Past president’s column

The busy year included bylaws changes, an exciting convention in Florida and outstanding award winners

By Linda Bodie, PsyD

At the annual APA convention, it was my privilege to pass the gavel to Dr. Jacqueline Wall. Jacquie has been quite involved in division activities for many years and will continue to make significant contributions to the division. I look forward to working with Jacquie on her new initiatives as she moves the division forward. Dr. Anne Klee moves into the role of president-elect. Anne served as chair of the VA Section and has been a strong advocate for Division 18 for many years. I want to extend a special thanks to the outgoing past-president, Steve Norton, for his work and guidance for the division, even while he was working in Afghanistan.

It was great to see everyone in Orlando for the Annual APA Convention. Our Division 18 program chairs, Dr. Jay Supnick and Dr. Howard Steinberg planned an outstanding program, as well as several excellent events in the Division 18 suite. Convention programming is a lot of hard work, but the payoff makes it all worthwhile. It is time to start planning for next year’s convention in Hawai'i — the deadline for submissions is Nov. 16, 2012.

It has been a busy, productive year with several major changes in the division. First of all, the bylaws were amended to streamline the process to renew or apply for membership, to remove the need for prospective members to be approved by the executive committee and to permit electronic voting for other bylaws changes. We hope that more members will be attracted to join as a result of these changes, especially early career psychologists. Dr. David Pilkey revised our membership brochure to include information about the new online application process and our new SMI/SED Section, which was officially formalized this year.

The past president is responsible for generating nominees for elections and facilitating the award process for next year’s convention. Welcome to the incoming officers and many thanks to the outgoing officers for their work and commitment to the Division:

President-elect — Anne Klee, PhD, replacing Jacqueline Wall, PhD
Secretary/Treasurer — Marylu Bushnell, PhD, replacing Bret Moore, PsyD, ABPP
Communications chair — David Kazar, PhD, replacing Pamela Fisher, PhD
Webmaster, Lindsay Avritt, PsyD, replacing Kellie Condon, PhD
Convention co-chairs — Howard Steinberg, PhD and Erica Fitzgerald, PhD., replacing Jay Supnick, PhD
Continuing Education chair — Joseph Hansel, PhD, replacing Lucas Shaw, PhD

Congratulations to 2012 award winners:

Harold M. Hildreth Award — Terence Keane, PhD
Michael S. Neale Award — Anne Klee, PhD
Distinguished Career Award — Leon Green, PhD
Early Career Achievement Award — Zoe Proctor-Weber, PhD, PsyD
Outstanding Student Award — Jay Hamm, MA
Outstanding Student Award — Honorable Mention — Steven Proctor, MA

It is not too early to be thinking about elections and awards for this year! Are you interested in becoming more involved in Division 18? Is there a colleague you would like to recommend for an office or an award in Division 18? If so, please contact me.

It has been an honor to serve as your President this past year and I look forward to continuing the work as past-president.

Hope to hear from you…..Happy Fall, Linda