A version of this story first appeared in the 2025 issue of Method Magazine, a publication of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Arts and Sciences.
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For 20 years, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Psychology has hosted the River Cities Industrial-Organizational Psychology Conference (RCIO), where people across the country come to learn about I-O psychology and opportunities available to those who decide to pursue human resources and other related fields.
I-O psychology is made up of industrial psychology, which works primarily on matching people to jobs they may be good at, and organizational psychology, which helps to determine how a workplace impacts its employees.
“This degree is used in every industry all over the world,” said Guerry Professor and UC Foundation Professor Chris Cunningham, the director of UTC’s graduate I-O psychology program. “This particular career path also happens to be high demand, high paying, high pressure and you have to work hard, but the needs are there.”
With I-O psychology being one of the two graduate psychology programs offered at UTC, the RCIO serves as a recruitment tool. Students who come get to connect directly with the department and the opportunities for I-O careers in the Chattanooga area.
“It’s a way for us to highlight UTC,” Cunningham said. “It’s a way for our students to realize that this is kind of a big deal.”
The conference, he said, gives students the chance to immerse themselves in the field beyond what they can learn in the classroom.
“There are certain topics in our field that are too big and too multifaceted to cover in any one class,” Cunningham explained. “By hosting a conference every year, we get to take a theme that’s current and usually complicated—and we get to bring together a set of presenters who are all working on things that are somehow related to that theme.”
In 2024, the conference’s theme was “Employee Value Propositions,” focusing on how employers can best support their employees. Chosen for its relevance in today’s world, the theme allowed attendees to explore an avenue of I-O psychology that has limited research.
“We’re always trying to find something current,” Cunningham said, “but also something that has a practitioner value, something that we think will allow these students to be better practitioners.”
The conference typically attracts around 150 attendees, mainly consisting of students. Over the course of two days, the I-O psychology program holds an open session for undergraduate students to learn about things they can do with a psychology degree and how to get into graduate school. Graduate students can hear from professionals in the field and discover ways to find jobs after graduation.
As part of the conference, registrants may present their research and receive feedback from professionals and other researchers in the field—allowing students to gain hands-on learning experience while making meaningful connections.
“People are trying to learn, so nobody’s trying to show how smart they are or how badly they can poke holes in your research—just how to help you complete the research that you’re undertaking,” said Associate Professor and Department Head Brian O’Leary.
As leaders of the I-O psychology program at UTC, O’Leary and Cunningham find attending conferences to be an important learning opportunity for students. Often, they hear from students after the RCIO conference that they knew more than they thought they did.
“A lot of times our students will come back and say, ‘We made the right choice coming to UTC,’” Cunningham said.
Northern Kentucky University initially hosted the RCIO conference, but O’Leary and Cunningham were happy to bring it to Chattanooga when the opportunity presented itself.
“It’s a nice, inviting atmosphere, and lots of knowledge and research is being shared,” O’Leary said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s just fun for everybody who comes.”
As they prepare for the 50th anniversary of the I-O program this fall, they aim to showcase UTC as a top school for future I-O psychologists.
“We’re not doing clinical or counseling work,” Cunningham said. “We’re helping organizations function better—but we’re doing that in a way that also is protecting and promoting health, safety and well-being in the employees.”
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River Cities Industrial-Organizational Psychology Conference
