2007 Annual Reports for Boards and Committees

Committee of Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges

PT@CC Members: Susan K. (Skip) Pollock, PhD (Mesa Community College, AZ), Chair; Ladonna Lewis, PhD (Glendale Community College, AZ); Vivian Hamilton, MA (Portland Community College, OR); Vincent Granito, PhD (Loraine County Community College, OH);  Nancy Schaab, PhD (Delta College, MI); and Salvadore Macias III, PhD (University of South Carolina, Sumter, SC).  Barney Beins, PhD (Ithaca College, NY) served as the Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) liaison to the PT@CC Committee.           

Staff Liaison:  Martha Boenau

The APA Committee of Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges (PT@CC) met in April and October 2007 to discuss ongoing programs, activities, and new initiatives. By the end of 2007, nearly 950 psychology teachers have joined APA as APA Community College Teacher Affiliates.  In addition, approximately 200 APA Members/Associates at community colleges are participating in PT@CC. 

Priorities: Ongoing and New Activities

• Strengthen, promote, and recognize excellence in teaching through convention programming, regional meetings and teaching conferences, and the dissemination of teaching-related materials. A new focus in this area is the creation of “Local Teaching Networks.” PT@CC will sponsor, help develop, and support three 1-day teaching workshops designed for community college teachers in a local area.  The objective is to reach out to faculty members who are not able to travel to larger regional or national conventions but who could attend a local event.  PT@CC wants to create new vehicles for grass-roots APA involvement. 
• Increase membership through strategic recruitment initiatives including mass mailings, special events for faculty, and support of the “Local Teaching Networks.”
• Continue current projects that recognize high quality and innovative electronic projects submitted by psychology students at community colleges and teaching tips submitted by psychology faculty.
• Identify and share promising practices through the development of “how to” guides.  Two guides have been written and are in the APA review process.  Upon completion, these guides will be sent to all PT@CC members.  These resources are:  (a) “Guide to Developing Institutional Research Boards (IRBs) in Community Colleges,” and an (b) “Adjunct Faculty Resource Guide.”

Programs and Activities in 2007

APA Convention Programming in 2007
PT@CC sponsored a reception and five hours of convention programming in 2007:

• PT@CC Invited Address: The Diane F. Halpern Lecture presented by Philip Zimbardo, PhD
• Symposium:  Creating an Inclusive Classroom:  Ladonna Lewis, PhD,  Donald W. Daughtry, PhD,  Ellen Pastorino, PhD, and Pat Puccio, EdD
• Conversation Hour:  Skip Pollock, PhD, Ann T. Ewing, PhD, Ly Tran-Nguyen, PhD, and Carolyn J. St. Peter, PhD
• Innovative Teaching Techniques Symposium:  Laura Bittner, MA, and Skip Pollock, PhD
• Symposium: Community College Curriculum: Non-Traditional Offerings:  Vince Granito, PhD, Diane Finley, PhD, and Salvador Macias III, PhD

Publications and News about APA PT@CC
The Psychology Teacher Network (PTN) is a quarterly newsletter for teachers of introductory psychology. The PTN features articles, activities, book reviews, announcements, and other news items for psychology teachers in high schools and 2- and 4-year colleges and universities.

PT@CC Electronic Project Contest
With financial support from the APA Education Directorate, PT@CC sponsored the fifth annual “APA Electronic Project Contest.” This competition was developed to recognize creativity and technical competence of outstanding community college psychology students. A national group of PT@CC members served as a judging panel, chaired by Nancy Schaab, PhD, and awards were given for first, second, and third place.

PT@CC Teaching Tips Contest
The 2007 Teaching Tips Contest was designed to encourage community college faculty to share teaching ideas.  A national group of PT@CC members, on a committee chaired by Ladonna Lewis, PhD, reviewed the submissions and awards were given for first and second place.   The committee continues to explore ways to share these “teaching tips” with the full membership.  The concern is that often teaching tips are modifications of existing ideas, some of which may be from unknown sources.  Thus, publication of these ideas raises ethical issues.  The PT@CC Committee is looking at ways to address this concern since the sharing of teaching ideas is one of the main interests of PT@CC members.

Newly Elected Board Members
In 2007, the PT@CC Committee held its third nationwide election. The PT@CC committee narrowed six self-nominated candidates to a slate of four candidates to fill two vacant seats.  Wynn W. Call, PhD (Mesa Community College, AZ) and Julie Penley, PhD (El Paso Community College, TX) were elected for three-year terms of office beginning in January 2008.  Vincent Granito, PhD was elected as the 2008 chair.

Support for Diversity Initiatives

In 2007, PT@CC upheld a commitment to devote one of its five hours of APA Convention programming to diversity issues.  The attendance at the symposium, Creating a Diverse Classroom, was outstanding. 

In addition, PT@CC sent copies of the press release on the APA Task Force Report on the Sexualization of Girls in a Spring 2007 mass mailing.   Ladonna Lewis, PhD, continued her role as a member of the APA Presidential Task Force on Diversity Education Resources.

The APA Committee of Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges (PT@CC) has six members: four committee members are female and two are male; two members are ethnic minorities.  In preparation for the annual PT@CC Committee elections, diversity is considered as the slate of candidates is developed for the election.

Outreach to Community College Faculty
To provide special programming for community college faculty at regional and national meetings, PT@CC members hosted events at the annual meetings of Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), Western Psychological Association (WPA), the Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA), the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Psychology (NECTOP), and the APA Convention. 

Each year, the APA Education Directorate distributes mass mailings to PT@CC.  In 2007, there was a Spring mailing that included information updates and specific APA teaching materials.   Included in this mailing were:

• Excellence in Psychology Awards Certificates
• fMRI Booklets with Cover Letter
• APA Press Release on the Task Force Report on the Sexualization of Girls
• 2007 Call for Nominations
• Convention Highlights 2007

The committee continues to sponsor its listserv, the PT@CC Electronic Update, so that online discussions and information sharing can occur. The listserv provides a means for networking and helps to build a sense of community among psychology faculty.  The committee wishes to share the resources of APA with faculty at community colleges and hopes to expand the network of teachers and students involved in APA.

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