Business meeting minutes

Fri., Aug. 3, 2012
11 - 11:50 a.m.

1. Dean Simonton called the meeting to order at 11:10 a.m.
2. The executive committee business meeting minutes from 2011 were approved.
3. Dean mentioned that this was his last hour as president. He suggested we might want to look at a system of having the president remain in office for two years and possibly the president-elect remains in office for two years.
4. Wade Pickren mentioned that he chaired the William James Book Award. There were two award winners this year. Lisa Osbeck et al. Science as Psychology and Wilma Koutstaal for the book The Agile Mind. Fellows chair is now Richard Velayo.
5. Gina Brelsford gave the secretary report. Any communication regarding changes in meeting minutes or the handbook should be directed to her.
6. Joan Chrisler (treasurer) was not present, but Dean mentioned that our financial state is sound and in fact doing very well.
7. Brian Stagner and Josephine Tan as member-at-large: Brian was on the Miller award committee and is on the committee for selecting the new RGP Editor.
8. Greg Feist indicated that out of the 48 allotted hours by APA we used 30 at this convention. As it turns out we could have invited more speakers. This is on par with other years.
9. Bonnie Strickland indicated that we might want to look into how sessions can be used for continuing education credit. It was suggested that you could only have a few sessions listed as available for acquiring CEUs.
10. Mark Terjesen as the hospitality suite coordinator indicated the he only filled half the time in the suite. This is our first time having our own Division 1 suite. We can build on this next year to increase our Division 1 presence.
11. Don Dewsbury presented as the historian. He pleaded to collect materials and he will submit them to the archive for Division 1. Portraits of Pioneers Vol. 7 (Developmental Psychology) was just published. We are uncertain as to the future of this series. The current editors will not continue, so new editors will need to be selected.
12. Doug Candland (Editor of RGP) indicated that the journal is now in volume 16. We now print 400 pages. We have 90 to 100 submissions this year, but this does not include the special issue. Special issues do very well and APA sells them as separates as a way to make more money that can come to the division. Acceptance rate is 25 percent, but Doug suggested that a 33 percent to 35 percent acceptance might be more appropriate. 60 percent of the submissions are from the US. Great Britain, Israel, Canada, and Australia are the most common international contributors. All royalties from the RGP now go to the division. We can do what we would like with the journal at this point. Bruce Overmier mentioned that 100 submissions a year is not very many for a well-read journal. There was discussion as to what can be done about increasing the number of submissions. Bruce Overmier suggested we might want to increase the number of pages in the journal from 400 to 480. Doug suggested that we might have a discussion about this with the next editor.
13. Josephine Tan as awards coordinator indicated that she revised the handbook and distributed it in July of 2012, most recently. The handbook is updated twice a year. APF coordinates the Staats award, Division 1 nominates a person and then APF’s board confirms it. All 2012 awards will be presented at the social hour.
14. Dean mentioned that a meta-analysis on procrastination won the George A. Miller award written by Piers Steel.
15. Dean mentioned that the new webmaster has been very helpful. The new format for the website is excellent.
16. Mark Terjesen mentioned that as students change into ECPs we have to make sure to retain them. We have to target divisions that there is a large overlap to gather new members as membership is down.
17. Florence Denmark indicated as Fellows chair, they recommended four names to become fellows. We also approved current APA fellows as fellows of Division 1 (four individuals). There are a few other applications that came in after the current fellows were approved. All fellow submissions will become electronic in the coming year.
18. The Division 1 Bylaw change includes the change to make ballots electronic. Division 1 members approved the bylaw change unanimously.
19. Past president report by Nancy Felipe Russo. She chaired the Hilgard award committee, for which the winner will be announced at the social hour. Nancy wanted to get people involved in fostering voices of general psychology in public policy. Public interest is an important way to unite people. Getting involved in voter registration would be in the best interest of all people. Her goal is empowering members to influence public policy through voting and advocacy.
20. Dean Simonton presented awards to new fellows, but they were not present at the meeting.
21. Dean presented recognition awards for distinguished service. Greg Feist was presented a recognition award as a program co-chair, Mark Terjesen was presented a recognition award as suite co-chair, Gina Brelsford was presented a recognition award for her work as the past newsletter editor. Josephine Tan was presented a recognition award as the awards coordinator. A double award was presented to Florence as the fellow’s chair and a presidential citation for being a great Division 1 citizen. C. Alan Boneau award was presented to Bruce Overmier for his long-term service.
22. Eric Charles mentioned that the Australian government reviewed 623 journals in psychology and Review of General Psychology was in the top rating section.
23. The presidential gavel was presented to Dean as the outgoing president.
24. Meeting was adjourned at 11:53 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Gina M. Brelsford, PhD, Division 1 Secretary