This is my last column to you as your president, since my term of office came to an end after the Affiliate Council meeting in January. It has been a pleasure to serve you for the last four years, as president-elect and president of the Affiliate Council, and I thank you for your help and support during my term. I also want to thank my excellent and hardworking Executive Committee: Hilli Dagony-Clark, Richard Grossberg, and Jamie Cromer.
Currently, there is a lot going on in the Association, and significant changes were put into effect during the June 2010 meetings. First and foremost, there is a new set of Educational Standards that allows for greater flexibility for those institutes that choose it. Very briefly, the new standards propose: an alternative “developmental” pathway to the training analyst appointment, a separation of the supervising analyst appointment from the training analyst appointment (so that they are two separate appointments), and the choice for institutes to request a waiver of the TA requirement for candidate applicants who are already in an ongoing analysis with a non-TA. It is up to every institute to decide whether they will adopt some or all of the new standards, and the Board on Professional Standards is recommending that institutes thoroughly discuss the new standards with faculty and candidates before making their decision.
Second, the expanded membership bylaw amendment was passed. This amendment broadened the criteria for APsaA membership. As with many issues in our organization, there were two major points of view on this. The majority viewpoint felt that the criteria for membership, specifically the requirement to be a graduate of an APsaA or IPA institute was too stringent and excluded potential members who were not graduates of either. This group suggested that membership requirements be modified so that equivalence in training be the new criterion, rather than training at an APsaA or IPA institute. The minority view was concerned about how equivalence would be defined, as well as with the effect of the shift in power to a smaller group that comprises the committee. [See editor's note below.]
Now, I would like to shift gears, and focus on the Affiliate Council. First, I would like to review some of the things that we have done during the last two years.
The application for affiliate membership became available online at www.apsa.org/joinapsaa.
A welcome letter/e-mail for all new candidates, on behalf of the Affiliate Council president, was created. The letter encourages candidates to join and outlines the benefits of affiliate membership.
A calling campaign was instituted to reach out to all new candidates who did not become members of the Affiliate Council during their first year of training.
Talking points about APsaA, the Affiliate Council, and the benefits of membership were made available for use by the delegates during the affiliate membership drive.
A new Travel Grant Program was created. This program allows one candidate from each institute (who has never attended an APsaA meeting) to attend a national APsaA meeting.
The Affiliate Newsletter was revamped and reformatted as the new Candidate Connection Newsletter.
The Affiliate Council Practice Network, a Web site, where affiliates can communicate about professional development and training issues, was launched.
Support for the new pilot certification program, which allows candidates to begin the certification process during training or pre-graduation, was strongly endorsed.
We have accomplished a significant amount, and there is a lot more we could do. We can use your help. For example, organize your local candidate group and make sure that you have a representative on the Affiliate Council; encourage candidates in your institute to join APsaA as an affiliate member, consider joining or starting an Affiliate Council committee, join the Practice Network, write for the newsletter. Get involved! This is your future, your training, your career, and you have the opportunity to get as involved as you would like. I hope that you will support and help your next president, Hilli Dagony-Clark, and her newly elected Executive Committee.
Even though I am saying farewell, I want to reassure you that your education, training, and professional development are all issues of great importance to me, and I will continue to advocate on your behalf in any capacity I can within APsaA.
Editor's Note: This is an edited reprint of part of an article published in the January 2011 edition of the Affiliate Council newsletter, The Candidate Connection. In the full article, Pérez discusses the recent bylaw vote which sought to add four councilors to the Executive Committee. She highlighted its flaws with respect to candidate representation, and urged consideration of a different model for expansion of the committee. Prior to TAP's publication, the bylaw was not passed, and the discussion was removed from this reprint. You can read the column in its entirety on the Association Web site at
http://www.apsa.org/Portals/1/docs/publications/ACNews/ACNewsJAN-2011.pdf.
Carmela Pérez, Ph.D., just completed her term as president of the Affiliate Council.