Launching a Leadership Institute
This month, APAGS will be reviewing applications received by its April 1 deadline to populate the inaugural class of the APAGS Leadership Institute. This group of graduate students will gain important hands-on leadership skills through a series of virtual and in-person workshops, mentoring sessions, networking and project development.
Putting it all out there
APAGS is committed to transparency and easy navigation of our governance processes. Following up on our Web page devoted to responses to APA's 2015 independent review, we created another page to centralize information about our operating procedures. Here's where you'd find our agenda books and minutes from our biannual meetings, along with our organizational structure, position statements, including our "bill of rights," on page 14.
Our journal is in print
Volume two of the APAGS-sponsored journal Translational Issues in Psychological Science® — the only journal of our association that involves students at all levels of the editorial and submission process — is now in print form as of the March 2016 issue and will be mailed quarterly to all paid APAGS members. Look out for the journal and pay careful attention to the upcoming topics and calls for manuscripts and reviewers.
Continuing to fight for an end to the internship crisis
Health service psychology students (those in clinical, counseling and school doctoral programs) know how stressful the internship match process is, so when we have to worry about not enough positions for the number of qualified students who apply each year, this turns the process from a personal struggle to a systemic injustice. On Match Day, APAGS Chair Christine Jehu summarized the continued imbalance, along with slight easement of numbers, and a summary of our actions in recent months to get close to our goal of one internship for each student from an accredited program.
Bringing student advocates to Capitol Hill
In February, APAGS supported travel for 15 student representatives from our Advocacy Coordinating Team (ACT) to attend a business meeting and participate in the State Leadership Conference, culminating in visits with their members of Congress on the importance of passing mental health-care legislation. ACT drafted a position statement on supporting campus activism, set its key 2015-16 focus on strengthening the rights of psychology graduate students nationwide, and more. Become an ACT campus representative.