Nominee

• Must be a current Society Member (see SIOP by-laws, Article II: Membership). The Fellows portal opens on July, 1, 2023. As evidence of having made an unusual and outstanding contribution to industrial-organizational psychology, a candidate for Society Fellow status must have done work that is widely recognized and accepted by other members of the Society as having advanced their own thinking and practice. In order for this impact to have occurred, it is generally expected that the individual will have generated new knowledge, formulations, of programs that contribute to theory, methods, or practices relevant to industrial-organizational psychology, and that these contributions will have been set forth in publications generally available to the profession or otherwise widely communicated through means such as participation in the programs and meetings of professional groups or associations. 
• Society Fellows shall at the time of their election to Society Fellow status have been Society Members for no less than two years. Society Fellows who are also members of the APA, APS, CPA, or EAWOP may seek Fellowship status in those organizations, but such Society Fellows must also be approved by those organizations for Fellowship status. Society Fellows who have not also been approved for Fellowship status in the APA, APS, CPA, or EAWOP applied for on the basis of their SIOP membership may only refer to themselves as being Fellows of SIOP but not of these other associations.
• Society Fellows shall be entitled to the rights and privileges of the Society without restriction.
• Must be nominated by another Society Member or Fellow. Self-nomination is not permitted.

Nomination Process

• Nominator must properly complete Fellowship nomination materials and upload them to the Fellows Online Nomination Portal. 
• Nominator identifies three (3) Endorsers. At least two (2) of the Endorsers/Nominator must be SIOP Fellows who are currently paid (search the Membership Directory to find eligible endorsers.). One (1) of the Endorsers may be a non-Member of SIOP if the Endorser offers a unique and critical perspective on the Nominee’s contributions to the field I-O psychology. Otherwise, all Endorsers must be current paid Society Members of SIOP. (Note: If an Endorser’s name cannot be located in the SIOP Membership Directory, that Society Member’s dues may not be current.)  
• Evaluation is made by the SIOP Fellowship Committee, which makes recommendations to the SIOP Executive Board. The Executive Board makes final decisions on Fellowship status. The announcement of new Fellows each year is made at the SIOP Annual Conference and in TIP.  
• Examples of the range of practice, research, teaching, administration, and service can be found at Illustrative Contributions to the Field of I-O Psychology and by reading the citations for recent SIOP Fellows

Nominator

• Must be a Society Member but not necessarily a Fellow.  
• Must upload Nominee's self-statement and Curriculum Vitae.  
• Must upload the endorsement letters from three Fellow Endorsers.  
• May also be an Endorser of the nominee. In this case, Nominator prepares a letter of nomination that explicitly includes a personal endorsement. No separate endorsement will be submitted, but in this case, the Nominator also counts as one of the three (3) Endorsers. The Nominator may be one of the required two (2) SIOP Fellows who endorse the nominee.  
• Must complete the uploading of all nomination materials to the SIOP Fellows Online Nomination Program by the deadline date.

After identifying a nominee for Fellow status, the Nominator coordinates the gathering of Nomination materials. This role is critical in the nomination process; the Fellowship Committee depends on the Nominator to assure that all materials

• Early July-The SIOP Fellowship Online Nomination Program opens. Nominators identify Nominees and verify that they meet eligibility criteria. Nominators obtain the self-statement from the Nominees.

• August/September-The Nominator should contact Endorsers to request their endorsement. The Nominator should receive the Endorsement Letters before the October 1 deadline. Please share the instructions for endorsers found below under "The Importance of Endorsement Letters". The Nominator can require Endorsers to use the Endorser Worksheet to guide the preparation of the Endorsement Letter and submit the Endorser Worksheet to the Nominator.

•  By October 1 (NOTE: Submission DUE DATE HAS CHANGED)-Nominators are responsible for uploading all nomination materials from the Nominee and the Endorsers using the SIOP Fellows Online Nomination Program. (Note: Nominators may also be Endorsers of the Nominee). No nomination materials will be accepted after midnight ET, October 1.

   

• October - December–Fellowship Committee evaluates Nominations and recommends action to SIOP Executive Board.

• January/February–SIOP Executive Board acts on Fellow recommendations at its winter meeting; Nominators are notified of results. If the newly elected SIOP Fellow would like to apply for APA Fellow, it is their responsibility to apply online with APA. Please go to the Fellows page on the APA web site to review the application criteria and timeline.

• February–Materials are filed with APS for those newly elected SIOP Fellows who have also completed appropriate materials and have asked to be considered for Fellow status in APS. The SIOP Administrative Office will send in the application materials in advance of the Spring review. APS Fellow Nomination information can be found here.

• April/May–New SIOP Fellows are announced at the Opening Plenary Session of the SIOP Annual Conference and in TIP.

The Nominator submits all of the following materials to the SIOP portal.

• Nominee’s Resume/Curriculum Vitae: This document is prepared by the Nominee; publications follow APA format, and an “R” must appear in the left margin next to each refereed publication.
   
• Nominee 1-page Standalone Bio. 
   
• SIOP Fellow Nominee’s (3-page max) Self-Statement: Completed by the Nominee, this statement sets forth the accomplishments and their impact on I-O psychology that the Nominee believes justify election as Fellow. This document should supplement the 1-page standalone bio and serve as an extension (not repeat any of the information in the bio). The Nominee may be in the best position to help the Fellowship Committee understand in detail his or her work and its impact. 
  •  A common mistake is that self-statements fail to explain the work and the breadth of its impact in the detail required by the Fellowship Committee to properly evaluate the nomination. 
  • The Nominee must attest to the following statement: "I am not currently under investigation, nor in the past have I been found formally responsible for, misconduct prohibited by the SIOP Anti-Harassment Policy.” 
     
• 1 Nomination Letter (2-page max): The Nominator must upload a nomination letter. Good nomination letters layout the general theme of the case for the Nominee’s election. 
   
• 3 Endorsement Letters (2-page max). 
  • Two (2) Endorsers must be SIOP Fellows 
  • One (1) of the Endorsers need not be a Society Member if that Endorser offers a unique and critical perspective on the Nominee’s contributions to the field I-O psychology. 
     
• Endorser List: The Nominator must submit a form listing each Endorser with their email and SIOP membership status.

• Sample Endorser email text to inform possible endorsers.  
• Fellow nominations are submitted by the Nominator using the SIOP Fellows Online Nomination Portal.
• To initiate a nomination, the Nominator signs onto the SIOP Fellows Online Nomination Program using his/her SIOP username and password.  
• Nominator identifies three (3) Endorsers. Two (2) Endorsers must be SIOP Fellows. If the nominator feels that a person who is not a SIOP member can offer a strong endorsement of the nominee by providing unique insights into the nominee’s outstanding or unusual contribution to the field of I-O psychology, then at the nominator’s discretion, one (1) of the non-Fellow endorsers does not have to be a SIOP member. All the other non-Fellow Endorsers must be Society Members. The Endorsers are requested to send their endorsement letters to the nominator. 
• The Nominator uploads all letters and forms, including the Nominee’s self-statement and CV. Endorsers must submit endorsement letters to the Nominator. Uploaded documents may be MS Word or PDF formats.

For technical problems during the nomination process, please contact Scott Case via email at scase@siop.org or by phone at (419) 353-0032.

Once the Nominator and Nominee agree that the Nominee meets the basic criteria (see Eligibility information above) and decide to proceed with the nomination, it is the Nominator’s responsibility to ensure that all forms are properly completed and submitted on time through the online system. 
 

Nominator Duties 

• Nominators must identify three (3) Endorsers and ask for their support of the Nominee. At least two (2) of the Endorsers must be SIOP Fellows (a historical list of Fellows can be found here). To confirm they are active (dues paid), please login and check the Membership Directory. 
• The Nominator requests each Endorser to generate an Endorsement Letter. Ordinarily, the Nominator serves as the point of contact; the Nominee does not contact the Endorsers. The Nominator is responsible for uploading ALL of the materials to the portal. The nominator generates a 2-page max nomination letter.

Nominee Duties 

• Nominees must submit (1) a 1-page standalone bio, (2) a 3-page self-statement that describes their outstanding contributions to the field of I-O psychology and (3) a curriculum vitae/resume to the Nominator; the publication list must follow APA format and must have an R in the left margin indicating refereed publications. 

Endorser Duties 

• Endorsers must submit their 2-page max Endorsement Letters to the Nominator. Please see the section on the importance of endorsement letters for guidance.

• Only nominate individuals who you are fully convinced are deserving of the designation of fellow. Because nomination does not guarantee fellowship, you are strongly encouraged to have a discussion with the nominee regarding a possible negative outcome. Individuals receive such information in different ways, and it is important that the nominee understand and acknowledge the possibility of a negative outcome. Though receiving such news is disappointing, it can be even more damaging to an individual’s self-appraisal if not discussed at the outset of the process. If the individual indicates concerns about receiving a negative outcome, serious consideration should be given as to whether the nomination should be initiated. 
• In evaluating someone to nominate, you might first consider what a summary of that person’s contributions (such as those that appear in “SIOP Salutes” would say. If you cannot envision that statement, perhaps you do not know the individual well enough or the person is not yet ready to be nominated.

• Consider carefully before you agree to become an endorser.  Do you know the nominee and his/her work sufficiently well to provide the fellowship committee with information regarding the individual’s important contributions to the field of I-O psychology?  If you find that you must read the nominee’s self-statement to become aware of her/his work, you may not be the best endorser for that person.  Having met someone at a SIOP Conference may not be enough. Have you read any of the nominee’s publications; have you worked with the nominee on projects, siop committees, or served with him/her in other organizations?  Can you independently from your own observations and experience describe the nominee’s outstanding work and sustained impact on the field of I-O?

• Recognize that preparing an effective endorsement letter will require substantial effort on your part.  evaluate that commitment before agreeing to take on multiple endorsement letters to ensure that you can provide an appropriate level of effort and the high quality needed to make a compelling case to the fellowship committee.

• Present unusual and outstanding contributions to I-O psychology, accomplishments, innovations, and evidence of impact. describe activities that can be clearly and convincingly documented. simply pointing to documentation that reflects presence of a name on a roster or in a list of authors is not sufficiently convincing. explain the impact of the contribution. completing tasks that are basic parts of one’s job is unlikely to be sufficient to qualify for fellowship.  
  • The nominee must have done work that is widely recognized and accepted by other members of the society as having advanced their own thinking and practice. in order for this impact to have occurred, it is generally expected that the nominee will have generated new knowledge, formulations, or programs that contribute to theory, methods, or practices relevant to I-O psychology and that these contributions will have been set forth in publications generally available to the profession or otherwise widely communicated through means such as participation in the programs and meetings of professional groups or associations. For some illustrative contributions, please see illustrative contributions to the field of I-O psychology.  
  • How has the individual advanced the field of I-O psychology beyond the person’s individual career?

• Academics are supposed to teach and publish papers—that is part of their jobs. tell the committee why their teaching has been particularly noteworthy or how their papers have changed the theory or practice of I-O psychology.

• For those practicing in business, government, consulting, or the military services, what has been the importance and impact of their work? if someone has had an influential administrative position, what did he or she achieve that was particularly noteworthy for I-O psychology in that role?  
• Ensure that the narrative information provided in your letter is consistent with the quantitative evaluations provided on the endorsers form. Avoid cases in which the letter suggests uniformly positive and strong statements of endorsement, but the quantitative evaluation is more equivocal (or vice versa).

Endorsement letters are critically important in the evaluation process. The following from the APA manual for nominating fellows applies also to SIOP:

The (APA) committee then, and today, found meaningful evaluations by sponsors or endorsers to be the most helpful type of evidence in the evaluation of nominees. The adequacy of the endorsement has been of critical value in evaluating those who are advancing psychology as a profession. What was true in the 1950s is equally true at present.

Many, perhaps most, decisions are substantially influenced by the endorsement letters. the fellowship committee considers carefully not only the text of an endorsement letter but also the stature of the endorser and the endorser’s status relative to the nominee.

Endorsements are always important, but they may be especially important when practice, teaching, service, or administration is a primary area of contribution and research publications are not the primary evidences of the impact of the nominee. When publications and other sources of information are limited, there should be a more diverse set of endorsements that document the outstanding contributions of the nominee.

Detailed evidence from endorsers as to the exact nature of the nominee’s contributions is critical. it is not enough to know that the nominee was instrumental in establishing the “x” center for excellence in “y” city. Instead, endorsers should describe what role the nominee played in establishing the center of excellence and how the nominee’s role resulted in a significant contribution to the field of I-O psychology.

General Guidelines for Strong Letters of Endorsement

The entire fellow nomination process is designed to communicate to the fellowship committee how the nominee has contributed to i-o psychology. Strong endorsement letters convincingly demonstrate the impact that the nominee has had and provide evidence that the contributions have indeed occurred.

A set of endorsers who are all from the nominee’s immediate organization, department, or agency, or who are colleagues with whom the nominee has worked closely, is not usually convincing and suggests limited impact. A more diverse set of endorsers is likely to be more impressive; letters may be written by other psychologists, executives, or individuals in the SIOP constituency most familiar with the contributions that has had such impact. Family members and relatives of the nominee (e.g., parents, grandparents, siblings, and spouse) do not ordinarily serve as endorsers or nominators, and such endorsements are not generally seen as objective.

An example of an endorsement that requires additional elaboration is “dr. x is obviously qualified; he should have been a fellow years ago,” or “I was surprised that dr. y was not already a fellow.” although eminent fellows sometimes provide such endorsements, they do not help the nominee or the committee unless they back up their statements. Some endorsers state that the nominee has had impact without presenting meaningful evidence for the statement. Such an assertion is ineffective without evidence.

For an endorsement to be effective, it must specify how the contribution has impacted I-O psychology and what the nominee’s role has been. That “book x appears in every business library” may be notable, but the endorsement should specify what impact that has had on I-O psychology and its mission. That “article y has been cited 200 times” is not in itself convincing; has the article simply been cited, or has its content impacted I-O psychology? that “the nominee had a major role in project m” is not in itself convincing; what was the nominee’s role and how has the work made impact?

Tips for Strong Letters of Endorsement for Practitioners

It is important to recognize that SIOP Fellowship is an honor that is bestowed on individuals for outstanding contributions to the field of I-O psychology. The individual’s contributions must have had meaningful and sustained impact on our discipline. Many individuals will have successful careers in psychology or have made significant contributions to their employers. The contributions of SIOP Fellows go beyond fulfilling one’s duties or impacting a given employer but rather influence the entire field of I-O psychology.

As you craft the letter of endorsement for your nominee, understand that the SIOP fellowship committee will be reading endorsement letters for many nominees who have had impressive careers. It is important that you communicate clearly and concretely the contributions of your nominee and present strong evidence that the nominee played a key role in the accomplishment of those contributions. Your opinions are not nearly as convincing as direct evidence of stellar contributions.

Structure of your Endorsement Letter

• The opening paragraph should strongly and clearly endorse the nominee. provide a few summary statements of the major contributions of your nominee.
• Specify your relationship with the nominee. that is, how do you know the nominee (e.g., your manager, your direct report, a colleague, someone you have worked with on various projects)?
• Include four to six paragraphs detailing the specific contributions the nominee has made to the field of I-O psychology.
  • Provide clear examples of those contributions and how they have impacted the field and their professional colleagues.
  • Again, it is vital to focus on how the nominee contributed to the field of i-o psychology, not only to the success of their organization. what specific interventions, programs, assessments, tests, activities, intellectual property, and so on did the nominee develop and share with the wider professional community?
  • Please note that detailing the nominee’s rise up the organization’s ranks (e.g., from internal consultant to director to vice president) says little about his or her contributions to the field, and reviewers cannot read between the lines and fill in the blanks.
  • Highlight how this individual contributed to or served SIOP (e.g., committee membership, program reviewer, workshop facilitator, conference presenter, etc.).
  • Although the nominee might not have published in scholarly journals, highlight contributions to trade associations, important whitepapers and technical reports, interviews in business outlets (e.g., Business Week, Fortune, Wall Street Journal), in addition to publications in practitioner or professional journals. Identify whether the nominee has written or edited a widely read book in human resources or talent management.
  • Be specific and concrete. when possible, include metrics, facts, or other objective data to support your statements. They are much more persuasive than your opinions, beliefs, or personal views.
• The closing paragraph should summarize the key reason(s) why this nominee merits consideration to become a SIOP Fellow.

Additional Points to Consider

• Your endorsement should be clear and direct. It should be based on facts rather than opinions and specific contributions rather than general accolades.
• Remember all nominees will have strong backgrounds, and most will possess glowing letters of endorsement. why does your nominee merit fellow status? The more cogent story you can tell about this individual, the higher the likelihood the committee will understand why you believe he or she should become a fellow.
• Although you should not repeat what is stated in the nominee’s vita, highlight specific examples and documented contributions to the field of I-O psychology this individual has made.
• Consider incorporating select testimonials from clients, senior-level managers, the CEO, and so forth who were impacted by the nominee’s work.
• A brief quote to underscore a point you are making can add important emphasis to a statement.
• Be sure to highlight any efforts the nominee has made to promote the status, image, and value of I-O psychology in the business world.
• Be sensitive to how your letter of endorsement might sound to the reader. Ask a colleague in your office to review the letter and provide feedback and suggestions before submitting it.

Election as a SIOP Fellow does not automatically make the new SIOP Fellow an APA Fellow or APS Fellow. As a part of their SIOP Fellow applications, SIOP Fellow nominees elected as SIOP Fellows who are also members of APA and/or APS in good standing may choose to be considered also for fellowship in APA and/or APS. Note: neither APA nor APS will consider Fellow Nominees unless they are current in their dues payments.

APA

For those SIOP Fellows who wish to be considered for APA Fellow, please review the guidelines on the APA website (e.g., prior status as an APA member for at least one year).  If a newly elected SIOP Fellow wants to be considered for Fellow status in APA, he/she initiates the APA Fellow application, using APA’s Fellows Online Application Platform. Please note that the online APA Fellows Application Platform requires three (3) of the Endorsers to be active Fellows of APA (membership dues paid in the last year).  In addition, the SIOP Fellowship Chair will use the APA Fellows Online Application Platform to upload a letter of recommendation for each newly elected SIOP Fellow who applies for APA fellowship.  The deadline for APA applications is February 8, 2022.  Once APA acts on Fellowship and notifies SIOP of its action, the SIOP Fellowship Chair notifies the Nominee.

APS

To be considered for APS Fellowship, newly elected SIOP Fellow Nominees must inform their nominator to submit a nomination letter and two letters of support through the APS website for fellowship applications. Please note that the APS application requires that the nominator and one (1) Endorser be a Fellow of APS. If the nominator is not an APS Fellow, the newly elected SIOP Fellow should identify an APS Fellow to submit the nomination material on his/her behalf.  Deadlines for the Fall and Spring reviews are October 15 and April 1, respectively. 

Society Fellow status is not simply based on adding up how many criteria are represented in a nominee’s curriculum vitae. Similarly, recognition as a SIOP Fellow is not simply a matter of competency nor is it recognition of a steady and active career in I-O. Rather, Fellow status specifically recognizes unusual and outstanding contributions that has an important impact on I-O psychology.

The most difficult decision that the Fellowship Committee must make is whether the contributions and the evidence of impact are sufficiently outstanding to warrant Fellow status. Each nominee is considered individually; there is no quota or percentage of Fellows; The Fellowship Committee takes very seriously its obligation to make sure that outstanding SIOP members are recognized, balanced by the realization that Fellowship is a significant honor, highly valued by all members of SIOP.

Updated: April 1, 2022