Education Directorate program pairs gifted children with mentors

APA's Center for Gifted Education Policy is helping gifted adolescents through its APEX project, a mentoring program co-sponsored by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The project pairs talented rising high school sophomores and juniors with the following mentors:

• Matthew Albert, PhD, director of research at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in France.

• David Goldman, executive director of the National Center for New Plays at Stanford University.

• Janette Turner Hospital, PhD, the University of South Carolina Endowed Chair as Carolina Distinguished Professor of English.

• Michael Lotze, PhD, professor of surgery, molecular genetics and biomedicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

• Alan Morrison, JD, professor of law at Stanford University Law School.

• Holly Rushmeier, PhD, professor of computer science at Yale University.

• Philip Scheffler, former executive editor of "60 Minutes."

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation selected the participating adolescents based on their extraordinary academic talent and financial need. Through the program, the Foundation also provides scholarship and counseling support to the young scholars.

Education Directorate enacts new accreditation procedures

On July 1, APA's Education Directorate will make the following changes to its accreditation operating procedures. The directorate will:

• Eliminate the preliminary review process for applicant and continuing programs.

• Penalize programs that do not provide a self-study, annual report or other accreditation documentation in a timely manner.

• Expand and define the role of special site visits.

• Define "accredited, inactive" for two-year internship and postdoctoral residency programs.

• Move the language from the Implementing Regulation on Third-Party Testimony to the Accreditation Operating Procedures.

• Allow for a public notice period for programs applying for accreditation.

The changes take effect following a period of public comment, review by APA's Committee on Accreditation and approval from APA's Board of Directors.

Programs applying for initial accreditation on or after July 1 will be publicly reported. For more information, contact the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, at the APA address; (202) 336-5979; e-mail.

Accreditation Workshops at the APA Convention

The APA Committee on Accreditation will conduct concurrent full day (8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.) Doctoral, Internship and Postdoctoral Site Visitor Training Workshops on Aug. 17, prior to APA's 2005 Annual Convention in Washington, D.C. The workshops are open to both new and experienced site visitors. Workshop participants will receive 7.5 continuing-education (CE) credits and the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation will pay for the CE fees.

The Committee on Accreditation will also offer a half-day (1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.) Site Visitor Chair Workshop on the same day for current site visitors interested in learning about the responsibilities involved in chairing a site visit team. Although this training session is open to any participants, only those who have participated in at least three site visits are eligible to serve as the chair of site-visit teams.

For more information on availability, registration and criteria for becoming a site visitor, contact Shalaine Erby at (202) 336-5983;
e-mail.

Learn to navigate the internship application process

The American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) will host a preconvention internship workshop on Aug. 17 in Washington, D.C., prior to APA's 2005 Annual Convention, Aug. 18–21. The workshop will offer students tips on finding a psychology internship and guidance on the application and Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) match process. Participants will receive a free copy of "Internships in Psychology: The APAGS Workbook for Writing Successful Applications and Finding the Right Match" (APA, 2004). Registration costs $25 for APAGS members and $30 for nonmembers. Registration after July 15 is $30 for members and $35 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.apa.org/apags.

APA encourages psychologist/teacher collaboration

APA's Center for Psychology in Schools and Education co-sponsored three sessions at the 2005 American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education's (AACTE) Conference that focused on the need for psychologists and educators to work together to improve teacher quality in pre-kindergarten–12th grade schools.

The sessions emphasized improving teachers' knowledge and skills on classroom management, a scientifically based report for teacher preparation programs and teacher quality in high school psychology classes.

The conference, attended by deans and heads of education colleges, took place in February in Washington, D.C.

In April, the Center for Psychology in Schools and Education offered similar sessions at the American Educational Research Association's 2005 annual meeting in Montreal on topics such as student assessment and motivation, and teacher training in assessment.

--Z. STAMBOR

Share your expertise with students

APA's Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) is creating a speakers bureau of psychologists interested in visiting local high school psychology classrooms to speak with students about their psychology careers.

TOPSS envisions its speakers bureau as a resource that high school psychology clubs and teachers could tap to find local psychologists to speak at club events.

The speakers bureau will also be available for students and faculty at community colleges and four-year colleges and universities, so participants should be willing to speak with any student level.

To learn more about TOPSS, visit www.apa.org/ed/topss/homepage.html. To participate in the TOPSS Speakers Bureau, e-mail information about your location and expertise to Emily Leary.

Suinn, Ashcraft win Fowler Awards

In April, former APA CEO Raymond D. Fowler, PhD, presented Jodi Ashcraft, APA's advertising and exhibit sales director, with the Raymond D. Fowler Award for APA staff at APA's All Hands staff meeting for her "professional presence and demeanor that facilitates open, honest communication within and between groups."

APA President Ronald F. Levant, EdD, will present Richard M. Suinn, PhD, with the APA membership version of the Raymond D. Fowler Award at APA's Council of Representatives meeting during APA's 2005 Annual Convention in Washington, D.C., for his "significant and enduring impact on APA as an organization and dedication to advancing APA's mission."

Ashcraft has been employed at APA for 23 years. A group of APA employees chose Ashcraft for the award after receiving a letter of nomination and three letters of support from people outside her area.

Suinn, the 1999 APA President, is chairperson of the Presidential Task Force on Enhancing Diversity. He is also an emeritus professor at Colorado State University.

APA established the awards, named for Raymond D. Fowler--APA's CEO from 1989–2002--in 2003, to honor Fowler's contributions to the association.

--Z. STAMBOR

Sport psychologists to tackle D.C. community in annual giveaway-athon

Div. 47 (Exercise and Sport) seeks exercise and sport psychologists to help deliver workshops and lectures to athletes and sport groups as part of its third annual "Sports Psychology giveaway-athon" at APA's 2005 Annual Convention in Washington, D.C., Aug. 18–21. The program will offer free sport psychology services, including workshops and lectures, to local sports groups, athletes and coaches.

The division also is searching the Washington, D.C., community for exercise clubs, coaches, athletes and sport camps to partner with for the event. Depending on these groups' needs, the division will link sport psychologists with them to provide free presentations and consultations. Current plans include presentations to local college swimmers, elite cyclists, corporate fitness club members and a high school football team.

Div. 47 Past President Judy Van Raalte, PhD, first came up with the idea for the giveaway-athon for APA's 2003 Annual Convention in Toronto to help increase communities' awareness of sport psychology and as a way of giving something back to the convention city.

For more information, visit www.apa47.org. Those who would like to get involved or suggest any D.C. sport groups to team with for the event can contact Van Raalte.

--M. DITTMANN

Email this article to a friend or colleague

Cover Page for this Issue