The Div. 20 president has a unique opportunity to see the many parts of the division from a bird’s eye view. It is a privileged position, because one can see how many people are working diligently for members and how all the pieces connect. The challenge, of course, is communicating this hive of (voluntary) activity to our membership. That is the main purpose of the column in this issue.
As one example, the Education/Continuing Education Team has been engaged in some reflective strategic planning, trying to figure out which of our educational initiatives to keep, drop or transform. Long-time division members will remember that the Education group has created highly valued products like the Guide to Graduate Study, a syllabus library, lists of educational and cinematic films, textbooks in adult development and aging and more. Under the leadership of Jennifer Tehan Stanley, the team (including Kelly Cichy and Jennifer Margrett) sent a survey to Div. 20 members. Well over 100 members responded; I was surprised by some of the results. For example, in the world of “video on demand,” we learned that webinars and online videos were not being sought by our members. Instead, educational resources to support instructors (textbook and video lists, for example) were more highly sought. So this helps to direct activity.
A particularly exciting group has been our Early Career team. Led by Courtney Polenick and Nicole DePasquale, the team encompasses our graduate student (Katie Anthony, Naomi Meinertz, Lauren Stratton, Brad Taylor) and postdoctoral representatives (Jennifer Bellingtier, Neika Sharifian) and involves many others at their institutions. Among the exciting initiatives this group started last year, and continuing, include a mentoring program for early career professionals and special interest groups. There has been terrific response to surveys sent out about both initiatives. I’m especially excited about these early career initiatives, because they invest in our future. I believe initiatives like this are essential to making Div. 20 a professional home for years to come. The Early Career team has also successfully submitted APA convention program events, including several conversation hours. This is exciting to me, because it provides a way to bring generations of adult development and aging professionals together.
Our APA Council Representatives, Pat Parmelee and Susan Krauss Whitbourne, have represented us through a year of change on APA Council. Structural changes in APA, the dynamic conversation about divisional autonomy versus embeddedness in the larger organization, stewarding the APA strategic plan and its advocacy priorities are among the many issues Council considered. I am appreciative that Pat and Sue – very influential past presidents – regularly welcome my questions and provide me with guidance. The division’s ability to rely on its leaders long after their terms are up is a major reason we have remained strong and cohesive over the years. To this “council of valued advisors,” I add Past President Joe Gaugler, who has always been instantly ready to answer my questions and lend a hand. He is a tremendous leader.
One thing that happens when you write a column like this is that you look over past presidents’ mid-year columns. One theme that comes up a lot is the challenge of enticing members to run for offices. While I won’t pretend that that is ever an easy task (we’re all multi-tasked together, and it seems daunting to take on one more thing), I have literally applauded our Elections Committee (Patrick Hill and Nancy Sin). We have full slates of terrific candidates for all our elected offices. Candidates include early career professionals through long-time Div. 20 members. The division is well served by its engaged and participating members. I thank our nominees for their willingness to stand in service.
There are many other areas of activity. Our awards team, Karen Hooker and Ruchika Prakash, have cultivated nominees for student and member awards and are getting ready to start the evaluation process soon. We have forwarded one fellows nominee to APA, and Alan Stevens and his successor, Lynn Martire, are gearing up to solicit a new round of fellows. Tina Savla and Laura Zahodne solicited a wide number of collaborative proposals, symposia and presentations – we’re going to have a full slate of activities at the Chicago convention in August. I’m excited that we’ll run the gamut from trainees to senior past presidents and award winners who will be reflecting on our past and future. Our communications team (Listserv, social media, newsletter, website) has been trying to coordinate our messaging across the many channels we communicate with. In a world of ever-more-noise, a coherent messaging strategy is essential to cut through that noise. I thank this large team for keeping Div. 20 in the minds of our members.
Div. 20 has strongly benefited from our partnership with other organizations. The stellar leadership of APA’s Committee on Aging (Wally Boot is our liaison, and Debbie DiGilio runs the committee for APA) has provided a platform for different entities within APA to come together and to collaborate. For example, Div. 20 contributes a small amount to Gerocentral, an information clearing house for students and professionals in aging. The Section on Clinical Geropsychology, Section II of Div. 12 (Clinical Psychology), recently reached out to us to brainstorm about areas of shared interest that might benefit from even stronger future collaboration. Stay tuned for more. Regarding CONA, their website offers terrific educational resources for working with diverse elders, career paths in aging, among many others. CONA also served as a bridge for us to Stand Up for Science, which is an initiative in which APA trains scientists (and their mentees) to engage in advocacy with elected representatives. Dozens of Div. 20 members have signed up to date.
Div. 20 has its 75th birthday in view. In 2021, we will be midway through our eighth decade. I’m excited that my successor, Jennifer Margrett, has been working closely with me to learn about the division and APA, and she has identified areas for her presidential initiatives. I understand that Jennifer sees this milestone birthday as a good time to do some reflection – strategic planning and needs assessment. What do we want for our next 75 years? More will be forthcoming about this.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the August convention. I’d also like to hear from you right now if there are ways that Div. 20 can better serve you or if you’d like to play a more active role. You can reach me any time via email.