BACKGROUND

The American Psychological Association (APA) Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention, and Training in Psychology (CEMRRAT) is a 15-member advisory and governance group. The Commission was established by the APA Board of Directors in 1994 in response to an Association resolution that identified "the recruitment, retention, and training of ethnic minorities in psychology as one of the Association's highest priorities . . . " Members of CEMRRAT, who are representative experts from federal research and mental health agencies and various domains and levels of postsecondary education including student representatives, were appointed in October 1994 by (then) APA President Ronald E. Fox, PhD. President Fox asked the Commission to assess the status of and barriers to the participation of persons of color in American Psychology, and to develop a 5-year plan to guide the Association's efforts in this area.

The Commission's activities were funded primarily by special allocations from the Contingency Funds of the APA Board of Directors and Council of Representatives. Additional funding was provided by the Association's Public Interest Directorate and by the Center for Mental Health Services (#92-MF-01645701D). Still other support was provided by the 15 organizations and APA governance groups who funded liaisons to attend and contribute to CEMRRAT's meetings.

The Commission's efforts were characterized by processes of inclusion and strategic product development. Mechanisms were developed for encouraging substantive and broad-based comment from the Association's

governance boards and committees, staff, and other groups and individuals with vested interests in CEMRRAT's work. For example, the liaisons to CEMRRAT were encouraged to participate fully in the deliberations and other activities of the Commission and its work groups. Strategic product development was the responsibility of the Commission's three work groups on Education and Training, Faculty Recruitment and Retention, and Student Recruitment and Retention.

The Commission seeks to promote creative transformation of psychology's educational pipeline (high school through postdoctoral and continuing education studies) in ways that will ensure that, in the very near future, the proportion of psychologists who are people of color (currently 5% to 6%) will significantly increase, and all psychologists will demonstrate at least minimal multicultural competence in training, research, and practice issues.