APS Turns Six, Still Growing

Not too many five-year-olds would command the attention of several top federal agency chiefs but just prior to its sixth birthday (on August 12), APS hosted the likes of Wendy Baldwin, Rex Cowdry, Enoch Gordis, and Alan Leshner — during the June APS Board meeting at the APS Convention in Washington (see the July/August Observer). Baldwin is Director of Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health, Cowdry is Acting Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Gordis is Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and Leshner is Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

On the Map

The Board’s opportunity to speak directly with these heads of the largest sources of federal funding for psychologist’s research was informative for all, but we were particularly struck by just how significant an achievement it was to have drawn so many key people at one meeting. Admittedly we were in their own backyard but this may be the most we have hosted yet! It is amazing to realize the speed with which APS has emerged on the national “public policy map” in Washington.

Closer to Home

And between visits from these Washington decision-makers, the APS Board reached a number of decisions of its own. Tackling a long list of business of direct interest to Society members, the Board among other things:

• Welcomed its new President-Elect, Richard F. Thompson, and the new Members­At-Large, Lorraine Eyde and Bruce Ovennier whose terms began officially at the end of the convention.
• Approved a brief statement on ethics that is in keeping with APS’s interests in scientific and personal integrity but does not put the society in the position of acting as judge and jury.
• Reviewed and approved a change in the current APS policy on poster submissions for the convention. In keeping with policies of similar scientific societies, the Board decided that members should be entitled automatically to present posters at the annual meeting, adopting a virtually open submissions policy with a much less cumbersome review process. (See the enclosed “call for posters.”) The convention review committee maintains authority to screen submissions for eligibility and appropriateness.
• Approved recommendation of the Fellows Committee regarding new APS Fellows (see call for nominations and list of Fellows approved in 1994 elsewhere in this issue).
• Approved a proposal by the Publications Committee for a new journal on teaching psychological science. The primary focus would be on teaching psychology to undergraduates and graduate students, but articles concerning the education of high school students and postdoctoral fellows would also be within the journal’s scope. Watch for more information in an upcoming Observer.
• Approved support in 1995 for the formation of a coalition of clinical science training programs per the recommendations of the Indiana Conference on Clinical Science in the 21st Century (see July/August Observer). The coalition would be the first step toward forming an Academy of Clinical Science in Psychology whose members will meet standards for doctoral programs that include strong emphasis on scientific research training. Emphasizing the importance of supporting academic clinicians, the Board believes it must continue in its role as a facilitator in efforts to examine accreditation issues as they affect science.

During the day-and-a-half meeting, the Board also learned that there are now nearly 1,000 Liaison Contacts, individuals in academic departments who voluntarily help with membership recruitment and other APS efforts. Liaison Contacts present at the June convention in Washington were treated to a special breakfast meeting. In addition, the APS Student Caucus President Dianna Newbern brought the Board up to date on student activities including the travel award, student research competition, and membership recruitment and retention efforts.

Public Education

In the continuing effort to “give psychology away in the public interest” APS has worked closely with the Smithsonian Institution (see full-page display in this issue) to provide expertise in the development of a seven-part lecture series on behavioral genetics (titled The Influences of Nature and Nurture), scheduled to start in late October. Consequently, APS members are entitled to a significant tuition discount for the Campus on the Mall course. Some 2,000 APS members and students reside in the Washington, DC area and will appreciate this “backyard” opportunity to learn more about genetics and behavior. The Smithsonian courses are quite popular with Washington’s educated lay public and the Nature/Nurture course was already drawing in several registrants in early August. Included among the speakers are: Robert Cairns (Univ. of North Carolina), Irving Gottesman (Univ. of Virginia), Jerome Kagan (Harvard), Gerald McClearn (Penn State), Robert Plomin (Penn State), David Reiss (George Washington Univ.), and Sandra Scarr (Univ. of Virginia).

The Board will next meet December 3-5 in San Francisco, the site of our 1996 convention.