UNDERGRADUATE NEWS
14
BY LEILA TATUM
Dr. Peggy Samples: Psyching you up to your full potential Many people know that Life University offers undergraduate degrees. As a matter of fact, no one seems surprised that there is a Nutrition program, a Biology program, an Athletic Training program or even a Business program. Perhaps the least known program, however, is Psychology. Part of the School of General Education and Transitional Studies, the Psychology program includes degrees in Coaching Psychology, Biopsychology and Life Coaching. Dr. Peggy Samples, head of the General Education Department, helped to create the Psychology program at LIFE. Her plan was to take a holistic, wellrounded approach to psychology. To that end, she designed the program based on the goal of preventing dysfunction. Dr. Samples, who received her B.S. in psychology from the University of South Florida and her M.S. and Ph.D in social psychology from the University of Georgia, believes that good emotional, mental and social health are important factors that help individuals reach their optimal potential. That same philosophy also guides Samples’ direction of the Psychology program itself. There are some exciting changes on the horizon, all intended to help the program realize its optimal potential as a unique, vitalisticbased positive psychology degree. Says Samples, “The Psychology program will grow rapidly as a number of initiatives and changes occur to further our vision, including the implementation of a Master of Arts in Clinical Health Psychology with an emphasis on preventive health and personal well-being. For nontraditional students, we will offer a Life Coaching Certificate, a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an option of a Life Coaching or a Clinical Track, as well as an online Biopsychology degree completion program for practicing chiropractors who want to better prepare themselves for their lives and careers.” The online Biopsychology program is especially great news for many individuals who graduated from chiropractic schools before the last decade, when a Bachelor’s degree was not yet required for licensing. Additional options are also being considered for non-traditional students, such as a mixture of night and online classes for upperclassmen, taken with a cohort. Dr. Peggy Samples
Summer
2011
www.LIFE.edu
The School of Business and Entrepreneurship An articulation agreement for the Bachelor of Business Administration and the Computer Information Management programs between Life University and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) was signed on March 21, 2011. Students attending and completing courses in Business and Computer Information programs at any of the 27 technical colleges across the state may receive articulated credit for those courses toward a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or Computer Information Management at Life University. There are more than one hundred thousand students in the Technical College System. A plan for communicating and marketing the agreement is being developed with Dr. Gary Sullenger, coordinator of articulation for LIFE.
The School of Business and Entrepreneurship kicked off its Speakers Program this past winter quarter. The sessions are held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for all students. Some of the speakers featured so far were Kia Thomas and Brian Allen from Wells Fargo, who presented information on credit and credit scores; Beth Herman, regional manager for Manpower International, who provided an update on the employment situation in Georgia, the importance of networking and how to successfully achieve results; Ty Woods (’10) who shared information on tax credits for students as well as successful strategies for obtaining educational grants and scholarships; Jeff Sheehan on social media; Ronna Woodruff and Christopher Yarbrough, Attorneys at Law, on consumer bankruptcy,