July 2008

CPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS COMMITTEE REPORT

By Jennifer Garbarino, Ph.D.
CPA Board Representative
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There has been much activity since the last newsletter. This includes the CPA convention, Leadership and Advocacy Conference, the CPA semi-annual board meeting, and the CPA office move to 1231 I St., Suite 204, Sacramento, CA 95814! The following are highlights of recent CPA Board endeavors.

• The April 3-6, 2008, CPA convention at Disneyland was fantastic. Thanks to those of you who joined us, and for the rest of you—we missed seeing you there! It was, by all accounts, a good time for all. There were great reviews on speakers and the format.
• The Leadership and Advocacy Conference in April offered some important training onleadership and chapter development, using Kurt Lewin’s Force Field analysis approach, as well as training on lobbying your legislature.
• The CPA May Board meeting covered exciting possibilities available to CPA psychologists through the Public Education Campaign. Public education benefits all who are touched by it—the public benefits from learning how psychology can help with everyday difficulties and many times from specific coping skills; the profession benefits from a reduction of the stigma sometimes associated with seeking psychological services and from consumer advocacy; and psychologists who provide public education workshops or other services benefit from community exposure, which often leads to increased referrals. Finally, psychologists who provide public education presentations, whether they are in private practice or not, gain a tremendous sense of satisfaction from giving back to the community and have fun at the same time!
• Michael Ritz and Jana Martin, as Public Education Coordinators (PECs) for CPA and APA, invite you to support our efforts to keep California at the forefront of APA’s public education campaign by doing any (or all!) of the following:
• View, download, and/or request copies of the APA Practice Directorate’s materials on mind-body health, resilience, and antiviolence. (www.apahelpcenter.org):
• Encourage your chapter or division to designate a representative to the CPA Public Education Committee which meets by conference call approximately every 6 weeks and to form its own task force or committee to plan local events. Members of the Public Education Committee also will be participating in the newly formed CPAPEC listserv where ideas will be exchanged and materials shared.
• Encourage your chapter/division to plan and support training for your members on providing workshops and/or working with the media.
• Consider placing an article in your newsletter and/or your website outlining the opportunities available through public education.
• Consider a line item in your budgets for public education to cover travel expenses of your members, advertising of events, production of banners, posters, etc., meeting expenses, etc.
• The Government Affairs Committee met and began some very interesting discussions about how we might enhance our communication with our GAC reps in all of our Chapters and Divisions. Stay tuned for more information as we move this discussion along.
  
• Div III (I/O Psychology) is working with us to plan a very interesting one-day conference for CEOs and other senior executives in the Silicon Valley. This is something that our President, Dr. Miguel Gallardo, initiated and should be a very good opportunity to talk about the value of psychology in organizational settings. We’ll keep you posted.
• The CPA/Chapter Task force met and this time moved their focus to more concrete ways in which CPA might serve as a greater resource to Chapters, and how Chapters might serve as a resource to each other. There will be much more to come from this group—there was a lot of great ideas and enthusiasm around this discussion.
• Division VII (Public Interest) also met, as did the CE Committee, both with full agendas, moving ahead with projects that you will hear more about as they develop more fully.
• The board of Division V met in Sacramento for a full day with a packed agenda related to future directions for the division. Our discussion at the board meeting about RxP and the future drove much of the discussion.
• The Finance Committee met and had a first look at a very preliminary 2009 budget proposal. This early view of next year’s budget was prepared with information from Committee Chairs working with their staff liaisons, as well as all of us here preparing what we think will be normal operating costs next year. As usual we will need to go back now and look carefully at where we think we will be with regard to both revenue and expenses, and then we’ll prepare the 2nd round for the Finance Committee meeting in July. All of this moves us toward presenting a budget to the Board for approval at the October meeting.
• We sent a response to the National Psychologist article that appeared in their previous issue about the RxP legislation that NAPPP sponsored this year. The NP printed an article that characterized activity around that bill without asking us for comment. We have requested that we be allowed to submit a response to the article, and the NP agreed.
• We sent a letter to the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association asking them to reject a proposal that would limit the use of the term “doctor” – you have most likely seen something about this on various listservs. APA also sent a letter, but many state associations are sending letters as well.
• There has been recent activity on the CPA member listserv. The Board has responded to some of these messages as deemed appropriate. The listserv is there for information, referral, and as a resource. When only a few people offer comment it can become dominated by a very vocal few. So chime in—it’s very helpful to keep things on track.
• As you may know, the California Psychological Association (CPA) is the largest state psychological association in the country and has many APA members among its membership. A recent proposal to the CPA Board of Directors is for CPA to widely publish the rationale for including and seating the four representatives from the Asian American Psychological Association, the Association of Black Psychologists, the National Latina/o Psychological Association, and the Society of Indian Psychologists. Such would include the CPA listservs, newsletter, and email blasts to members, in addition to a posting on the website. The CPA BOD met and passed this motion unanimously! We are hopeful that disseminating the rationale for voting for this APA bylaws change will push the needed vote margin above the 2/3rds majority needed for passage.
• CAPP has awarded the California Psychological Association a 2008 Special Project Grant in the amount of $15,000.

Additionally, please make note of the following announcements:

1. The American Psychological Association's Committee on Women in Psychology (CWP) is seeking nominations for two new members to begin terms in January 2009. The committee functions as a catalyst by interacting with and making recommendations to the various parts of the APA governing structure and the APA membership, as well as other relevant groups. The committee also collects and disseminates information concerning the status of women and develops the means by which the participation of women in roles and functions of the profession could be increased.
2. The Committee on Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) is anticipating two vacancies in 2009. CYF welcomes nominations from individuals interested in linking research and policy for children and families within APA and the profession. The Committee is particularly interested in candidates with substantial expertise and demonstrated experience in applying psychological knowledge to the well being and optimal development of children, youth, and families; and in issues advancing psychology as a science and profession in the area of promoting health and human welfare.
3. The California Psychologist is requesting submission of photographs for their cover. Photographs should reiterate themes and content of upcoming editions, or reflect the natural beauty of our world and the power of psychology. Set your digital camera to the highest setting possible (300 dpi is the minimum) and send via email to Patricia VanWoerkom, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it at CPA.
4. There is a Call for Presentations for the 2009 convention in Oakland. Please consider submitting a proposal and share the information with your colleagues and students.

Jennifer Garbarino, Ph.D.
CPA Board Representative
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