During May, one representative from each division presidential trio will participate in cohort meetings over Zoom with APA leadership, including APA President Frank Worrell, PhD; CEO Arthur Evans, PhD; Committee on Division/APA Relations members; Division Engagement staff; and other senior staff members.
This is the third round of such meetings; the first two were held in the summer and fall of 2021.
The feedback, suggestions, and ideas from these small group discussions between division and APA leaders have been instrumental in informing projects already in the works, stimulating new ideas to address areas of importance to divisions, and prioritizing longer term projects that will meet division needs.
The Division Engagement Office heard from divisions during the fall cohort sessions how important advocacy (whether at the APA level, the division level, or both) is to divisions and their relationship with APA. This spring, we will be joined by the APA Advocacy Office so we can explore the topic of advocacy together, specifically in the context of the Division/APA relationship.
As a result of our discussions, in 2022 the Division Engagement Office will:
- launch a communications survey to understand communication preferences and identify opportunities to strengthen bidirectional communication,
- work internally to update all staff on what we have learned from divisions in terms of your expectations of APA and how we can make being a division leader easier by providing more consistency from Central Office,
- continue strengthening connections and building value for science-focused divisions and members,
- identify additional opportunities to better incorporate division expertise and encourage interdivisional collaborations, and
- continue working to address the opportunities for growth that we identify together.
We learned a tremendous amount from the twelve cohort sessions last year and want to continue building upon the momentum together. We look forward to continuing to grow together as we build new relationships, work on longer term projects and exchange ideas in these cohort meetings.
The Division Engagement Office plans to continue to hold cohort meetings in the spring and fall.
Have a comment about cohort meetings? Submit on Wufooopens in new windowlogin requiredlogin required. If you have any questions, please contact your division engagement liaison or the Division Engagement Office.