Dear 42 Community,
Here a few highlights from the Board of Directors midwinter meeting on January 29-30, 2016.
On Thursday evening and Friday morning (Jan 28-29), prior to the Board meeting, June Ching, Lenore Walker, and I participated in a joint meeting with the President of Division 35 Society for Women, BraVada Akinsanya –to continue defining objectives and action plan for an exciting interdivisional collaboration on research to practice. This collaborative effort, chaired by Edna Esnil and Josephine Johnson, has identified ways to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners with a particular focus on feminist perspectives. You will hear more about this collaborative effort throughout 2016.
The Board of Directors’ meeting began on Friday evening, where, among other things, we each shared an actionable goal for the Division in 2016. In the Friday evening meeting, we also discussed the financial outlook of the Division. The good news is that we are currently in the black, which provides us with an opportunity to institute both short and long-term plans to address declining trends in membership.
When we reconvened on Saturday the Board tackled a number of important issues associated with a) telepsychology; b) membership; c) ways to increase non-dues revenue in the Division including merging our two conferences into one larger conference as well as developing an infrastructure to host webinars on topics relevant to practitioners; and, d) discussed the question of who we are as a Division and the pros and cons of considering redefining that identity. Additionally, APA Membership Executive Director Ian King, joined the board meeting via teleconference and provided information on the state of membership in APA and APAPO and ideas for collaborating with Divisions to understand more about member needs.
As a result of these deliberations, the following Board actions were taken:
- The Board endorsed the ASPBB’s Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) developed to enable psychologists to engage in practice beyond the jurisdiction within which he or she is licensed. You can read more about the Compact by accessing the agenda book for the board meeting. However, in short, the Compact will allow psychologists who meet the qualifications to engage in telepsychology with clients who reside in states where there is a participating Compact or agreement between states.
- The Board reaffirmed the need for continuing the Entrepreneurial Task Force, chaired by Nancy Molitor. There is a planned outreach to 42 members who may be interested in joining this committee.
- The Board created an ad hoc committee to further explore the question of who we are as a Division. Elaine Ducharme is the committee chair and there is planned outreach to Division members who may be interested in participating.
- The Board decided to move forward with a plan to merge the Fast Forward and Forensic Conferences with its inaugural meeting in 2017.
- The Board empowered the Executive Committee to develop a plan that would address avenues for cost savings and increased revenue for the Division.
Stay tuned, Michael Schwartz will post the meeting minutes on the member portion of the website. There you can read more about additional meeting topics including information on the planned disbursement of APF Next Generation Fund.
Best Wishes,
Lori C. Thomas
President-Division 42