The Psychology Club and Psi Chi are organizations for students who want to become more involved with the Department of Psychological Science and with the field of psychology in general. The organizations offer a mix of educational, service, and social activities to enhance the academic experience of the psychology student.
The Psychology Club is open to anyone with an interest in psychology. Students from all levels (freshmen through grad students) and all majors are welcome. Students who meet certain grade and course requirements may want, additionally, to join Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. At NKU, the two organizations do most activities together.
Psychology Club and Psi Chi usually meet every other Wednesday at noon. Typically, meetings feature a guest speaker or panel talking about a topic in psychology, about volunteer or career opportunities, or about graduate programs. Recent speakers have discussed school shooters, college students and binge drinking, sexual assault, the neuroscience of politics, studying psychology abroad, research positions at Children's Hospital, and what it's like to be a therapist, among other things.
In addition to holding meetings, Psychology Club and Psi Chi engage in both department and community service. Department service might include staffing psychology booths at university events or registering attendees at a department-sponsored conference or alumni gathering. Past community service activities have included preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for disadvantaged children, collection at Christmas for a charitable organization, helping judge psychology entries in a science fair, helping with a depression screening, and taking part in NKU's Service on Saturday. Psychology Club and Psi Chi have occasional social activities as well, such as a fall picnic, a Halloween party, Cosmic Bowling, and cornhole tournaments.
Psi Chi, internationally, has an overall mission of "encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology." In keeping with this mission, many NKU Psi Chi members are involved with research, and they present their findings at local, regional, and national conferences. At some conferences, there are paper and poster sessions designated specifically for Psi Chi members.
Students may join the Psychology Club at any time. Applications may be turned in to the faculty advisor or to an officer. Dues for Psychology Club are $7.00 a semester, or $12.00 for two semesters.
Psychology Club Application (pdf)
Students are inducted into Psi Chi twice a year. To be inducted, students must have completed at least 15 hours* of psychology at NKU, must be at least a second-semester sophomore, must be a major or minor in psychology, must have an overall GPA in the top 35% of their class (junior, senior, etc.), and must have a psychology GPA of at least 3.2**. Early in the fall and spring semesters, majors and minors who meet the requirements may apply online.
Joining requires paying a one-time $55 fee to the international Psi Chi organization and attending an induction ceremony, which is usually held on a Sunday afternoon in the last half of the semester.
*Students may be inducted who have completed only 12 hours of psychology at NKU if they have a psych G.P.A. of at least 3.5.
**STA 205, Statistics, is included in the calculations.
Dr. Doug Krull
Chapter Co-Advisor
Office: MEP 353
Phone: (859) 572-6653
Email: krull@nku.edu
Dr. Eli White
Chapter Co-Advisor
Office: MEP 315
Phone: (859) 572-5478
Email: whitee9@nku.edu
