SPARTANBURG, S.C. (courtesy smcsc.edu) — Spartanburg Methodist College’s faculty voted in January to make psychology the fifth concentration available for students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree at the school.
Psychology joins business, English, history and religion as subjects that students can study to earn a four-year degree from SMC. Students concentrate on two of those subjects while also taking required courses in SMC’s professional development portion of its bachelor’s degree curriculum. Those courses, known as the Camak Core, help students learn soft skills that will help them adapt and thrive in the workplace and in life.
“It’s important that we continue to evolve our programs to best serve students,” said Mark Gibbs, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “Psychology is a popular field of study for our students, and those pursuing a four-year degree will get to combine what they learn in the classroom with the valuable skills that can be gained through SMC’s Camak Core.”
Last February, federal regulators approved SMC as an institution to award bachelor’s degrees. The 109-year-old school’s first junior class enrolled in the fall of 2019, and the college will celebrate its first class of four-year graduates in the spring of 2021.
“Psychology has been part of SMC since the school’s beginning,” said Mary Jane Farmer, a SMC psychology professor and chairperson of the division of social science. “A degree in psychology can be applied to many professions. I am grateful for the strong support the faculty extended in favor of making SMC’s psychology program a four-year concentration.”
Over the years, SMC’s psychology graduates have pursued careers in clinical psychology, educational psychology, counseling, medicine, psychiatry, law enforcement, education, nursing, business and management. SMC students concentrating on psychology have the opportunity to receive problem-solving and interpersonal skills through the Camak Core to make them better prepared and well-rounded professionals.
Visit the SMC bachelor’s degree information page for more information.