Candidate statement for Member-at-Large: Carmen Tebbe, PhD

I grew up in Illinois and attended the University of South Carolina Spartanburg on a volleyball scholarship. I earned my master's degree from Wake Forest University and doctorate from the University of North Texas. I have been with Psychological Resources for au Student-Athletes (PROS) since August 2006, initially as a pre-doctoral intern, then post-doctoral fellow, Assistant Director (October 2008), Director (April 2010) and am currently the Associate Director ofAcademics and Student Life (February 2011). My primary responsibilities include leadership over (8) staff members, providing counseling, performance enhancement, and team-building services, coordination of our psycho-educational assessment program, clinical supervision of (3) non-licensed counselors/trainees, CHAMPS/Life Skills Coordinator, oversight of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, supervision of our Registered Dietician, oversight of the Reading Improvement Program (supervision of Reading Specialists providing services to student-athletes diagnosed with a Reading Disorder), and development of a High Risk Team that focuses on providing comprehensive services for student-athletes with severe learning deficiencies. My work with academically at-risk student-athletes ultimately led to my participation in the N4A and I was the recipient of the 2008 N4A Region IV Professional Promise Award. I am also involved with AASP and an invited member of the Division IA Athletic Directors Task Force for StudentAthlete Development, which is charged with the mission of informing Athletics Directors and NCAA on pertinent issues regarding student-athlete development and mental health. In addition, I serve as an adjunct faculty member teaching an undergraduate Applied Sport Psychology course and graduate level College Student-Athlete Development course.

Position Statement

I am honored to be nominated for the Member at Large position. As I contemplated this position statement, I reflected on how professional organization participation has affected my career. As a lost senior student-athlete having no idea what to do with my psychology degree, I wandered into a sports psychology poster session at a regional conference because I saw the words" sports" and "psychology" put together. The light bulb went off and the subsequent exposure to the field led to my thesis research and decision to attend a counseling psychology doctoral program, specializing in sports psychology. Before my pre-doctoral internship, I attended an AASP session by Dr. Nicki Moore on services at au and ultimately ended up deciding to apply to the site. I already had my list of internship sites to apply, but once again I had no idea what I didn't know and fortunately conference attendance opened up another surprising path. Professional organization participation has greatly influenced my knowledge of the field and allowed me to develop a network of colleagues to consult with and improve my skills. Many of my opportunities and development have been a result of professional organization participation and service, and I believe it's time to increase the service part and am excited to see what this path may hold.

My career has not been diverse in setting; however, I do believe I can add valuable insight into the intercollegiate athletics setting. I have held multiple roles at au and I believe my experience from leading PROS and in different aspects other than traditional psychological services has led to a keen understanding of the nuances of providing services for a major Athletics Department. I may not have breadth of experience in multiple settings (or multiple Athletics Departments for that matter), but I do believe I offer depth in experience with mymultiple roles here at au. Another strength I believe I offer is related to supervised training. A daily challenge for our program is balancing excellent service delivery with rich training experiences and being able to prioritize both without compromising the other. There are very few training opportunities in the intercollegiate athletics setting and we are proud to offer this experience. I have been very fortunate to have strong training/mentorship in the field and believe solid training is imperative for our field to grow. I believe the training program perspective could be helpful as Division 47 continues to focus on addressing the lack of supervised training opportunities.

In summary, it is an honor to be nominated for this position, and if elected, I promise to serve the Executive Board and membership to the best of my ability. I have been serving on the Division 47 Practice Committee and would look forward to the opportunity to serve the membership in a greater capacity. I am a hard worker and a quick learner and I believe these qualities would make me successful in this position.