Community for Achievement in Psychological Science (CAPS) is designed to connect psychology students with on-campus resources relevant to helping them complete their degree or pursue a career in psychology. We offer office hours with peer mentors (Senior Fellows) who can answer your questions about topics such as "what is this professor's class like?" to "what is APA format?!"
We also offer a wide range of fun activities and events throughout the semester. We also have a physical space in room Sierra Hall 304 for a space to hangout, charge your device, work on a computer, meet new friends, or see what's new in the psychology department. During Virtual learning, we are serving you via Slack, Zoom and email. Team CAPS hopes to help you find your psychology family!
- Personalized feedback on resumes and Curriculum Vitae (C.V.s)
- Feedback consists of reviewing existing drafts of resume/C.V., providing comments on the draft, and reviewing follow up drafts as needed.
- Feedback does NOT include creating an entire resume/C.V. for a student from scratch. Student should provide a draft that the mentor can provide feedback on
- Explaining/suggesting templates for students to begin resume/C.V.
- Assisting in development stages of C.V./resume by brainstorming with student on relevant experiences/opportunities to include.
- A resume mentor will not write out your resume or tell you exactly what to include. Planning is to be in the form of brainstorming session(s) only.
If you have a draft of your c.v. or resume, please email that draft to
. From there, you can schedule an appointment. This will help a mentor assist you in the best way possible. We also strongly recommend that you check out Dr. Plunkett's
resume template,
c.v. template, and r
ecommendations for creating c.v. and resumes prior to our meeting.
Visit a psychology peer mentor anytime during our open hours Monday Through Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. via Slack , or email
(all times listed). If you've logged onto CAPS' Slack before, then please access our chat space through slack.com or the Slack app.
APPLICATION OPEN FOR SPRING 2023!
Mentoring options for in-person and hybrid (virtual/in-person) available!
See links below to apply.
- Wanting to meet new friends?
- Wanting to help others navigate the psychology major?
- Wanting opportunities to volunteer and help others? Want opportunities for professional development?
- Need elite access to on-campus printing?
- You may be interested in CAPS' fellowship mentoring program!
There are two tiers to the program.
- Join as a freshman, sophomore, 1st semester transfer student, or a Moorpark student to become a "FELLOW". To apply for Spring 2023, please complete the Fellow Interest Form.
- Join as a junior or senior CSUN student to become a "SENIOR FELLOW." You must first check if there is availability to join. Note: You will need a recommendation form from a faculty member, and will enroll in PSY 499 (1unit), B (2 units), or C (3 units). To view further information, and apply for Fall 2022, please fill out the Senior Fellow Interest Form.
- NOTE: ALL students need to save Friday, February 3rd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the training day. Senior Fellows are REQUIRED to attend this to stay enrolled in the program.
- If you're a faculty member that is completing a form of recommendation for a CAPS senior fellow, please fill out our online Faculty Recommendation Form.
If you don't hear back from a representative within a few days after completing the above surveys, please email caps@csun.edu, or elise.fenn@csun.edu to receive further information.
Check out our Instagram @CSUN_CAPS for research opportunities!
Interesting in joining a research lab? Check out our list of full-time faculty here. Click on each faculty's name, read through their bios or click on their websites to get a sense of the type of research they work on and find out if they're accepting students! Some faculty may not have information on their websites or bios about accepting students. Please feel free to email any faculty to get more information! Faculty expect that students reach out, or stop by office hours, to get more information about their research, so please don't hesitate to reach out. Here is a sample email that you might send to a faculty member to see if they're accepting students:
Dear Professor XXXX,
I am a [fresh/soph/junior/senior] psychology major. I recently read your bio(or website), and found your research on XXXX interesting. I especially found XXXX interesting!
I was wondering if you're currently accepting research students into your lab. If so, how may I go about applying?
Thank you for your time,
Your Name
Health and Well Being Resources:
- University Counseling: Many students experience stress and challenges during their university years. University Counseling Services (UCS) provides free and confidential consultations to help students deal with academic stress, relationship problems, family or roommate conflicts, personal growth and crisis events (e.g., divorce, assault) and other mental health issues (e.g., anxiety, depression). Visit UCS in Bayramian Hall 250 or call them at 818-677-2366 or 818-677-7834 (TTY).
- Student Success Allies (no web page available): Students helping students! This is a group of masters in social work students that want to help YOU succeed. The CSBS Student Allies team are MSW Students who provide immediate response to support students in crisis and case management as needed under the direct supervision of a Faculty LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker). In addition to being a near-peer support, the allies can also help those students who need more intensive services connect to off campus programs. For information contact Tiffany Brooks at tiffani.brooks@csun.edu or (818) 677-6460.
- Oasis Center: The Oasis is a welcoming destination where CSUN students can find serenity and relaxation amid the rush and activity of campus life. It offers nutrition counseling, meditation, massages, acupuncture, nap pods and workshops focused on wellness and managing stress — all intended to promote student academic success
Learning Resources:
Financial Resources: At this link you'll find a list of several resources to help with finances, including paying your tuition, living expenses, or financial planning.
DACA Resources
Community for Achievement in Psychological Science
Statement of Support and Action Plan
The Community for Achievement in Psychological Science, in the Psychology Department at California State University Northridge condemns explicitly the racism against and oppression of Black lives in America. We mourn and lament the tragic and unjust loss of so many Black Americans, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmuad Arbery, and Tony McDade. There are no words that can provide appropriate comfort or grief for such tragedies.
We condemn police brutality and condemn the racist systems that protect the police from reprimand of their unjust actions. We acknowledge and condemn that such effects of systemic oppression are exacerbated for people who experience discrimination based on other aspects of their identity, such as sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, gender identity, social class, religion, and immigration status.
As a community, we pledge to listen, learn and act. Our long-term goal is dismantling systemic racism and race-based structural oppression that impacts the lives of some in our community more than others. We will address white privilege and structural oppression within our community and broadly. We will celebrate the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and other underserved groups. We will hold ourselves accountable by monitoring our actions, continuing to have conversations, finding and creating outlets to learn and grow in knowledge, accepting feedback, and listening to the wonderfully diverse voices that comprise the psychology major at CSUN.
Our specific commitment this Fall and Spring is to listen to the voices within our community through hosting coffee and pizza listening hours, and educating ourselves more on anti-racist advocacy. In Summer of 2021, we will reflect on what we learned and create next steps. We implore that the CSUN and Psychology community holds us accountable to these steps.
We believe that psychological science is one tool that can support dismantling systemic racism and oppression. We commit to pursuing social justice reform and addressing systemic racism through psychological science and creating more support for students to join us.
Black lives matter.
In Solidarity,
The Community for Achievement in Psychological Science
