| ................ |
The APA Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention, and Training in Psychology
(CEMRRAT), a 15-member advisory and governance group, was established by the APA Board
of Directors in 1994. The Commission was charged to explore and develop mechanisms that will
significantly improve the recruitment, retention and graduation, and education and training of
ethnic minorities in psychology.
Nominations for membership on the Commission were widely and nationally solicited. The
Commission members and its chair (Richard M. Suinn, PhD, of Colorado State University) were
appointed by APA President Ronald Fox, PhD, after nominations were screened by the APA
Central Office Work Group (COWG) on Ethnic Minority Recruitment and Retention. COWG is
composed of staff representatives of all the APA directorates as well as APA's Research Office,
Minority Fellowship Program, Public Communications Office, and Public Policy Office. This
group, which meets 2 to 4 times per year, seeks to ensure that ethnic minority recruitment and
retention efforts are coordinated and integrated throughout APA.
In 1994, CEMRRAT was awarded $8,000 from the APA Board of Directors Contingency Fund.
In 1995, CEMRRAT received $27,400 from the APA Council of Representatives Contingency Fund. Later
that year, the APA Board of Directors extended CEMRRAT's tenure to December 1996 and
awarded CEMRRAT an additional $4,700 from the Board's 1995 Contingency Fund to support
initial product development efforts. The board also authorized the addition of $18,700 to the
OEMA 1996 budget for costs associated with convening one meeting of the full Commission and
one meeting of CEMRRAT's Executive Board in 1996. In addition, CEMRRAT also received
contract funds (#92-MF-01645701D) in the amount of $6,800 from the Center for Mental Health
Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA) that
were used to help fund CEMRRAT's 1994 and 1995 meetings.
At its first meeting, the Commission reviewed existing data and reports on ethnic minority
recruitment, retention and graduation, and education and training in psychology. Based on this
review, the Commission defined its focus and the framework of the methodology and approach to
its work. The review effort indicated a need for CEMRRAT to take actions that would have some
immediate impact. Prior efforts to facilitate the progress of ethnic minorities in psychology
illustrate the history of extremely slow changes that have been effected to date. As an initial
commitment, therefore, the members of the Commission agreed to focus on the short-term goal of
developing products that could have some immediate impact on the pipeline and curriculum and
to engage in long-term strategic planning needed for continued activities required to monitor,
maintain, and press forward changes in systemic problems of ethnic minority recruitment,
retention, and training.
To achieve its goals, Commission members and liaisons (i.e., designated representatives of
interested groups and agencies who attended CEMRRAT's meetings) were divided into three
work groups: Education and Training, Faculty Recruitment and Retention, and Student
Recruitment and Retention, chaired respectively by Drs. Ena Vazquez-Nuttall, Martha Bernal,
and Hector Myers.
The Commission's methodology and approach to its goals were guided by formal statements and
covenants developed by the Commission related to: (a) The CEMRRAT Charge, (b) Definitions
of Subject Areas, (c) Goals and Objectives, and (d) Operating Principles. (A copy of each of these
is provided in this report's Appendix A.) Major tenets of CEMRRAT's Operating Principles
included:
|