Careers and Internships

CAREERS AND INTERNSHIPS

The Rockford University Psychology program will prepare the student well for graduate training.

Professional careers and opportunities continue to expand for holders of graduate degrees: counseling, health psychology, clinical psychology, industrial psychology, school psychology and more. Students also can choose course work to prepare for graduate programs outside psychology leading to professional specializations in business, social work, law, public health, medicine and education. Many students continue with graduate study in preparation for teaching or research careers.

Many enter career positions in areas such as mental health, educational services, social work and personnel work. Others obtain positions in conventional business or social service settings not directly related to psychology, but in which psychological knowledge and skills may be applied.

Rockford University offers a wide variety of internship opportunities for psychology students including opportunities in substance abuse, foster care, adoption, nursing homes and preschool.

Where Are They Now?

Ericka Allen

Allen is currently working as a Case Manager/Advocate with Shelter Care Ministries.

Tasha Almond-Reiser

Almond-Reiser received her M.S. Ed in educational psychology at Northern Illinois University. While at NIU, she became a member of the Midwest Educational Research Association, in which she is a division chair. She is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of South Dakota. She teaches ecology of human development. As part of this course, she received a grant from the Midwest Consortium for Service Learning in Higher Education to plan a wellness fair for families of Head Start. She will also be teaching assessment in education and research methods. She recently presented a paper entitled, “Children’s kindergarten literacy as a function of childcare, parent involvement and socioeconomic status.”

Shaun Cowman, Ph.D.

Cowman received his M.S. in 2003 and finished his Ph.D. in community psychology. Furthermore, he taught as a full-time visiting faculty member in the psychology department at DePaul University for two years. He is also beginning a program of research in the area of fathers and how community resources are accessed and/or utilized to meet their needs.

Heather Snider

Class of 2003

Snider is completing her master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology at Illinois State University. She is the Enrollment and Retention Analyst at Rockford University and is also an adjunct instructor in the Rockford University Psychology department.

Stacy Tichenor

Class of 2002 (and recipient of the Outstanding Psychology Major Award, given by the department)

Tichenor currently resides in Urbana, Ill., with her husband Scott and son Alexander, where she works full time as a legal assistant for Hatch Law Firm, P.C. In May 2006, she opened Floresco Design Creations, creating decorative framing and gifts for customers throughout the United States.

Therasa Zito

Class of 1997

Zito is currently the an adjunct professor of psychology, teaching child development for Rockford University.