The director of Mississippi State's clinical psychology program is a newly appointed member of a national accrediting association.
Professor Charles L. Spirrison is among seven serving on the Master's in Psychology Accreditation Council. He and his colleagues help evaluate academic programs for adherence to standards that include university faculty credentials, program resources, curriculum, and science-based training, among others.
The Norman, Okla.-based council is the only national organization that certifies applied graduate-level programs in the field. Council members represent academic institutions and clinical psychology programs, as well as the general public.
Mississippi State currently offers the state's only master's-level academic program with MPAC accreditation.
Spirrison, a member of the MSU faculty since 1989, also serves on the executive committee of the Council of Applied Master's Programs in Psychology. Among other national honors, he is a fellow of the Society for Personality Assessment and a consulting editor for the Journal of Personality Assessment.
Before coming to Starkville, he served in Magee as chief of psychology services at the Boswell Regional Center, a major unit of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
Spirrison holds a bachelor's degree from North Texas State University, and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi.
