In any program, there may be times in which a student and a primary mentor (academic or research) have a disagreement. Should this arise, students have several options available for them to resolve any issue.
A. If a student feels unable or disinclined to discuss an issue directly with their mentor, the PSI program director is the designated person to liaison between any student/faculty mentor pair. Students should feel free to discuss any issues with the program director. If the program director is also the mentor/advisor/faculty with whom the student is having difficulty, the PSI admissions chair becomes the designated person for this student. The PSI program director and admissions chair will never be the same person in a given year.
B. Students may also speak with their PSI student representatives. The role of the student representative is to liaise between students and the faculty. Student reps meet regularly with the program director and can communicate more general concerns about faculty or the program anonymously to the director.
C. Students may also raise their concerns with the Applied Psychology Department Doctoral Student Advocate. The Doctoral Student Advocate is a faculty member appointed to address the needs of doctoral students department-wide and who can advocate anonymously on your behalf and help you work with the department, school, and university to address your needs. The current Doctoral Student Advocate is Shabnam Javdani (updated January 2025); please feel free to reach out to her via email with any questions or concerns (shabnam.javdani@nyu.edu).
D. Finally, students should always feel free to contact the Applied Psychology Department Chair to resolve these issues at any time.