Forensic Psychology. Many thanks to Dr. Bettina Shapira, Psychology Department Chair, for her work with Program Advisory Committee (PAC) members, faculty, and curriculum staff to launch this new program, which started December 2016. • In October, we completed the MAMFT COAMFTE self-study, to renew our program accreditation for another six years. We hope to hear in January if we are approved to move forward with a site visit in the spring. I'm grateful for the hard work of Dr. Lisa Kelledy, MAMFT Program Director, for successfully leading us through this process. • After two long years of working with the state of North Carolina, we were approved to offer our MFT program in that state. • We secured significant partnerships with the two largest MFT organizations in the U.S. by entering into an affiliation agreement with American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT). These strategic partnerships will considerably increase the exposure of NCU's MFT programs to the MFT professionals within the United States. • In 2016, we began converting specific courses in our doctoral degrees in both the PSY and MFS departments from a 12-week to an 8-week format. • Many of our faculty worked on committees throughout the year to create a new Doctoral Student Experience to increase our support of students successfully completing the dissertation process. The first phase of this new doctoral experience was launched in October. • MFS worked with marketing to create the first ever MFT Clinical Viewbook that assists students and site supervisors with clinical and placement training questions. • In 2017, all programs will move to our new learning management system (LMS) called NCUOne. In November, the first group of SSBS faculty - the Forensic Psychology faculty - trained on this new platform and began teaching in this new virtual classroom in December. • On the next page is a chart showing the school's growth over the last three years: James Billings | Dean, SSBS

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