The Council of Representatives (COR) had its virtual meeting on February 26-27, 2021. The online platform allowed COR members to “sit” at tables where it was possible to chat briefly with other representatives, but the majority of the meeting consisted of presentations with limited interaction opportunities. Additionally, a number of Zoom-based meetings were held with smaller groups, including the Caucuses, and a set of Town Halls that preceded the meeting were also conducted on Zoom in which participants could see each other’s faces. However, by virtue of their size, participation was also limited.
At the same time that the pandemic-related exigencies have limited the ability of COR members to communicate about matters confronting the association, there has also been discussion among smaller groups regarding how best COR can exert its policy-making role. A group known as the “Virtual Caucus” began holding meetings in January to explore COR’s options. With the report of the Council Effectiveness Working Group (CEWG) slated for discussion at the February meeting, the group began to focus its attention on ways to implement the CEWG’s extensive set of recommendations. It’s important to note that these recommendations arose from the February 2020 “tabletop” discussions in which COR members expressed their views about how these policy-making roles could be fulfilled. Moving forward, there will be five workgroups based on the CEWG report that will now attend to these functions in a coherent manner, with plans to provide recommendations in August. The main advantage of this development is that it will allow COR members to have a chance to provide regular input on governance processes rather than participate on only a twice-yearly basis.
Regarding COR business, a brief finance report indicated the expectation that the 2021 budget will be balanced. A realigning of programs and resources is primarily responsible for this outcome, along with a refinancing of the investment building at 10 G Street, DC. Additionally, although no details were provided, the Finance Committee along with the CEO and his team are evaluating effectiveness for the best use of resources for future work of volunteer leadership based on what happened during the pandemic. They will consider workflow, agenda setting, pipeline, satisfaction, and engagement as well as staff and workload resource costs and “our science” about effectiveness. Guidance based on these factors will be presented to the Board for further deliberation.
On matters of policy, COR voted in favor of the Guidelines for the Evaluation of Dementia and Age-Related Cognitive Change with no comment or dissent. Many thanks to the working group and the Div. 20 community for their support on that item. In addition, the APA Resolution on Racism, the Resolution on Sexual Orientation Change Efforts, the Resolution on Gender Identity Change Efforts, and the Resolution on APA, Psychology, and Human Rights passed, with a large majority of Council in favor. The Council spent considerable time discussing the Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology: Master’s Programs, addressing questions about scope of practice and licensing issues, pending competencies, and issues related to ensuring the integrity of the field and the safety and well-being of the individuals served by this new cadre of professionals. The item approving these standards passed. Details about the competencies are available for review on the APA website.
If you have any questions or concerns you’d like to share about the issues raised at this meeting, feel free to contact either one of us.