Keeping Up With APA: Calls for RFP and Nominations

There are two timely items from APA this week related to governance.

First, members who are interested in being nominated for APA president-elect are invited to submit a 50-word statement to the Election Office by January 24.  Statements will be sent with the president-elect nomination ballot that is scheduled to go out on February 3.  Please send your statements to gcoad@apa.org.

Second, APA is seeking proposals for consultation to provide advice for restructuring the Public Interest Directorate’s (PI) offices and staffing. Proposals should be submitted by 5 pm on Friday, January 31, 2020, to Donella Graham at dgraham@apa.org.

The purposes of the restructuring are to increase the impact of APA’s efforts to apply the science and practice of psychology to benefit society and improve lives, and to optimize the Directorate’s responsiveness to the APA Strategic Plan adopted in 2019. The strategic plan calls for PI staff to work collaboratively within the Directorate, with staff from other departments within APA, and with external partners. The strategic plan also requires PI staff to continually assess progress relative to milestones and benchmarks, and to respond nimbly to new and rapidly emerging issues for which APA and psychology can make a positive impact.

To that end, this consultation should provide advice on improving the directorate’s organizational effectiveness, as well as collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

The goals of this consultation include the following:

• Determine staffing (including structure, roles, responsibilities, and functions) necessary to implement the APA Strategic Plan and Strategic Initiatives, both those PI leads and those PI helps implement;
• Reduce the number of direct reports to the Chief of Psychology in the Public Interest (CPPI);
• Reduce duplication of effort and streamline work;
• Identify activities that can be reduced or eliminated; and,
• Identify metrics to measure progress toward implementing the Strategic Plan and PI reorganization.

Read the full RFP here.   Find the APA Strategic Plan here.