Minutes Division 3 Executive Committee Meeting

Friday, August, 11, 2006

06:00 p.m. New Orleans Marriott Hotel

Audubon Room 5th Floor

Present: Tom Zentall (President), Howard Egeth (President-Elect), Anne Cleary, Veronica Dark, Edward Wasserman, Marvin Lamb (Program Chair), Rebecca Singer (Graduate Student Representative), Angelo Santi (Secretary-Treasurer) Guests: Steven Breckler (Executive Director for Science) Sangy Panicker (Director, Research Ethics Office), Suzanne S. Wandersman (Director for Governance Affairs).

1. President’s Announcements: Zentall reported the results of the Division 3 Election and the appointment of Committee Chairs

Election. The President-Elect is Edward Wasserman (2006-2007). Members-At-Large on the Executive committee: Gilles Einstein (2006-2009) and Karen Hollis (2006-2009). Division Representative to APA Council: Thomas Zentall (2007-2009).

Committee Chair Appointments. Program Committee Chair: Ann Cleary (2006-2007); Fellow Chair: Linda Parker (2006-2007) and Cathleen Moore (2007-2008); Awards Chair: Irv Biederman (2006-2007).

2. Visit from the APA Science Directorate: Steven Breckler, Executive Director for Science, Sangy Panicker Director, Research Ethics Office, Suzanne S. Wandersman, Director for Governance Affairs joined the meeting.

1. Discussion of APAs efforts to prevent and to respond to attacks on social and behavioral research funding

2. Need for APA to monitor student memberships and encourage mentoring of students and joining APA

3. Facilitating early career membership in APA by bundling membership with conference registration discounts

4. Room assignment and scheduling concerns regarding the New Orleans convention

5. A task force is examining ways to make the convention more appealing for scientists.

6. Efforts to address the IRB problem encountered by researchers

3. Secretary-Treasurer’s Report: Membership and Finances

1. Membership. The following table summarizes the membership in Division 3 for the past 6 years. The number of dues paying Members has declined by about 33% since 2001, but the number of dues paying Fellows has increased by about 44% since 2001. Overall, as noted in the reports by previous Secretary-Treasurers, there has been a small decrease in the total number of dues paying members over the 6 years. Since 2001, the overall number of dues paying members has declined by 7%. On the other hand, the number of Dues Exempt Members has increased by about 6%. Consequently, the total membership in Division 3 is about the same as it was in 2002.  

The number of student affiliate members, based on available annual reports, is shown in the following table. Although it appears that there has been a significant drop in the number of student affiliates, the number for 2006 only includes the student affiliates that have joined since 1999. The number of student affiliates would be 195 if those added since 1998 were included. It isn’t clear what criteria were used in reporting numbers for the previous years.

Between December 2005 and July 2006 expressions of interest in joining Division 3 were received from a total of 31 APA Members and 79 APA Affiliates. Application forms were sent out to all of these individuals. During the same period, applications were received from 11 new members and 9 new student affiliates. All of these applicants were accepted into the Division.

2. Finances. The following table summarizes the financial data from December 2002 to May 2006. Overall, the net assets increased by about $6000 from 2002 to 2005. Much of this increase occurred because the Division now produces an electronic copy of the newsletter.

A number of expenses have yet to be deducted for 2006. The following table shows that the estimated total expenses for 2006 will be approximately $6222.00. This amount may be slightly greater than our net income for 2006. Consequently, there may be a modest decrease in our Net Assets for Dec 2006 compared to Dec 2005. It should be noted that the $1500 expense for Invited Symposium Speakers at the New Orleans convention was an unplanned expense that resulted when the application for a CODAPAR grant was not successful.

3. In response to the report, there was discussion of concerns regarding the accuracy of APA’s tracking of Fellows of the division. There was also discussion of how to increase the number of new members. For example, APA could be encouraged to sponsor a display booth at other major conferences and advertise the value added by membership in APA.

4. In reviewing the finances, there was discussion of the possibility of using Division 3’s surplus funds to attract additional members.

4. APA Council Report

   1. Tom informed the committee that Manny Donchin had to leave New Orleans prior to the Executive Committee meeting. Mary-Lou Cheal has agreed to attend the Sunday meeting of COR in his place as the Division 3 Representative

5. Division 3 Convention Program Discussion

   1. Marvin Lamb reviewed the process of planning for this year’s meeting. While the 8 a.m. talks were excellent presentations attendance was sparse. However, the remaining sessions were very well attended.

   2. There was a discussion of the relative merits of covering the cost of the Invited Speakers Dinner, and the possibility of covering registration fees for all Division 3 speakers. The potential financial impact of different options was considered.

   3. The Executive Committee decided that for the 2007 APA convention in San Francisco, Division 3 would not pay for an Invited Speakers Dinner but instead would defray the costs of giving a talk at the convention by paying an Honorarium of $100 to all speakers.

   4. The Executive Committee also decided that for the 2007 APA convention in San Francisco, the New Investigator Awards would be presented at the Business Meeting instead of during the Social Hour.

6. APA Presidential Election

   1. The Executive Committee unanimously passed a motion supporting and ranking highly both Alan E. Kazdin and Nora S. Newcombe as candidates for APA President.

   2. An email will be sent to all members of Division 3 encouraging them to vote in the APA Presidential election and to give high rankings to both Kazdin and Newcombe.

7. Graduate Student Representation on the Executive Committee

   1. Rebecca Singer shared her plans and ideas as the Graduate Student Representative on the Executive Committee. She plans to obtain the Division 3 Student Affiliate email list to make contact with all student members and she will also write an article for the Newsletter introducing herself to the membership.

   2. Rebecca will continue as the Grad Rep for 2006-2007, and Howard Egeth will appoint a new Grad Rep to work with Rebecca this coming year so that the new appointee will be ready to effectively serve in this role for 2007-2008.

8. APA Committee on Animal Research Ethics (CARE) Initiative on Diversity

   1. The APA CARE committee asked the Executive Committee to consider the issue of creating a more diversified professional community – “not merely in the demographic sense but in the sense of a culturally competent community that is understanding and respectful of difference”.

   2. After some discussion regarding the complexity of the diversity issue, the committee drafted the following statement, which Tom Zentall will communicate to CARE on behalf of Division 3:

The Executive Committee of Division 3 is sensitive to the problem of diversity in our community. We think that the single most effective thing we can do to reduce the lack of diversity in the community is to encourage more young people to enter psychology and to join APA.

9. The Executive Committee meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Angelo Santi

Secretary-Treasurer Division 3