Candidates for APA President
Q3. What would you do to lead the profession to address the needs of an increasingly diverse and global society?
Psychology, in all its branches and diverse workplace settings, must reflect our nation's changing demographics. This includes:
• Broadening our conceptualization of diversity.
• Ethnic-minority recruitment and retention; overcoming financial barriers faced by psychology's minority students.
• Encouraging APA to adopt recommendations from the Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention, Training in Psychology Taskforce (CEMRRAT2).
• Supporting, as I did on the Board of Directors, hiring a diversity officer to coordinate efforts including diversity education throughout all APA activities.
• Infusing cultural and global competencies throughout professional development.
• Continuing to build successful, global educational alliances as I have as associate dean for international programs.
Q4. Given the current economic situation and budget deficits in APA, what would be your top priorities and why?
My first priority would be to respect the wisdom of our membership by utilizing APA's recently established strategic plan, formulated by our elected governance, as the "roadmap of priorities" for making difficult financial decisions for our association during this economic downturn. Read more in the April 2009 Monitor.
My leadership priorities include:
• Protecting the association by strengthening membership, highlighting APA's relevancy as a strong, united voice for psychology and reminding members to have their librarians continue subscribing to APA journals and books—major sources of APA's revenue.
• Supporting members and advancing psychology by ensuring policymakers and the public understand the importance of psychological science and practice.
