The Division 32 Student Ambassador program will begin its 15th year this fall. The program was founded in 2008 by Richard Bargdill (VCU), then membership chair of Division 32. In 2009, at the APA convention in Toronto, the program was strengthened by the addition of student leader, Trisha Nash (now Trish Wright). Trish was a graduate student at the University of Memphis who was mentored there by Sara Bridges. Bargdill and Nash ran the program together for almost a decade. Nash continued as co-leader even after she earned her PhD. The purpose of the Student Ambassador Program is to create a vibrant community of graduate students and help nurture them to become young scholars, practitioners, and researchers who are invested in the humanistic psychologies (humanistic, existential, constructivist, transpersonal, and somatic areas). This group also created a line of communication between humanistic psychology graduate programs and the Society of Humanistic Psychology. The penultimate goal included having at least one ambassador from each program that has a strong humanistic leaning—whether the whole program or only a single faculty member held that orientation.
Over the years, the Student Ambassador program held special events at both Division 32 annual conferences and at the APA convention. Students were encouraged to present posters every time they came to a conference. Bargdill’s often-repeated statement was, “No empty trips—if you are going to come, you might as well present.” Another goal of the organization was to help enrich the CVs of students in qualitative programs who often don’t leave their programs with the hefty publication and presentation record that other grad students can have when leaving quantitative programs. “We wanted our humanistic folks to be competitive in the job searches,” said Bargdill.
In additions to poster presentations and APA Hospitality Suite presentations, students often collaborated to present on important graduate issues such as internship application process, internship scarcity, theoretical explorations (e.g., Levinas, Derrida, and others), and BIPOC and LGBTQ+ advocacy. Student Ambassadors began putting together symposiums of their own, particularly at the Division 32 conferences, which have much more flexibility than the APA convention. Speed mentoring events also were held at Division 32 conferences where students could talk for about 5 minutes with an established faculty member on topics like supervision, academic careers, therapy careers, internship, post-docs, dissertation processes, and others. Another achievement was that each chapter in the textbook, Humanistic Contributions to Psychology 101: Freedom, Choice and Responsibility (Bargdill & Broomé, 2020), was a collaboration between student ambassadors and an established humanistic scholar. The book was edited by Bargdill and one of the original student ambassadors, Rodger Broomé.
The Student Ambassador program also encouraged the Division 32 executive board to give its two student members voting privileges. Prior to this, students could attend meetings where they would often observe and occasionally, they might be asked for input “from a student’s perspective.” Yet, their point of view did not carry the weight that it does with having a vote. Trish Wright was instrumental in setting up the current system that has two student representatives serving staggered two-year terms. In this way, there is always one representative who has some experience to share with the newest member.
The Ambassador program has continued through the COVID pandemic with a Zoom meeting on the third Sunday of each month. Without being able to meet in person, the Ambassador program has been able to communicate (and record via Zoom) important information this last year on internships (with Jared Boot and Sierra Gillis), academic careers (with president-elect Gina Belton, PsyD), and dissertation tips (with Brent Robbins, PhD, and Lisa Cosgrove, PhD). While numerous former ambassadors have gone on to be members of the Division 32 executive board, Gina Belton is the first student ambassador to go from grad student to president!
The Division 32 Student Ambassador program has hosted ambassadors from 20 different schools. We currently have members from Saybrook, Michigan School, Point Park University, Miami University, California Institute of Integral Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Denver University, and Boston College. If you or someone you know would like to be part of the 15th year of this program, please contact Richard Bargdill, PhD, via email.
Reference
Bargdill, R., & Broome, R. (Eds.). (2020). Humanistic contributions for Psychology 101: Growth, choice, and responsibility. University Professors Press.
About the Author
Richard Bargdill, PhD is an artist, environmental activist, and associate professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from Duquesne University. His research has investigated the interface of boredom, creativity, and meaning and explored their contribution to the “good life.” In addition to his work with HP students across diverse universities, he has held a variety of supportive positions in Division 32 leadership.