CoHeSion - Edith Cowan University

School of Psychology – 10 Years
In March this year, the ECU School of Psychology held a function
on the Joondalup campus to celebrate their 10 year anniversary.
The function was also designed to bid farewell to the first Head
of the School, Associate Professor Lis Pike on her retirement
from ECU and to mark the occasion with a few tributes. All the
staff from the School of Psychology attended, as did several
friends of the school from around the university and a number of
past graduates and former staff members.
Several people spoke at the event. The current Head of School,
Associate Professor Craig Speelman, spoke about some of the
history of the School of Psychology over the last 10 years and
highlighted some of its achievements. Noel Howieson and John
Carroll, former staff members, then provided some reflections
on the school and on Lis. Associate Professor Adrianne Kinnear
spoke about Lis’s time with ECU, particularly prior to the
establishment of the school and finally Dr Julie Ann Pooley also
talked about Lis’s time at the school.
The ECU School of Psychology had a long gestation. The
School had its origins in a number of operations across several
campuses (CH, ML & JO). At one stage it was a Behavioural
stream within CABS (Community & Behaviour Studies), which in
turn fell within CALS (Community & Language Studies). In 1992
the stream became a Department of Psychology and then in
1997, the department became a school.
While these various configurations were evolving, Psychology
moved from being located in Building 4 on the Joondalup
campus for the most part to Building 2 next door. Interestingly,
Building 2 was recently renamed Building 30. To add to the
physical movements, the university has regularly moved the
school from one faculty to another. In the 10 years since its
establishment, the school has been in 3 faculties: HHS or Health
and Human Services, CSESS or Community Studies, Education
and Social Services, and now CHS or Computing Health and
Science. Given that Psychology is indeed a science, the school
is now very happy to be where it belongs.
The ECU School of Psychology was the fourth such school
in Perth. Its courses were accredited with the Australian
Psychological Society in 1993 and have been re‑accredited
three times since. Since 1997 over 1000 graduates have passed
through the school’s doors, most into employment. In fact, many
of its postgraduate students can’t even get out of the school’s
doors before being snapped up into employment!
Ever since the establishment of the school, it has enjoyed a
unique profile amongst the 4 schools of Psychology in Perth.
Two of its postgraduate courses are unlike any other in Perth:
Community Psychology is one of only two such programs in
Australia and Forensic Psychology is one of only eight such
programs in the country. The ECU School of Psychology is the
only school in WA to offer its undergraduate course externally
(and this has recently been converted to an online form of
delivery). The school is also the only School of Psychology
in Australia to operate a clinic that is not on campus and is
located in a CBD.
The School of Psychology has also developed a student support
model that is not only unique amongst the Perth Schools of
Psychology, but also unique amongst most Schools of any
discipline in any university. The RAPTS program, and now its
successor the EQUAL program, involves a number of strategies
such as peer mentoring and learning communities, that are
designed to ease the transition of new students to campus life.
This program won the ECU Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching
and then the AAUT award in 2003.
It is worth noting that all of these unique features had their
origin during the time that Lis Pike was Head of School of
Psychology. Indeed much of the character of the School today
can be traced to Lis’s leadership, despite her tenure ending in
2001.
And Lis’s vision will continue even after she leaves us. She
was instrumental in the establishment of the new Family
Relationships Centre in Joondalup (along with Paul Murphy and
Alan Campbell), an initiative funded by the Federal Government.
Her research work in the Family Court has also resulted in
changes to the way in which families work their way through
separation and custody disputes.
Finally, at only 10 years old, the School has enjoyed a
ground‑breaking childhood and is now ready for a remarkable
adolescence! When Lis became Head, the school was in its
infancy and procedures and curricula had to be implemented
from scratch. Today the school stands as a very strong
competitor in the WA Psychology market, producing graduates
who are in high demand and have an exemplary reputation. As
Lis will tell you, the first 5 years of life are the very important
formative years. These years determine much of how the future
years will unfold and given the strong upbringing that this
school’s mother has provided, the School of Psychology can look
forward to a very bright future.
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