    |
| OPAGS Meeting Minutes |
OPAGS Menu
|
Most Recent Meeting Minutes
Minutes Archives
Ohio Psychological Association of
Graduate Students The Executive Council of the Ohio Psychological Association of Graduate Students held its second student summit at the Marriott Hotel in Dublin, Ohio on September 13, 2002. In attendance were Briget Lanktree, Beth Doherty, Robin Graff-Reed, Nicole Wood-Barcalow, along with OPA Executive Director Michael Ranney, and OPA Advocacy Chair, Suzanne LeSure. Low attendance by graduate students was attributed to several campuses holding Comprehensive Exams this week. The first order of business was the election of new members of the executive council for the coming year. As last year’s chair-elect, Briget Lanktree assumed the Chair of OPAGS and conducted the meeting. The status of the nominations accepted over the past two months was reviewed, with several nominations having been withdrawn. The remaining nominations were as follows: Chair-Elect – Beth Doherty; Membership/Communications Chair – Robin Graff-Reed; Continuing Education Chair – Julie Brennan; Advocacy Chair – Michelle Anderson; and Diversity Chair – Rosemary Shaw. The above executive council was duly elected by the members present, subject to final confirmation from the electees who were not present. In addition to the elected Executive Council, Nicole Wood-Barcalow confirmed that she will continue in her position as a regional representative of APAGS and will work closely with the OPAGS council. OLD BUSINESS: Briget Lanktree reminded the council that the OPAGS by-laws need to be approved by a membership vote. A change to the original draft—the insertion of the Diversity Committee as a standing committee—has yet to be confirmed. She proposed an additional amendment, changing the order of committee elections in order to highlight the importance of the Advocacy Committee. The proposed order for elections will now be: Chair-Elect, Advocacy Chair, Membership/Communications Chair, Continuing Education Chair, and Diversity Chair. The council approved the proposed changes. The revised draft of the by-laws will be disseminated via the student list and a voting procedure will be determined shortly. Beth Doherty announced that the OPA committee for the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award is still looking for graduate students to participate. She passed out flyers to be disseminated to campuses, and urged council members to share this information with fellow students. In addition, she will contact campus reps with this information. COMMITTEE BUSINESS: Congratulations were extended to the Continuing Education Committee chairs, Beth Doherty and Julie Brennan, for an excellent student workshop this past July. Attendance at the event was good, and the program of speakers was exceptional. The Membership/Communications chair, Robin Graff-Reed, will begin contacting last year’s campus representatives in order to establish a campus rep. list for the coming year. Also, another reminder about the OPA Fall conference will go out to reps and contact persons at all campuses. The deadline for the November issue of the OPA Review is approaching. Nicole Wood-Barcalow volunteered to provide an article on behalf of OPAGS for that issue. Robin will be sending flyers announcing the OPAGS website to all campuses as well. The Executive Council will hold its next meeting at the OPA Fall Convention on Friday, October 4th. Tentative time is 5:00 p.m., following the afternoon sessions. It was suggested that we contact all graduate students who are registered for the convention to invite them to join us at the meeting. Beth will obtain a list of registrants from Denise Sabo, at the OPA office. Ohio Psychological Association of
Graduate Students The Executive Council of the Ohio Psychological Association of Graduate Students held its January 19, 2002 meeting at the OPA offices in Columbus, OH. Executive Council Members in attendance were: Jackie Scheff, Robin Graff-Reed, Julie Brennan, T. Camille Hucks, Nichole Wood-Barcalow, Beth Doherty, & Briget Lanktree. Also in attendance were: Meena Dasan, Michael Ranney, Dick Rynearson, & Bobbie Celeste. The meeting was called to order by Jackie Scheff. The minutes from the meeting of October 18, 2001 were read and approved. Old Business Listserve postings: In response to the suggestion at the last meeting that executive council members take turns posting questions and monitoring responses to the listserve, Jackie Scheff distributed a schedule through mid-April. Executive council members are also encouraged to respond to the questions each week in order to promote and facilitate active use of the listserve. Flyers on Campus for listserve recruitment: The communications committee will undertake the design and distribution of a sample flyer as soon as possible. Campus Links to OPAGS website: As soon as the website is up and running, executive council members and campus reps will be notified so that they can contact website managers about creating the appropriate links. Campus Representative Recruitment: As decided at the last meeting, Executive Council members will continue to recruit representatives at their own campuses, and will act as default campus reps until another individual has been identified. The communications committee chairs will contact campuses that are not yet represented by the executive council, first by sending an email that specifies the status of OPAGS as a new organization. A list of all current campus reps and/or alternative campus contacts will be forwarded to the Executive Council members as soon as possible. By-Laws: Jackie distributed copies of the OPAGS By-Laws to all council members. New Business Dick Rynearson of OPA presented information regarding the formation of a new OPA committee for the development of an annual award. The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award was first conceived by the APA and is now being awarded in approximately 24 states. Ohio would like to initiate a task force within the next few weeks to plan and implement this program. Graduate students would be a welcome part of this effort, both in planning and in the company evaluations. Graduate students would bring a new perspective, energy, and experience to the project. This is a good opportunity for active participation in the OPA. The time commitment would vary, and might include conference calls, training days, site visits, and team meetings as the program develops. Dick Rynearson also announced his plan to include graduate student research presentations in the fall conference in addition to the poster presentations. He is considering the possibility to incorporate an award system for presentations to encourage student participation. Michael Ranney announced that judges are needed for the Behavioral Health Division of the State Science Contest to be held in Columbus. The contest is for students grades 7-12. Contact Michael if you are interested in helping out. Committee Reports Budget: Brigit Lanktree is responsible for formulating an OPAGS budget. She will consult with Michael Ranney in the near future. Communications Committee: Robin Graff-Reed informed the council that the deadline for the next issue of the OPA Review is February 15th. Council members were reminded that the purpose of our column is to provide a bridge between students and practicing psychologists as well as to keep our members apprised of progress. Council members were asked for regular contributions to this column. Jackie Scheff and Brigit Lanktree will provide an article about a proposed mentorship program for the next issue. In addition, this article will be posted to the listserve for dissemination to listserve members. Executive council members were asked to consider topics for future articles so that we may develop a schedule for the coming year. Advocacy Committee: Nicole Wood-Barcalow requested clarification of the duties of the advocacy committee. Jackie Scheff distributed copies of "The Bill Box" to council members. Michael Ranney reviewed this summary of the purpose and status of currently proposed legislation. Action alerts will be forthcoming through the Advocacy committee. In addition, links are available through the OPA website for more information on advocacy concerns. Student scholarships are available for Ohio Health Day, which will be held on Tuesday, February 26th. Continuing Education Committee: Committee chairs Julie Brennan and Beth Doherty talked to Dick Rynearson about ideas for future student programming. Student volunteers will be used at this year’s Spring Institute in return for free conference attendance. We do not have specific numbers yet, but this will be coordinated by Melissa Wervey. A call for posters for Spring Institute has already gone out over the listserve. The student workshop from fall conference will be repeated at Spring Institute on Friday, hopefully to better attendance. Graduate students are encouraged to participate in the leadership forum, which includes OPA board members and representatives from regional affiliate groups. Council members were encouraged to promote the Spring Institute program on their respective campuses. The focus of the Fall Conference remains undetermined. The continuing ed committee will be working toward a facilitating student involvement. A question about offering workshops for graduate students separate from OPA events was raised. Julie Brennan discussed her ideas for a "traveling" workshop concept. Diversity Committee: T. Camille Hucks has met with the OPA Diversity committee. Her first focus will be on ethnic/racial diversity issues. This will include training issues, looking at APA guidelines being restructured to fit our needs. She is considering a letter to training directors to help identify people who might be interested in contributing to these efforts. Camille expressed her need for input from council members about what other aspects of diversity should be considered, aside from racial/ethnic issues. A workshop is planned for Spring Institute to discuss the recent racial tensions in Cincinnati. OPAGS will not have a formal role in this, but interested members are encouraged to attend. Campus Representative Reports: Meena Dasari from Case Western Reserve indicated that she was attending her first executive council meeting. The next Executive Council Meeting will be held on April 19, 2002. Time to be announced. The meeting was adjourned. OPAGS Executive Council Meeting -
October 18, 2001 The Executive Council of the Ohio Psychological Association of Graduate Students held its October 18, 2001 meeting at the Deer Creek Resort and Convention Center in Mt. Sterling, Ohio. In attendance: Julie Brennan, Beth Doherty, Jessica Donn, Robin Graff-Reed, Jane Hamilton, T. Camille Hucks, Briget Lanktree, Michael Ranney, Denise Sabo, Jackie Scheff, & David Nickelson. Welcome and Introductions The meeting was opened by OPAGS Chair Jackie Scheff. Jackie introduced guest David Nickelson, Ph.D., J.D., the Director of APA’s Office of Technology Policy & Projects. Dr. Nickelson shared some of his experiences working with APAGS and the APA. He encouraged the Executive Council to make use of the resources available through both APAGS and the OPA. He expressed his belief that participation and involvement in advocacy concerns is a professional responsibility of all psychologists. Update from OPA Central Office Michael Ranney informed the Executive Council of upcoming personnel changes in the OPA Central office. Sue Garrett will be resigning as the Director of Membership Services and will be replaced by Denise Sabo beginning November 16, 2001. He indicated that we should be aware that the office response may be slightly delayed during the transition period and asked for our cooperation and understanding. Mr. Ranney outlined the procedure for requesting work orders for copies, printing, etc, as well as requesting reimbursement for expenses. He also discussed the need for a proposed budget to be submitted soon so that all committees are aware of the resources available to OPAGS. Committee Reports Communications Committee Co-chairs Robin Graff-Reed and Jessica Donn distributed sample pages for the proposed OPAGS website for general approval. The Executive Council approved a draft of an OPAGS logo based upon the current OPA logo. Jane Hamilton volunteered to design a final version for future use on all OPAGS communications. Further discussion followed regarding individual sections of the proposed website. All Executive Council members were invited to contribute to the website by contributing updates on committee goals and progress. Suggestions were made for improving the overall communications between the Executive Council and OPAGS members as follows: Weekly posts to the listserv by Executive Council members to encourage active dialogue, Re-posting the listserv rules monthly to avoid misunderstandings and misuse of the listserv, sending out a membership survey to determine the needs and resources of prospective members, hanging up flyers promoting the OPAGS website at all Ohio universities, asking campus representatives to include a link to the OPAGS website on existing graduate or APAGS websites.. Executive Council members in attendance agreed to work toward identifying an OPAGS campus representative at their respective campuses. Campuses not represented by council members will be contacted by the Communications Committee Chairpersons. Continuing Education Committee Continuing Education Committee co-chairs Julie Brennan and Beth Doherty requested a copy of the membership list and will use the listserv to distribute a survey that will seek proposals as well as determine interest in programs for upcoming events. It was suggested that the workshop presented the previous day at the OPA convention should be repeated, possibly at Spring Institute, as attendance was disappointing. In addition, discussion focused on planning student programs in a manner more conducive to student schedules. The committee will also look into resuming the use of student volunteers at OPA functions, especially for introductions of workshop speakers. Diversity Committee T. Camille Hucks reported that she has contacted the OPA Diversity Committee and that her primary goal is to create a safe environment for the expression of views for minority or marginalized students. She is currently planning to distribute a survey, and asked for input from the Executive Council on diversity issues that should be addressed. She is also hoping to include an activity or workshop at the next convention, and will coordinate these plans with the appropriate OPA committees. Advocacy Committee The co-chairs of the Advocacy Committee were not present. Jackie Scheff reported their plans to coordinate activities with their OPA counterparts. Michael Ranney reminded council members of upcoming legislation, i.e. House bill 33 on Mental Health Parity and the "Defense of Marriage Act." Further information about all pending legislation is available on the OPA website Advocacy page. It was suggested that Action Alerts should have direct links to legislators to make contact more efficient. Open Forum Richard Rynearson, chair or the OPA Education committee, joined the meeting for a brief discussion of future student programming. He agreed to continue the discussion with the OPAGS Continuing Education co-chairs following the Executive Council meeting. The Executive Council will hold its next meeting in early January 2002, at the OPA Central Office in Columbus, OH. OPA/OPAGS Student Summit The Executive Council of the Ohio Psychological Association of Graduate Students held its Sept. 7, 2001 meeting at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. In attendance: Julie Brennan, Beth Doherty, Jessica Donn, Robin Graff-Reed, T. Camille Hucks, Vanessa Jensen, Briget Lanktree, Jeff Moe, Michael Ranney, Rick Reckman, Michelle Rone, Denise Sabo, Jackie Scheff, Betsey Scheurer, Melissa Wervey, and Nicole Wood-Barcalow. Welcome and Introductions Jackie Scheff welcomed the summit attendees, and led the introductions. The attendees also discussed their interests in OPAGS at the same time they introduced themselves. Overview of Summit Michael Ranney began discussion with a summary of the events that led the formation of OPAGS. He mentioned last year's Summit, his work towards having an OPAGS, and some ideas for what OPAGS purpose could be. Mr. Ranney also indicated the OPA Board's enthusiasm for an OPAGS, and reminded the attendees that serving on the Executive Council implied being a full OPA Student-Member, and that that included the $35 fee, which would be reduced to $25 if the application were received by Sept. 15. Mr. Ranney than turned the floor over to OPA President Vanessa Jensen. Vanessa Jensen focused her comments on the role of OPAGS. She discussed her impression of the benefits of having a student organization, emphasizing how students are closer to the current ways that psychology (as a science, profession, and community resource) is changing. She mentioned OPAGS having a future, and formal, mission of providing for the continued existence of OPAGS, protecting the profession of psychology, licensing issues, and prescription authority for psychologists. Also, she touched on issues that the attendees had mentioned, specifically women's issues and the need for diversity, and related how these were very important to her personally, professionally, and as OPA President. Ms. Jensen discussed the relationship between the OPA and OPAGS, that the latter afforded a current and relevant perspective to the former, and that OPA needed increased student involvement in and would facilitate convenient access to the Ohio Psychologists' Grassroots Advocacy network. At this time the meeting broke for lunch and informal discussion. APAGS After lunch, Jackie Scheff recognized Michelle Rone, and Ms. Rone began discussing her experiences as a regional student advocacy coordinator for the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students. She emphasized how psychologists view such as an opportunity for the professional development of graduate students, and she encouraged the attendees to become involved in any way possible. Ms. Rone mentioned the benefits of being involved, that while a great responsibility it was also an unique opportunity. Also, she stressed that it was incredible for the OPA to provide as much assistance to OPAGS as it had, and that if brought to full operation OPAGS would be the second only association of students to be so organized. Jackie segued from this to the election of OPAGS officers. Election of OPAGS officers Jackie opened the discussion of elections by prompting the attendees to review the OPAGS by-laws which were part of their Summit packets. She stressed that the laws were a first draft, and this sentiment was echoed by Michael Ranney. He suggested that since the laws had not been ratified by an OPAGS executive council, that they were not absolute but a guide for procedure. Jackie began describing the open positions, than turned the floor over to Michael Ranney. He overviewed the by-laws description of the positions of Chair, Chair-Elect, and chairs of the Advocacy, Communication, and Continuing Education committees. He also mentioned the possibility of creating a diversity committee. Michelle Rone re-iterated the benefit of running for a position, and also stated that even if someone wasn't elected to the executive council that OPAGS would still need campus representatives. She than suggested the possibility of making a Diversity Chair position that would also be a part of the executive council. Jackie Scheff led the discussion of how best to proceed with the formal election. The attendees decided that any candidates would have the chance to present their qualifications and intent to the group. They also decided that Michael Ranney and Jeff Moe would count the votes, which were to be cast on slips of paper in a secret ballot format. Briget Lanktree from Xavier University was elected to the Chair-Elect position. Robin Graff-Reed of Miami University asked if a co-chairship could be instituted for the Communications Chair position. The attendees affirmed this, and Ms. Graff-Reed and Jessica Donn, also of Miami U., were elected to be Communications Coordinators. Betsey Scheurer of Xavier University and Nichole Wood-Barcalow of Ohio State were elected to the Advocacy Chairship. Julie Brennan of the Ohio State University and Beth Doherty of Ohio University were elected to the Continuing Ecucation Co-Chairs positions. After some discussion, the attendees voted unanimously to create a Diversity Chair position as a part of the voting council, and T. Camille Hucks of the University of Cincinnati was elected to that position. Micelle Rone of Wright State University was affirmed as the APAGS liaison. Early Career Psychologists The floor was given to OPA board Member Rick Reckman. As head of the Early Career task force he made himself available to the executive council as a resource. He also informed the attendees of an Early Career seminar being held on the Xavier Campus on October 11, and encouraged those present to attend. Open Forum Jackie Scheff opend the floor to a discussion of the future of OPAGS. Michelle Rone suggested the creation of an OPAGS specific list-serve to facilitate communication. The attendees agreed that for now the Student list-serve would suffice. Michael Ranney returned to OPAGS by-laws to offer that the nest meeting of the executive council could be at the OPA Convention in October. The discussion covered the nature of mandatory meetings, how many are required, and Michael Ranney re-iterated that the by-laws were not absolute, and that the attendees could affirm or repudiate them as they decided. Jackie Scheff brought up her thoughts on a mentoring program, where professional psychologists would make themselves available to graduate students in order to facilitate the development of the students' professional identities. T. Camille Hucks, Julie Brennan, Jessica Donn, and Briget Lanktree all related their personal experiences with various mentoring programs around the state. Rick Reckman suggested that any mentoring program would have to allow for the psychologists limited availability due to time constraints. Michael Ranney promised that the contact information for the holders of parallel OPA board positions would be provided, and that that would most likely occur on-line. The assembly decided that upon receipt of the appropriate contact information the members of the OPAGS Executive Council should attempt to contact their counterpart on the OPA Board of Trustees. Denise Sabo called the attendees attention to the early career workshop being help at the OPA Convention, and that any student could attend at a discounted rate. The members of the Student Summit set their agenda for agreeing on a time for their next meeting, to contact their OPA counterparts, and to maintain communication over the student list-serve. The meeting was adjourned.
|
|
