It is my great honor to accept this nomination to run for the position of Division 16’s Vice-President of Publications & Communications. I am presently an Associate Professor of School Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Prior to entering academia, I was a practitioner for several years, working at every age level from early intervention through high school. My research interests center around the application of social justice principles to school psychology practice specifically and to educational practices more generally.

If elected, I would be coming full circle as this would technically be my second stint on this board. This is because during my graduate school years I was lucky enough to be the President of Student Affiliates in School Psychology (SASP), Division 16’s graduate student organization. My involvement with SASP and my year on the Division 16 board during my term as SASP President was truly wonderful and this experience left me with a desire to continue to stay engaged in national organizations throughout my career.

As such, over the past decade, I have been very involved in numerous national school psychology organizations. I am nearing completion (July 2012) of four years of service on the Executive Board of Trainers of School Psychologists (TSP), serving as President of this organization in 2010-11. I also am the TSP representative to the planning committee for the 2012 School Psychology Futures Conference, to be held this fall. Within NASP, I have been active on several fronts. I am one of the founders and served as the first co-chair of NASP’s Social Justice Interest Group. I also have been interviewed for two NASP podcasts, am on the Editorial Board of both School Psychology Review and School Psychology Forum, and serve on NASP’s Ethics Advisory Board Panel. Last but certainly not least, I have been active in Division 16 in several ways. For the past several years running, I have reviewed proposals submitted to the Division to present at the annual APA conference. I also have served on the Division’s Outstanding Dissertation Award committee twice and the Henkin Award committee once. Most recently, I am an active member of Division 16’s Working Group on Social Justice and Children’s Rights and am the inaugural chairperson of the Division’s new Technology Committee.

I would truly welcome the opportunity to continue to serve Division 16 as an Executive Committee member and feel that I am especially well suited for this particular office. As an Associate Editor of Journal of Educational & Psychological Consultation and as someone who has had books published with multiple publishing houses, I am quite familiar with the journal and book publication process. Perhaps most importantly, I believe that I am a very patient, supportive, and professional person who is dispositionally well-suited to be an effective support to and bridge between editors, authors, and publishers. Thanks to the phenomenal work of Linda Reddy and I am sure many others, the current state of Division 16’s publications is incredibly strong. If elected I stand ready to move the ball forward even further through recruiting new talent, supporting current editors and authors, creating new and sustaining existing Division connections within APA, and by keeping members informed of the latest developments in these areas.