Committees

To contact the current chair of a committee, please email the division and/or the current Society for Humanistic Psychology (SHP) president and your query will be forwarded to the correct person(s).

The Awards Committee chair directs the committee to gather groups of nominees for the established divisional awards as well as channel suggestions for additional awards. The chair serves a six-year term. Two additional members serve at the pleasure of the chair and the president of the division for one year, renewable for three additional years. The Student Award chair is a member or fellow of the division who serves as a consultant member of the Awards Committee and is responsible for submitting to the Awards Committee recommendations on student award winners. Recommendations for all awards are submitted to the Executive Board who make final decisions for the granting of awards.

The Continuing Education Committee shall promote, foster, and maintain a series of Divisional workshops, courses, and other approved events offering Continuing Education credits. It serves as the review committee for all workshops, courses, and events submitted for Continuing Education credit. In addition, it will have oversight of any C. E. quizzes in the Division’s journal. The committee may collect fees for credits offered for Division sponsored activities as well as for those independent, non-Division 32, organizational conferences, workshops, and/or conventions it decides meet the standards for continuing education credit. The committee shall have a Chair appointed by the President in accord with the Executive Committee’s approval for a six-year term. Two additional members may be appointed for three-year terms, not to coincide with the terms of any other member of the committee.

The Election Committee shall solicit a slate of nominations for Divisional officers, members-at-large of the Executive Committee and APA Council Representative(s). The immediate Past-President shall serve as Chair with the current President and President-elect as committee members. The Executive Committee must approve all nominations.

The Fellows Committee shall evaluate all applications for initial nomination for Fellow of the Division of Humanistic Psychology and shall recommend those it approves to the Membership Committee of the American Psychological Association. It shall also be responsible for awarding Divisional Fellowship in the case of applicants who are already Fellows in the American Psychological Association.

The Fellows Committee consists of a Chair who holds Division 32 Fellow status and six Fellows of the Division. In addition, the Committee will have three alternates. An alternate will serve on the Committee in the event that a member of the committee cannot serve to review a particular application. The Fellows Committee shall accept nominations (including self-nominations) for Fellow status in the Division and the American Psychological Association. A heavy majority of yea votes (a simple majority plus one) is needed for the application to be forwarded to the membership committee of the American Psychological Association. The latter committee is charged to submit applications it approves for confirmation by the Council of Representatives.

Individuals who are already Fellows of the American Psychological Association, after being a member of the Division for at least one year, may apply for divisional fellowship. A heavy majority (a simple majority plus one) allows the Fellows Committee to recommend the applicant for final confirmation.

The most recent publication of standards by the American Psychological Association and the Fellows Committee of the Division can provide criteria for fellowship. Because members of the Fellows Committee are required to act as judges of nominees, it would be inappropriate for them to act as endorsers of applicants. This stipulation in no way bars members from endorsing nominees for Fellow in other divisions of the American Psychological Association.

The chair of the Fellows Committee shall be appointed from among those who have served (or are presently serving) on the Fellows Committee. The President shall appoint the chair for a four-year term, with the possibility of re-appointment to a second four-year term. The President-elect, in conjunction with the Executive Board, shall appoint two members and one alternate member of the Fellows Committee. Members of the Fellows Committee may not be appointed to succeed themselves.

Officers of the division are expected to resign from the Fellows Committee upon their election. Likewise, any member will be expected to recuse him/herself if that person feels a conflict of interest exists. Alternates will serve in the place of regular members when such conflict of interest is established. In those rare cases when a conflict exists with more than three members, then the Chair, shall, in consultation with the President, appoint additional Fellows to serve as Fellows Committee members during the deliberations of the case in question. If the chair feels that that there is a conflict of interest involving him or her, the chair will ask the President to ask another member of the board to serve as interim chair.

The decisions of the Fellows Committee are final. The Fellows Committee does not have an appeals procedure. Unsuccessful candidates may be encouraged to reapply the following year.

More information can be found on the following pages:

• Div. 32 Fellows
• Call for Fellow Nominations

The Membership Committee is charged with launching membership drives, recruiting new members, maintaining accurate records of the membership, and providing oversight of the student membership committee. The committee will consist of a chair and two members.  The Membership Chair shall serve a six-year term. Committee members shall serve non-overlapping three-year terms.

The Program Committee shall consist of the Program Chair, Past Chair, Chair-Elect, and Hospitality Suite Chair. The President-elect, upon assuming office, shall appoint the Chair-Elect. The Chair shall take office at the beginning of the President’s term while the Past Chair’s tenure shall parallel the immediate Past-President’s term. The Program Chair shall issue the Call for Participation for programs, which appears in the American Psychological Association’s official announcement. The Chair shall be responsible for developing any theme(s) and may, in conjunction with the President and the Executive Board, invite speakers and other participants. The Chair, Chair-Elect, and Past-Chair shall each have a vote in the selection of programs and speakers, with the exception of those speakers or special programs specifically desired by the Executive Committee.
 
The Hospitality Suite Chair, in conjunction with the Program Chair, is charged with seeking appropriate space in the convention hotel in which the majority of the Division 32 Program is scheduled, organize a program suitable for the informal ambiance of a “living room,” and schedule time for social events and Divisional, Section, and/or Sponsor hours.

The Standing Committee Against Hate Incidents (SCAHI) commits to addressing hate incidents in the United States applying the tenets of humanistic psychology. As a Standing Committee comprised and acting within professional realms of humanistic psychologists, we denounce hate incidents, and actively promote and encourage the creation of brave spaces, defined as spaces that facilitate equal rights for all persons, and strive towards an inclusively accessible future borne of unconditional positive regard, an ethic of radical hospitality, and love. Humanistic psychologists are opposed to hate incidents and discriminatory acts of all kinds. We condemn mistreatment of fellow human beings in any form, including physical violence, structural violence, and psychic terrorism. Aligning with the social justice position statement, we unequivocally oppose the abuse of human rights, including (but not limited to) the denial of basic freedoms and liberties; economic deprivation; religious persecution; social discrimination and humiliation; cruel or dehumanizing punishment; genocide and other crimes of war; physical and psychological torture; human trafficking, servitude, and slavery; unjust restrictions on freedom of movement; and the imprisonment of persons without fair trial. Humanistic psychologists also condemn the problematic history of psychologists’ involvement in hate incidents, including historical support for institutionalized racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia; instead affirming the call for creative maladjustment to right historical wrongs. We affirm the principles of the APA Ethics Code, in particular the principles of justice and respect for all people's rights and dignity. Finally, we uphold the dedication of psychologists to the promotion of personal and collective well-being, inclusive of race, nationality, religion, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, ability, or socioeconomic status.

Contact: Sarah Kamens and Roxanne Christensen.