Hello fellow Div. 31 members. One of the vital activities for Div. 31 is serving as advocate for SPTAs, along with the Council of Executives of State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Associations (CESPPA), and collaborating with the American Psychological Association Board of Directors (BoD) and the APA/APASi staff to ensure our SPTAs remain open, active, and centered on the needs of the psychologists and psychology. In the spirit of this collaboration, we invited our APA CEO, APA Practice and Advocacy staff, and APA Board of Directors members to join our Div. 31 Executive Board virtual meeting on Aug. 7 during the virtual APA convention. We were honored to receive updates from APA staff on advocacy, practice, and overarching APA strategic goals and plans and to share what Div. 31 has been focused on this year (e.g., joining the Interdivisional Healthcare Committee, working on developing creative ways to address financial concerns of SPTAs, developing a report with information regarding pros and cons of EPPP2, continuing funding for the Diversity Leadership Workshop initiated by Jennifer Kelly during her Div. 31 presidential term). Div. 31 was honored to have been asked to co-lead a townhall with Sandra Shullman, APA president, and Arthur Evans, APA CEO, on June 3 about SPTAs. Our Div. 31 president-elect, Kathleen Ashton, led a discussion on challenges for SPTAs in the COVID pandemic (in case you missed it,
watch the townhall
). These strategic partnerships with CESPPA and APA strengthen our ability to promote and communicate important initiatives and proactively meet and beat challenges to psychologists’ practice and important training/education, scholarly/research, and advocacy goals.
A big shout out and many thanks to Tyson Bailey, our Div. 31 APA convention program chair for 2020! He did a fantastic job of leading the coordination of presentations approved by Div. 31 to switch to a virtual platform. Eric Russ will be following in his footsteps as the Div. 31 APA convention program chair in 2021, partnering with Kathy Ashton, our Div. 31 president in 2021.
During the division social hour on Aug. 7, the Karl F. Heiser APA Presidential Awards for Advocacy were presented to Hollis Hackman of Wyoming and Gil Sanders of Oklahoma, Division 31 Outstanding Psychologist of the Year Award was presented to Jorge Wong of California, and APA Committee on Rural Health Award for Excellence in Rural Health in Psychology was presented to Ricardo Gonzales of New Mexico. The awardees were recognized and honored for their significant contributions. We also recognized our newest fellow of Div. 31, Christopher Nicholls of Arizona. In this newsletter, you can see the photos of our virtual social hour. Congratulations to everyone and thank you for your contributions to psychology!
Speaking of fellow status, I encourage people to consider their accomplishments and work in and for SPTAs and whether they may be eligible to apply for fellow status in Div. 31. Specific criteria can be found on the Div. 31 website. And the fellows application portal is open. The entire process is completed online, and the webpage has resources for fellow applicants, including sample endorsement letters and a model of the type of information the APA Fellows Committee looks for when evaluating fellow applications. There are also helpful instructions for applicants and an outline of the process. You may be eligible to apply if you are a member of Div. 31 and your SPTA, and you have made unusual and outstanding contributions in one or more of the following areas: development of exemplary programs; leadership in organized psychology; publication or dissemination of information; and national policy development or political action. If you have questions about your eligibility or the process, you can contact the Div. 31 fellows chair, Don McAleer. The division deadline for completing the application for this cycle is Nov. 15, 2020.
As I said in a prior column, we hope to re-invigorate diversity efforts in Div. 31 particularly as we progress toward the biannual Diversity Leadership Workshop that will occur before PLC next March 2021. We don’t yet know whether or to what extent PLC will be in-person vs. virtual but will let you know when we know more about those plans to ensure everyone is safe in their learning, networking, and advocacy. In the meantime, we encourage Div. 31 members to join us in re-invigorating diversity and inclusion in your SPTAs and Div. 31. If you are interested in joining the Div. 31 Diversity Committee, please email Rosa to express your interest. Please also make sure that your SPTA’s statement is included in the equity, diversity, and inclusion statements on the Div. 31 website and see what other SPTAs are committing to in action against structural and institutional racism and discrimination.
Watch for more information on how you can give a financial contribution toward the Diversity Leadership Workshop, and more information on EPPP2 and creative ways to address financial concerns of SPTAs. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, please take care of yourself and your loved ones, even as you take care of your patients, colleagues, and staff. May you and yours be healthy and well.