Student Task Force Blog

Regular blog postings on students' issues and concerns.

We are all leaders. Our field is one of leadership and it is a powerful vision to think of joining together with a loud voice that speaks from compassion, commitment, and expertise in what it means to be human. Take a step this month and to see where the path leads you. Reach out, get involved and use that voice that got you to where you are today to advocate for a better tomorrow. 

Action Steps 

• Speak to your classmates and colleagues. Find a couple of friends to join you in taking steps towards getting involved. 
• Make sure to seek out opportunities that interest you. Do not spend precious time on things that you will not be engaged in or passionate about. However, realize that we all change and it is okay to be involved in one area for a while and then decide to get involved in something else later on. 
• Join APA and seek out student leaders in the divisions you are interested in. Ask how you can get involved in those divisions. 
• Join your state psychological association and specifically the graduate student chapter of the association when possible. 
• Join and get involved in local chapters of the state psych associations. These are often nearby and allow you to meet others in your area who can plug you into specific interest groups, etc. 
• Join APA Div. 31 (State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Association Affairs). Their main goal is to provide you and your psychological associations with useful resources, services and benefits as well as being your voice for psychological association issues within APA. 
• Join the APA Division 31 student listserv by contacting Connie Paul, PhD. This is where we as students can discuss important things like student debt, healthcare reform, etc. and to brainstorm great ways to get involved in advocacy around these issues. 
• Take opportunities to give presentations or lead discussion groups in practicum placements or other places where you see a need or a space to do this. This can be in schools, churches, hospitals, clubs, organizations, homes for the elderly, sports teams, etc. 
• Ask your supervisors, advisors, etc. about ways to get involved in writing or offering psychoeducational materials: Division 31 will publish what you produce in one of its five blogs. 
• Be confident in yourself and the roles you take on. Remember the importance of psychologists and consider the ways we are needed in our society.
  
  Nikki Frederick, MA 
  APA Div. 31 Student Task Force Chair

During the 2013 APA Convention in Honolulu, Div. 31 allotted convention programming hours for student programming, a novel approach that had never been done before because of a low student presence within the division. During the past year, student membership has exploded in Div. 31, and the division is looking for further ways to make it the professional home that students can claim as their own. The symposium entitled “Future of SPTA's Graduate Student Involvement, Leadership, and Innovation” addressed issues about advocacy and SPTA concerns. Speakers included the APAGS Advocacy Coordinating Team (ACT): Paul Ascheman, PhD; Mike Parent, MS; and Sabrina Esbitt, MA. Greg Wilson, BA, proposed and ran the symposium.

The graduate student leadership presentations (PDF, 2.5MB) focused on what the APAGS ACT looked like from a systems level and how the ACT network is a key player in disseminating information related to science and practice to students across a vast network of student representatives from around the country.

Esbitt focused her presentation on the model of her organization, the New York State Psychological Association, to describe the work and advocacy she has done on behalf of students in New York. She also spoke about the challenge of advocating for the needs of all students in such a large state, in which most of the doctoral programs are located within New York City. Nesbitt’s talk demonstrated why it is imperative that students join their state psychological associations and how they can become members and leaders within these organizations.

Ascheman spoke about the APAGS ACT, first explaining what the network is, how it is commonly used and how communication in the organization is bi-directional, meaning that the team obtains communication from around the country not just on student issues but also on issues occurring within the SPTAs that have huge ramifications for students and training. Lastly, Ascheman discussed the “NY 22” action that took place last year, in which 22 interns would have lost their funding and ultimately that year of training had it not been for the advocacy of students sending more than 3,000 letters to the New York governor’s office. The direct action secured those internship positions and set a precedent for what student advocacy can accomplish.

Finally, Parent spoke about how students can be engaged in advocacy efforts on the front line through his presentation titled “Front-Line Advocacy: Strategies for Boots-on-the-Ground Students.” Parent spoke about the internship crisis and how groups such as those mentioned by Ascheman and Esbitt have and continued to play crucial roles in advocacy efforts on student-related issues. Parent viewed the internship crisis, and advocacy as a whole, through a feminist/post-modern and organizational behavior approach and highlighted that the nature of these advocacy-related efforts are based within social justice causes. His presentation highlighted hierarchies of power and how students can sometimes feel disempowered because of where they find themselves within hierarchal structure.

Overall, the symposium was well received. The participants asked many questions, and excellent dialogue occurred throughout the symposium. Several participants requested contact information for the speakers so they could consult with them. A similar presentation at the 2014 APA Convention is planned. Div. 31 is focusing on generating a pipeline for those interested in advocacy and leadership and continuing to make psychological research and practice relevant to students and emerging professionals.

Claudette Antuna, the chair of the Division 31 Student Task Force, forwarded an announcement that clarifies President Obama's executive order regarding so many people within our communities who are at risk for deportation. The clarification follows:
 
To: Washington State Alliance for Equal Justice Leadership Group

As most of you probably heard, President Obama announced this past Friday that his administration would be granting a temporary form of immigration protection known as deferred action to certain undocumented individuals who were brought to the United States before the age of sixteen, have been living in the US for five years or more and who meet other requirements.... In order to address some of the initial questions, we have prepared a community advisory in English and Spanish (PDF, 233KB) that provides basic information about the announcement. The primary message we want to ensure the community understands is that the administration has not yet announced or put in place a process to accept applications for this new initiative, so no one who is not currently in deportation (removal) proceedings can apply yet. We anticipate that the process will be announced sometime during August but we will send out an announcement when the process is in place. The advisory provides our recommendations on what people who may qualify for this program can do at this point.

Please let me know if you have any questions. We anticipate having additional information in the coming days which we will share with all of you.

Jorge L. Barón, Executive Director
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
615 Second Ave, Suite 400
Seattle, WA 98104
Telephone: (206) 957-8609
Fax: (206) 587-4025

Please read the report by the APA Presidential Task Force on Immigration initiated by former APA President Melba Vazquez. The executive summary of the report (PDF, 408KB) and the full report are available.
 
A web-based resource "Psychology of Immigration 101" describes this new area of emerging practice. An APAGS webinar on the topic, "Immigration: Things you must know for research, training, and practice," is scheduled for Tuesday, May 15, 12:30 to 2 p.m.

For more information, please contact Efua Andoh at (202) 336-6045.

Throughout the next months, the Division 31 Student Task Force blog will broadcast "just-in-time" information about leadership and advocacy skills, and advocacy efforts that affect students.

For instance, Dr. Benjamin, President of the Division, and a first-year member (of a three-year term) of the APA Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) just announced that BEA has requested that APA authorize three million dollars over a period of three years to provide seed funding to increase the number of APA accredited internship programs. Such funds will be used to assist programs in the application process for APA accreditation including application and site visit fees, program consultation, administrative and supervisor support, intern stipends/benefits or other direct costs in seeking accreditation.

Priorities will be given to those applicants that (1) expand the number of positions, (2) serve underserved populations, and (3) prepare psychologists for the 21st Century health care system, especially for integrated primary care and work in community health centers. BEA recommends collaborating with APPIC in this capacity building effort, and anticipates this program will have a positive impact on the internship imbalance.

Our division is on the vanguard of helping to fix this crisis. Members of our Division will need to lobby the members of the APA BOD and COR in order to change the existing limited efforts that have been meted out to end the internship crisis. More about who to contact and when will be posted later this year.

This policy change will help considerably. In addition, stay tuned for more information about changes in the Commission of Accreditation procedures that also will ease the internship crisis. Both sets of changes will prepare our internship programs to bid and provide services to those who will need behavioral care under the Affordable Care Act (that will open services to 40 million more people). Remember that unless the internship has accreditation, it would not be eligible for reimbursement from federal programs.