Department of Psychology and Special Education

Dr. Winston McCowan (’01, ’08) will now represent ESC Region 11, vying for Texas Principal of the Year.

This spring, Texas A&M University-Commerce embarked on the second semester of its transformative Investing in Us employee development program, which has met with high praise from faculty and staff across the university. The innovative program features eight-week courses designed to help employees learn, grow and thrive in their careers. According to Dr. Carrie Klypchak, senior […]

“Furscience,” a book co-edited by A&M-Commerce faculty Dr. Stephen Reysen, has been selected for the 2023 Ursa Major Award for “Best Non-Fiction Work.” Reysen is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Special Education at A&M-Commerce. One area of his research is fanship and fandom, including fans of anthropomorphic art and stories, known […]

A&M-Commerce faculty Dr. Belinda Rudinger has been selected to participate in a two-day training on the Monarch, a revolutionary new braille device. The Monarch is the first braille device to offer more than one line of braille at a time as tactile graphics, or pictures made from raised lines. After completing the training, Rudinger will […]

A&M-Commerce alum Dr. Shonda Gibson has been promoted to the role of senior associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and chief transformation officer for The Texas A&M University System. As chief transformation officer for the A&M System, Gibson’s mission is to explore and ask pertinent questions, create networks and partnerships for change and continuous improvement, […]

A&M-Commerce doctoral student Bailey Ayers is helping to shape the future of education with her recently published research in the Sage Research Methods Cases publication. The case study highlights Ayers’s thesis project on the effectiveness of different learning strategies in online educational settings. Conducted over two sessions, the study examined how participants retained information from […]

A&M-Commerce faculty Dr. Beth Jones was recently elected president-elect for the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division of Visual Impairment and Deafblindness (DVIDB). She will serve two years as president-elect, two years as president, and two years as past president. DVIDB’s mission is to improve the lives of children, students and consumers with visual impairments and/or […]

The Texas Counseling Association recently honored A&M-Commerce alum Dr. Staussa Ervin (’98, ’05) as the recipient of its 2023 Molly Gerold Human Rights Award, which recognizes contributions in one or more areas of human rights. Ervin’s background advocating for human rights includes her role as president of the North Central Texas Counseling Association and three […]

A&M-Commerce alumni Dr. Amanda Stevens accepted a position as assistant professor of psychology at Tarleton State University. Stevens began her position this fall semester. Stevens earned three psychology degrees from A&M-Commerce. She completed her bachelor’s with honors in 2011, her master’s in 2019 and successfully defended her dissertation to receive her doctorate in 2022. At […]

A&M-Commerce alum Dr. Tom Faulkenberry is tapped to chair the finance committee for the Psychonomic Society, an international scientific organization comprised of over 4,500 scientists and psychologists. Faulkenberry holds a bachelor’s from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree from Oklahoma State University, both in mathematics. He received his doctorate in psychology from A&M-Commerce […]