APA seeks nominees for its boards and committees
Take a more active role in the association's governance structure by nominating your colleagues or yourself to serve on one of APA's many boards and committees. APA seeks nominations for the following groups:
* Committee on Structure and Function of Council
* Finance Committee
* Ethics Committee
* Membership Committee
* Policy and Planning Board
* Publications and Communications Board
* Committee on International Relations in Psychology
* Board of Educational Affairs
* Board of Professional Affairs
* Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice
* Board of Scientific Affairs
* Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest
* Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Psychology
* Board of Convention Affairs
* Committee on Rural Health
Send nominations to the APA Election Committee at the APA address by Feb. 1. Nominations are forwarded to the appropriate board or committee as they develop their nomination slates, which are submitted to the Board of Directors Subcommittee on Nominations. APA's Board of Directors grants final approval for all board and committee election slates. Nominees selected through this process will appear on the 2002 Board/Committee ballot, which will be sent on Oct. 31 to all members of the 2002 APA Council of Representatives.
For more information on the election process for board and committees, contact the Director of Elections, (202) 336-6087; e-mail: Elections.
Interested in the APA presidency?
Members who would like to be nominated for APA President-elect in 2002 are invited to submit a statement of 50 words or less.
The deadline for potential candidates to submit a statement is Jan. 15.
The 50-word limit will be strictly enforced. Interested candidates are welcome to speak to the Council of Representatives at its February meeting and are responsible for their own transportation and lodging costs. The nomination ballot will be mailed Feb. 1, with a 45-day balloting period. For more information, contact APA's Governance Office at (202) 336-6087 or via e- mail at Elections.
Committee on Accreditation is accepting third-party testimony on all programs scheduled for a 2002 site visit and periodic review
In accordance with Section 4.1 of its "Accrediting Operation Procedures," APA's Committee on Accreditation (CoA) is accepting third-party testimony from students, faculty, and consumers on all programs scheduled for review in 2002.
Listings of the programs scheduled for review, instructions for provision of third-party comment, and deadlines for filing comment can be found at www.apa.org/ed/accred.html. For details on providing comment, please refer to the "Procedure for Provision of Third-Party Testimony" (http://www.apa.org/ed/CoAPolicyImp.PDF). This information is also available by contacting APA's Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation at the APA address or by calling (202) 336-5979.
Graduate student papers sought for ethics prize
The APA Ethics Committee is pleased to announce a prize for a graduate student paper on psychology and ethics. The prize is open to any student member of APA currently enrolled in pre-doctoral graduate program. The honoree will receive $1,000, a round trip ticket to APA's 2002 Annual Convention, Aug. 2225, in Chicago, plus two nights of hotel accommodation. The prize will be presented at the convention.
"Psychology and ethics" will be defined broadly, to include any empirical or theoretical paper that examines psychology and ethics in relation to science or research, practice, education, public interest, or theory of ethics. The paper must indicate why its particular focus is worthy of attention. Submissions must be of publishable quality and written in APA style. Submissions may not exceed 25 double-spaced pages and may not have been previously published.
Please submit papers to the APA Office of Ethics (attn: Ethics Prize) at the APA address, no later than close of business, April 1. Applicants should submit three hard copies: two copies should have no identifying information, the third copy should indicate name and contact information. The Ethics Committee will judge papers based upon quality and originality of ideas, clarity of analysis and expression, and adequacy of literature review. The Ethics Committee will announce the prize by June 30.
For additional information about the prize, visit the ethics page at the APA Web Site, www.apa.org/ethics.
Call for recommendations for education and training in technology for psychology courses
The Technology Working Group of APA's Board of Educational Affairs is developing recommendations for education and training in technology for psychology courses. Their goal is to identify technological competencies psychologists consider appropriate and beneficial for students to have acquired by the end of each stage of their psychology education.
APA seeks input on this process from individuals or organizations that may have developed recommendations for education and training in technology in psychology or who would like to contribute any recommendations to the work. APA also seeks any suggested or current practices that are currently being employed in courses, departments, or organizations. Any form of input is welcome, especially that which addresses the following questions as possible:
* What specific technology skills should psychology students develop during the first two years of their undergraduate education? By the end of their undergraduate education? By the end of their graduate education?
* What knowledge about the use of technology should psychology students acquire during the first two years of their undergraduate education? By the end of their undergraduate education? By the end of their graduate education?
* What specific technology skills and what knowledge about the use of technology would you expect psychology majors to acquire "on the job" in your professional setting?
Send your feedback by Dec. 31 to Greg White, Program Officer, Center for Psychology in Schools and Education at the APA address, or provide it online at the center's Web site, www.apa.org/ed/cpse.html. You may also call (202) 336-5855, e-mail: G. White, fax: (202) 336-6130 or phone: (202) 336-5855.
New areas of proficiency in professional psychology approved
The Council of Representatives of the APA at the August meeting approved and conferred recognition of Forensic Psychology as a specialty in professional psychology. A specialty constitutes an area of professional psychology that is distinctive in its pattern of education and training, populations served, problems addressed, and procedures and techniques utilized.
In addition, the Council of Representatives approved and conferred recognition of Psychopharmacology as a proficiency in professional psychology. Proficiency constitutes a circumscribed activity in the general practice of professional psychology or in one or more of its specialties. The Council of Representatives also approved and conferred continued recognition of the Psychological Treatment of Alcohol and other Psychoactive Substance Disorders as a proficiency in professional psychology.
The present policies and procedures of the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology (CRSPPP) require that each specialty and proficiency approved in August 2001 reapply for continued recognition on or before August, 2008.
The Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology (CRSPPP) was pleased to recommend and facilitate this process for approval and recognition. For more information about CRSPPP, the recognition process, and a listing and description of other recognized specialties and proficiencies, visit www.apa.org/crsppp or contact the Office of Graduate Education and Training at (202) 336-5967.
Request for proposals for APA's Committee on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training
The APA's Public Interest Directorate has been allocated $100,000 in 2002 to continue implementing APA's Five-Year Plan to attract more ethnic-minorities to psychology.
The Five-Year Plan was established by the APA Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training in Psychology (CEMRRAT).
As in the FY 2000, these funds will be used primarily to fund small grants. Eligible applicants for these grants are state psychological associations, APA divisions, departments/schools of psychology, APA boards and committees, other entities of organized psychology, and individuals. These grants are intended to serve as "seed funds" to energize, empower and support interested individuals, organizations and educational institutions committed to enhancing ethnic-minority recruitment, retention and training in psychology.
Emphasis will be placed on the funding of innovative start-up initiatives rather than the maintenance of ongoing projects. It is anticipated that approximately three or four proposals will be funded under each of the five priority areas (see below).
Applicants must be APA members at the time funds are awarded. As long as proposals are determined to be consistent with the identified funding priorities and the CEMRRAT Five Year Plan, they will be funded on a first-come, first-served basis.
For more information on the funding priorities for this project, visit www.apa.Questions should be directed to Adisa A. Ajamu in the Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs at the APA address; phone: (202) 336-6070; e-mail..
Your dues are due!
Members and affiliates should send 2002 membership dues and additional fees for division memberships and journal orders to ensure updated records and to take advantage of the member or student journal credits. Prompt payment guarantees uninterrupted delivery of the Monitor on Psychology and American Psychologist.
Members who renew on time receive the APA membership card, which offers discounts on a variety of consumer services, as well as eligibility for APA's Insurance Trust programs, receipt of APA newsletters and a variety of other money-saving benefits.
Questions related to dues/fee payments or replacement statements should be directed to APA Membership at the APA address; (800) 374-2721, (202) 336-5580; TDD: (202) 336-6123; fax: (202) 336-5568; or E-mail: Membership
Call for nominations for 2002 CLGBC Outstanding Achievement Awards
APA's Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns (CLGBC) annually presents Outstanding Achievement Awards to recognize psychologists for significant contributions to the mission of the group.Nominees may have made significant contributions to CLGBC's mission either through direct CLGBC service or through independent work. The contributions may be of a scientific, professional, educational, leadership, or political nature.
All nominations should include a letter of nomination including a brief description of the specific achievements and contributions of the nominee (500 word maximum), a current curriculum vitae, and the names of three people who have been asked by the nominator to write reference letters. No current members of CLGBC or staff of the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Program at the time of the award are eligible for consideration. Nominations must be received by May 1.
Send nominations and supporting materials to CLGBC Awards, Public Interest Directorate at the APA address.
Apply now for APA/Minority Fellowship Program
APA's Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) is accepting applications for its fellowship programs in psychology and neuroscience. The programs are designed to stimulate research interest in ethnic-minority mental health, and provide financial support and mentoring to individuals pursuing doctoral degrees.
The fellowships are:
* MFP Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Fellowship, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This program is designed for doctoral students in clinical, counseling and school psychology. Applicants must plan to pursue careers as practitioners or psychotherapy researchers specializing in ethnic-minority populations.
* MFP Mental Health Research Fellowship, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), is geared to those pursuing careers as researchers specializing in mental health issues of concern to ethnic-minority populations. Students who specialize in psychopathology, community, social, developmental, health, aging, cognitive psychology or any other areas related to mental health are encouraged to apply.
* MFP HIV/AIDS Research Fellowship, funded by NIMH, is geared to those pursuing careers as research or prevention scientists in HIV/AIDS. The fellowship is funded as a subspecialty under the Mental Health Research Program.
* MFP in Neuroscience Predoctoral Fellowship and the MFP in Neuroscience Postdoctoral Fellowship, funded by NIMH, support students pursing careers in neuroscience; including, but not limited to, behavioral neuroscience, cellular neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, neuroanatomy and other fields. Neuroscience Fellows receive support to attend the month-long Summer Program in Neuroscience, Ethics and Survival at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. (June through July).
Applicants must be American citizens or permanent residents, enrolled full time in a doctoral program at the time the fellowship is awarded (mental health and substance abuse services applicants must be in an APA-accredited program), and demonstrate a commitment to a career in psychology or neuroscience related to ethnic-minority mental health.
MFP Fellowship applications are accepted through Jan. 15.
You may download an application from the MFP Web site at www.apa.org/mfp, request an application via e-mail at MFP, or write to APA/MFP Fellowship at the APA address.
Call for applications to APF's F.J. McGuigan Young Investigator Prize
The American Psychological Foundation (APF) is encouraging applications for the new $25,000 prize to recognize the efforts of a young psychological science investigator in areas of research consistent with those pursued by Frank Joseph McGuigan, PhD.
The recipient will be selected based on the excellence of research conducted and published to date, as well as the promise of research planned for the next five years.
Nominees must have earned a doctoral degree in psychology or a related field, and be nine or fewer years post-doctoral degree at the time of the nomination deadline. Nominees must show their affiliation with an accredited college, university or other research institution.
Nomination packages must contain six copies of each of the following:
* A letter of nomination written by a senior colleague (no self-nominations).
* A one-to-two page statement of accomplishments to date and plans for the next five years written by the nominee.
* A curriculum vitae.
* Copies of two representative publications. Deadline for receipt of nomination packages is March 1.
Send nomination packages to APF Frank Joseph McGuigan Young Investigator Prize, APA Science Directorate at the APA address. For further information, see the November Monitor or contact the Science Directorate.
Awards for research in pediatric psychology
APFcand Div. 54 (Society of Pediatric Psychology, SPP) are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2001 Rebecca Routh Coon research awards. Annually, two $500 awards support young psychologists whose promising psychosocial research focuses on pediatric psychology. Dr. and Mrs. Donald K. Routh established the fund in 1999 to honor the memory of their daughter, an obstetrical nurse who died in an automobile accident at the age of 24.
The SPP Student Research Grant was awarded to Christine T. Chambers, PhD, an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia. Chambers' research interests lie in the area of pediatric pain, and include pain measurement in children and the role of the family in children's sensitivity. Her research project, "The impact of maternal behavior on children's pain experience: an experimental analysis," found social learning factors to be important predictors for children's attention to and reactions toward maternal behaviors during times when the children experienced pain.
Chambers received a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric and child clinical psychology through Brown University School of Medicine. Her work has been acknowledged with awards such as the prestigious Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award, which will support a five-year examination of family influences in pediatric chronic pain and disability.
Alicia McAuliffe, MA, was awarded the 2001 Routh Student Research Grant for her study, "Psychosocial Functioning and Regimen Adherence in Adolescents with Diabetes." McAuliffe is a second-year doctoral student in the clinical child psychology program at St. John's University, Jamaica, New York. Her research interests surround the infliction of childhood diabetes, and she is the founder, president and director of the Circle of Life Camp, Inc., a non-profit camp for children and adolescents coping with diabetes. While employed as a peer counselor at diabetes education centers, she assisted individuals and families in acquiring the necessary skills needed for adjustment to life with diabetes. She has coordinated two support groups for young people afflicted with diabetes, focusing on the social issues they encountered. Following her service as a representative for New York State, she promoted counseling and education-based programming as the Northeast Regional Youth Advisor for the American Diabetes Association.
Foundation announces recipients of neuropsychology scholarships
Through the 2001 Manfred Meier scholarship, APF has recognized the accomplishments of Jeffrey M. Bedwell a clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Georgia, specializing in clinical neuropsychology under the mentorship of L. Stephen Miller, PhD. As the recipient of this award, Bedwell will receive a $2,500 scholarship to continue his doctoral research. The Manfred Meier scholarship was established through a donation from Arthur Benton, PhD, in honor of his colleague and friend Manfred Meier, an accomplished clinical neuropsychologist whose work has had significant impact on furthering the science of psychology. This award is presented annually to a graduate student in neuropsychology whose scholarly and research activities demonstrate great potential for future success in the field.
By examining performance on computer-based tasks and related functional neuroimaging results, Bedwell is exploring the differential age-related changes in the magnocellular visual pathway as a potential bio-behavioral marker for schizophrenia-related genes. His interest in schizophrenia research began shortly after he completed his bachelor's degree at James Madison University in 1995, when he joined the research team in the child psychiatry branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
The Henry HÈcaen scholarship program was also established by Benton with the foundation to honor French neurologist Henry HÈcaen, a prominent figure in the founding and developing of neuropsychology as a science. The 2001 HÈcaen scholarship has been awarded to Laura J. Grande, MA, a graduate student in the clinical and health psychology program at the University of Florida.
Grande is an intern with the Veterans Administration in Brocton, Mass., where she is studying geriatric neuropsychology and the assessment of cognitive changes as they relate to aging. During her time as a research assistant in a neuropsychology laboratory, Grande worked with individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and individuals with hemispatial neglect, a task that inspired her to focus her research on memory and attention. During her graduate studies at the University of Florida, Grande's specific interest in selective attention was further expanded to include the study of cognitive changes associated with Parkinson's Disease. She has chosen to complete her dissertation with a study on selective attention and the cognitive effects of dopamine replacement therapy in individuals with Parkinson's Disease. She is especially interested in the inhibition of distracting and irrelevant information, as well as in the role that dopamine medication may play in improving attentional abilities. Upon completing her internship, Grande plans to continue to study the cognitive and neuropsychological changes associated with neurodegenerative disorders.
--K. HEWLETT AND A. KIEL
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