Statement

I am honored to accept my nomination for the position of Vice-President of Professional Affairs on the Executive Committee of APA's Division 16. Within this position, my focus will be on promoting quality school psychological services, collaborating with constituents across educational and mental health service delivery systems, and working closely with other professional groups and associations to bring additional attention to the practice and research efforts within our division.

Recent experiences that link closely to the responsibilities of this position include my work as CDSPP representative to the Council of Chairs of Training Councils to address issues related to the internship match imbalance, my involvement on the Division 16 Awards Committees (i.e., Outstanding Dissertation, Lightner Witmer), and my leadership as Project Director of three interdisciplinary-focused personnel preparation training grants funded by the Office of Special Education Programs. Across all of those efforts, I have witnessed the importance of bringing a scientist-scholar-practitioner perspective to the important issues facing our field and the need to build on the strong leadership efforts of those who have and those who are currently providing leadership on behalf of Division 16.

The focus of this position on practice-related issues within the broader psychology and education disciplines aligns well with my work as a practitioner, the focus of my research, and my responsibilities as universitybased supervisor of our practicum and internship students. I am committed to high quality training and helping to meet the need for effective and efficient psychological services within the schoolaged population. As a member of the Executive Committee my focus would be on the collaborative development of priorities and goals that meet the needs of the profession and members of Division 16.

Background

I am an Associate Professor and Program Director of the School Psychology Program at Michigan State University. I completed my M.A. and Ph.D. in School Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My pre-doctoral internship was at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, UT and my post-doctoral clinical hours were completed within the Reading and Math Center at Oklahoma State University, where I was an Assistant Professor of School Psychology for three years. I am a Licensed Psychologist in Michigan, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, and I have a part-time private practice/business called Child and Adolescent Psychological Services, PLC. I also consult with families and school districts around educational programming for students with disabilities. My practice and research efforts focus on those early identification and intervention approaches that can be carried out with effectiveness, integrity, and acceptability. This has included a focus on manualized intervention and consultation approaches, screening and early identification of social and emotional functioning in preschool populations, and the use of psychopharmacological medications to treat children's mental health problems.

I currently serve as PI on two personnel preparation training grants. One focused on the integration of science and practice of school psychology within early childhood populations. The other focused on the development of future leaders who will be well prepared to think about issues of dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions. I am also a PI on a statefunded evaluation grant of services being provided to youth from across 11 counties in MI who are experiencing significant social-emotional challenges. In addition, I am Co-PI on a NIH-funded grant focused on the development of a manualized, self-administered videotapebased obesity prevention program that is focused on helping parents within Head Start who wish to improve their children's healthy eating practices. Additional examples of the interdisciplinary focus of my work include my involvement as a member of the following editorial boards: Journal of School Psychology, School Psychology Review, Journal of Applied School Psychology, School Psychology Forum, Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, and Training and Education in Professional Psychology.