Radford University students have unique opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world situations, gaining hands-on experience that can be leveraged after graduation. Last year, an exciting new opportunity of this nature was established for students in the Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology master’s degree program.

Corning Incorporated, one of the world's leading innovators in materials science, partnered with Radford to establish the Corning Incorporated Fellowship Assistantship. This fellowship provides students with the opportunity to gain knowledge about industry standards and practices for developing internal training materials and policies related to organizational culture and employee engagement, including the implementation of surveys, designing reporting dashboards, and interpretation and analysis of survey data. It also provides the university the ability to award the recipient with financial support.

The idea for the fellowship came from Corning’s culture & talent insight manager, Beth Shipman, an alumna of the I/O psychology program at Radford.

“As a materials science organization focused on R&D and life-changing innovation, Corning has many different types of partnerships with universities. This I/O psychology fellowship with Radford is a new frontier in the HR function,” explained Shipman. “The benefit is mutual. Corning gains fresh perspectives and ongoing support, and the student deepens their skills and grows through regular one-on-one development meetings and real-world experiences over the course of a year.”

Shipman worked with professor and program coordinator Dr. Jay Caughron to make this idea come to life. In his thirteenth year at Radford, Caughron understands the positive impact this type of opportunity can have on his students.

“I think a fellowship of this nature is really important. There is the financial support component, which is life-changing for many students, but there is also the ability for them to build their resumes and develop stories so that when they apply for jobs, people will understand that they haven’t just been doing academic work in a classroom setting; they have been out in the working world interfacing with real businesses and dealing with the challenging problems that organizations face,” said Caughron.

I/O psychology is the application of basic psychological principles to the workplace. It aims to improve the effectiveness of organizations and the quality of work life for employees. The I/O psychology program at Radford offers a two-year master’s degree using a “practitioner-scholar model” that trains graduate students to attain employment in a variety of internal and external consulting roles. The program currently celebrates 100% job placement.