Seeking faculty to promote APA membership

Help psychology students and faculty at your college or university learn about APA services, products and membership benefits by joining APA's Department Volunteer Network. APA equips volunteers with APA news, program fact sheets, catalogs, and posters and applications to distribute on their campuses. Volunteers can also participate in membership forums and surveys. To sign up, contact the APA Department Volunteer Network c/o Membership Development at the APA address; (800) 374-2721, ext. 5584; TDD: (202) 336-6123; fax: (202) 216-7628; e-mail: dvn@apa.org.

Apply now for Minority Fellowship Program

APA's Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) is accepting applications for its fellowships in psychology and neuroscience. The fellowships are designed to stimulate interest in ethnic-minority mental health research and mental health services by providing 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. Applicants must be doctoral students in clinical, counseling and school psychology and 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) and geared to those pursuing research careers in mental health issues involving ethnic-minority populations. Students who specialize in community, social, developmental, health, aging or cognitive psychology, psychopathology, or other areas related to mental health are encouraged to apply.

* MFP HIV/AIDS Research Fellowship, funded by NIMH and 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 MFP in Neuroscience Postdoctoral Fellowship, funded by NIMH to support students pursuing careers in neuroscience--including behavioral neuroscience, cellular neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, neuroanatomy and other fields. Appli-cants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled full time in a doctoral program when the fellowship is awarded. Mental health and substance abuse services applicants must be in an APA-accredited program. All applicants must demonstrate a commitment to a career in psychology or neuroscience related to ethnic-minority mental health.

MFP Fellowship applications are available Sept. 1 and accepted through Jan. 15. Download an application at www.apa.org/mfp, request one via e-mail at mfp@apa.org or write to APA/MFP Fellowship at the APA address.

Your dues are due

Members, fellows and associate members need to pay dues by Nov. 8 to ensure their membership records are kept up-to-date and take advantage of member benefits. Prompt payment ensures uninterrupted delivery of the Monitor, the American Psychologist and other important benefits.

Paid membership also provides a credit toward one journal of choice, discounts on APA books, receipt of APA newsletters and continued eligibility for APA Insurance Trust programs.

Questions about dues, membership or payment status should be directed to APA Membership at the APA address; (800) 374-2721 or (202) 336-5580; TDD: (202) 336-6123; fax: (202) 336-5568; e-mail: membership@apa.org.

Tap funding for education events

Psychologist-led groups and organizations planning a conference or workshop that will focus on the quality of graduate, internship and postdoctoral training issues can tap Block Grant Awards sponsored by APA's Board of Educational Affairs (BEA). Grants of up to $2,000 are available for a meeting that aims to enhance the quality of graduate and professional education and training. To qualify, a meeting should focus on innovations or new developments in graduate and postdoctoral education, including internship training. BEA will not award more than $5,000 in block grants in a given year.

Proposals will be evaluated by a BEA subcommitee according to these criteria:

* Goals and objectives. The clarity and nature of the conference or workshop goals and objectives in relation to the scope and purpose of the grants.

* Leadership. The qualifications of the conference or workshop leaders and organizers, relative to the topic. Qualifications should include evidence of national or regional leadership.

* Participants. The qualifications of conference or workshop participants relative to the topic of focus, including their potential for implementing conference outcomes.

* Impact. The estimated or potential impact of the conference or workshop in terms of the diffusion of new ideas in the education community appropriate to the proposal's focus.

* Budget. The clarity and completeness of the conference or workshop budget, how realistic it is and how the block grant funds are to be used to offset expenses incurred, such as travel, registration and speaker fees.

Preference will be given to proposals that have not been awarded BEA block grants in the previous two years. The application deadline is Sept. 30. Send proposals to Joan Freund, Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, Education Directorate, at the APA address; e-mail: jfreund@apa.org.

New APAGS network links divisions and students

The American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) has developed the Division Student Representative Network (DSRN) to help APA's 53 divisions provide more membership benefits for graduate students and boost student membership in divisions. Another objective is to create an APAGS community in which student division leaders can exchange ideas.

APAGS developed the network to reach out to divisions and assist them with enhancing professional development opportunities for students--such as mentoring programs and convention programming. At the same time, the network seeks to prepare future division leaders.

DSRN members will belong to a closed listserv where they can share information, lessons learned and get APAGS news and information. Students interested in representing a division through the DSRN can contact APAGS at (202) 336-6014; e-mail: apags@apa.org.

Nominate an innovative graduate program for BEA award

APA's Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) invites nominations for the Innovative Practices in Graduate Education in Psychology Award, a $5,000 prize honoring a graduate psychology department for innovation in education. All graduate departments of psychology are eligible, and self-nominations are welcome. More than one department may be recognized in a given year; multiple winners will share the $5,000 stipend.

Nominations should identify how a department has been innovative, what was changed and why, and how the change has affected the quality of education and training. Innovation will be judged in the institutional and historical context in which it occurs.

Nominators should submit a two- to three-page concept letter by Sept. 30 that identifies the innovation, how it was assessed and why it is award-worthy. Finalists will be invited to submit a more complete petition by Oct. 31. That petition will include: A summary of the program's innovative practice and its objectives relative to the department's history and context; information on when the innovative practice began, the key people in its development and the current status of the practice; outcomes of the innovative practice, including a description of how outcomes were measured or otherwise assessed.

A diverse panel of judges will be appointed annually by the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology in collaboration with BEA. Winners will be announced by Dec. 15. Send proposals to Joan Freund, Education Directorate, at the APA address; e-mail: jfreund@apa.org.

--J. CHAMBERLIN