Crista Crittenden, PhD, MPH, MSW

Senior Academic Advisor, Psychology

Bio

Pronouns: she/her

Office Location: Baker Hall 342A
To schedule a meeting: https://go.oncehub.com/CristaCrittenden

Crista advises students interested in clinical psychology and BS/BA Psychology majors.

How long have you been at CMU and how did you get here? What (if any) other roles have you had at CMU? What did you do before coming to CMU?

I moved to Pittsburgh (from Rochester, NY) in 2008 to start the PhD program in psychology at CMU. Once I earned my PhD, I moved to Qatar and was an assistant teaching professor at CMU-Q. After that I taught at Penn State and also earned my MSW at Pitt. Now I am very happy to be back at CMU as an academic advisor and instructor.

What was your undergraduate major? How did you end up deciding on it?

My major was in Brain and Cognitive Science. But that was after changing my major twice! As a first-generation student (which wasn’t even a term back then), I had no idea what I was doing in undergrad. I had to clue who I could reach out to for advice, or even what questions to ask. As they say, you don’t know what you don’t know. However, now I know to ask anything. There are no stupid questions – as long as it gets a conversation started!

What is a recommendation for a fun thing you like doing in Pittsburgh?

My husband and I love exploring Pittsburgh and Western PA on our bikes via the many Rails to Trails in the area. These are great bike trails that are built from old railroad tracks – so they are not too difficult, and they provide tons of nature and history. The nearest one to campus is the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.