Who Can Join or Start a Psychology Student Committee?

Any pre-psychology or psychology major is welcome to join an existing student committee or start a new one.

The Psychology Department is large, and while all students are invited to participate in the Psi Chi / Psychology Club, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to find a smaller community. To help with this, the club has adopted a committee model—a structure designed to support both leadership development and flexible participation.

Leadership and Participation

• Committee leaders are students who want to take on a leadership role and guide the vision, planning, and execution of activities for their committee.

• Committee members are students who wish to stay involved without committing to a leadership position or large time investment.

Both leaders and members contribute meaningfully to the club's work, and all are encouraged to find a role that fits their interests and availability.

How Committees Work

• Committee leaders will stay in contact with the club’s faculty advisor: Dr. Wright (for the Interdisciplinary Psychology Committee), Dr. Isom (for the Kindness and Gratitude Committee), and Dr. Bakhtiari (for all other committees).

• Leaders, with input from their members, will define their committee’s mission, vision, and activity goals each semester.

• Committees may vary in activity from semester to semester—it depends on the level of interest and engagement from leaders and members.

Although committees operate independently, they remain part of the broader Psi Chi / Psychology Club structure:

• The officer team, including the president and treasurer, must approve any fundraising or spending proposals.

• The social media coordinator and officer team must be kept informed about all committee-planned activities to maintain cohesion and communication across the club.

Kindness and Gratitude Committee

Mission: To be added.

Activities during Fall 2025:

• Committee formation

• Advertised and participated in Psych Good Deed Day (Oct 8)

• Resource exploration: https://www.randomactsofkindness.org 

• Participation/collaboration with the book club committee 

  • The Biology of Kindness

  • The Rabbit Effect

• Gratitude Wall – Physical and virtual space for community appreciation

Plans for Spring 2026: To be determined.

Committee Faculty Advisor: 

Jennifer Isom Schmidtke, Ph.D. 

Email: jenisom@mail.fresnostate.edu 

Communication Committee

Mission: The Communication Committee supports the club’s outreach and visibility by managing social media, developing digital content, and helping maintain the club website to keep students informed and engaged.

Past activities during Fall 2025:

• Committee formation.

• Exploring Canvas and Google Sites as forms of communication beyond social media.

• Explored Perplexity.ai as a potential platform for communication.

• Student-led activity grant submission to enhance communication.

Committee Initiatives and Leads (Current in Spring 2026)

• Graduate School Preparation Resource Page
  Development of a centralized resource page focused on preparing students for graduate study.
  Lead: Chase
  Support: Grecia and Baleria

• Social Skills and Networking Resources
  Development and communication of resources available to students focused on social skills and networking.
  Lead: Brenda

• Money Management Resources
  Development and communication of financial literacy and money management resources for students.
  Lead: Seng

• Research Opportunities Page
  Creation of a resource page highlighting research laboratories, internships, and funding or grant opportunities.
  Lead: Ariana

• K–12 Outreach Plan
  Development of a structured outreach plan to visit middle schools and high schools to discuss the value of higher education, skills to cultivate during K–12 education, and opportunities available in college beyond coursework (e.g., athletics, leadership, social development).
  Potential Lead: Ana

Committee Faculty Advisor: 

Michael Botwin, Ph.D. 

Email: mikeb@csufresno.edu 

Graduate School Preparation Committee

Mission: The Graduate School Preparation Committee supports psychology students in exploring, preparing for, and navigating the graduate school application process by providing accurate information, structured guidance, and opportunities to learn directly from faculty, graduate programs, and experienced mentors. The committee aims to increase transparency, accessibility, and confidence for students considering graduate education.

Activities during Fall 2025:

• Updated the graduate information document with deadlines and details about ongoing information sessions for psychology-related graduate programs at Fresno State.

• Hosted a graduate school information panel featuring representatives from the following Fresno State programs: General Experimental Psychology Program; Applied Behavior Analysis Program; Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling Program; Clinical Rehabilitation Program.

• Hosted a talk on “How to Get into Grad School” by Dr. Mike Botwin (the club’s emeritus faculty advisor).

Plans for Spring 2026: 

• Collaboration with the communication committee in the development and dissemination of resources.

• Setup a meeting with professor Botwin to add information missing on the website 

• Some sort of zoom meeting with Professor Botwin for student resources 

• A graduate panel for students to ask grad students questions about the programs. 

• Network the website with social media. 

• Put up posters for the committees/ website in the science II building. 

• Get more members on the committee board. 

Interdisciplinary Psychology Committee

Mission: To spread awareness of and initiate academic discussion on the interdisciplinary reach of psychology and its principles. We aim to have professionals in diverse disciplines and careers come in and conduct a talk on how psychological principles are effectively utilized in their respective fields. In addition, there will be Q&As and discussion groups for the club members so we can assimilate the concepts taught during the lecture. This, we hope, will not only inform psychology majors on the reach of psychology as a science into other fields, but also give them even more options than they already have in their future career paths. 

Plans for Spring 2026: We plan to have three to six talks. Following them will be discussion sessions either on the same day or later in that same month, depending on students' schedules. 

Pre-med Psychology Students Committee (Spring 2026)

Mission: To develop a space where pre-med psychology students can connect and learn about the available resources.

Plans for Spring 2026: Developing a communication platform and organizing a talk by Devin Davis (Medical Student at the University of Texas Medical Branch).

How to join a student committee

To join any of the committees, please contact one of the leaders (their contact information is listed below). Notice that there are multiple sheets in the Google Sheet below, and some are still work-in-progress since new members can get added. The committee membership process is up to each committee's leadership team.