Hello! I am glad to see your interest in my research lab at WVU. I will be accepting a student for Fall 2026.

To Contact Dr. Roley-Roberts or Not to Contact Dr. Roley-Roberts…

Although, I am sure you have gotten the advice to email all faculty with whom you plan to apply for graduate school, reaching out to me will not improve your chances of matching with me. I am happy to answer specific questions you have about my mentoring style, research or the lab that you cannot learn from the WVU Website, my personal website, or from reading my papers.

FAQ

• If interested in applying to the PhD program in Clinical Psychology at WVU under my mentorship, please include a sentence in your personal statement with my name that clearly articulates why your research interests, mentee needs, and career goals are a good fit for my mentorship and research program.
• As a pre-tenure faculty, I am primarily looking for graduate students who have done some serious soul searching, have research experience (including presentations and/or publications), and are truly passionate about contributing knowledge to the field via research.
• I will be looking for a student who compliments the research my graduate students are doing. I am particularly looking for a student who is passionate and curious about cognitive and developmental impact of in utero exposure to substances and early childhood traumatic event exposure, neurofeedback or biofeedback intervention research, and Appalachian culture measurement validation research as they relate to cultural factors linking childhood traumatic stress and suicide risk in adolescence.
• While some of my research is with adult populations, the primary focus of my lab is with children and adolescents. If you are adult or geriatric focused, my lab would not be a good fit for you.

How to Apply and Tips for your Application

• Applications to WVU are reviewed once a year after December 1st (the deadline to apply). For instructions and information on applying see here: https://psychology.wvu.edu/graduate-students/application-process
• International applicants should aim to submit their application materials by November 15th to ensure that all of your application materials get through the various channels by the December 1st deadline when the Department of Psychology receives completed applications from the College of Arts and Sciences.
• WVU follows a mentorship model where students generally apply to work with a specific mentor or mentors whose research programs and mentoring styles closely align with the student’s interests and mentoring needs.
• The top applicants are typically invited to interview in early winter. No news generally indicates that you are a strong candidate who is still being considered for admission. WVU follows the April 15th admissions decisions timeline where all offered positions must either be accepted or declined by then.
• Decisions for admission are generally based on a prospective student’s fit for the mentor and their research program, the prospective student’s overall fit to the WVU clinical psychology PhD program, and funding availability.
• Most students are funded on a Teaching Assistantship unless the faculty mentor has research grants or [in the case of early career faculty] start-up funds that support a Research Assistantship. WVU also offers research fellowships that many of our graduate students have been competitive for. The research fellowships work like a Research Assistantship where you are expected to be dedicating time to doing research in your mentor’s lab that builds your own program of research. Having a TA position generally means that you are teaching your own section of an undergraduate class while also taking your full graduate course load, seeing clients in the Quin Curtis Center, working on lab research projects, and working toward your master’s thesis.

Prospective International Applicants

Prospective International applicants should try to stay aware of ongoing US national policy changes that impact whether and in what contexts prospective international students should apply. Please note that I do not endorse these policies and only share the information with you so help you stay informed. I will try to keep my website updated as best I can, but know that sometimes the policies change quicker than I can update my website. Here are two US federal policies to be aware of as they may impact your decision to apply to graduate programs in the US, including at West Virginia University. I know that the graduate application process is a stressful time for prospective applicants and that these added stressors can feel overwhelming. Please take care of yourself during this time and make sure to consult your trusted mentors to help you navigate the terrain.

1. On September 19, 2025, the Presidential Proclamation was published (found here and clarified here) imposing restrictions on new H1B visas (not H1B renewals or current H1-B visa holders). Specifically, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, September 21, 2025, H1B applicants outside the U.S. cannot enter or return in H1B status unless their petition is accompanied by a one-time $100,000 payment; this restriction is set to last 12 months, subject to national-interest exceptions. The clarification noted that the Proclamation does not affect the ability of current H1B holders to leave and re-enter the country as usual. Please take extra care when travelling in and out of the US during this time given the unpredictable nature of ongoing policy changes.
   
2. Please keep the proposed US federal rule in your perview. This rule on Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media, DHS Docket No. ICEB-2025-0001) proposes to impose duration limits to F, J, and most I visas. You can find more details about the proposed rule change here. As this has the potential to impact international individuals in undergraduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs, I recommend you understand the proposed rule change and the impact on your plans or training program. This is not currently a rule, but is moving through the federal channels so is something that prospective applicants should pay close attention to.