The big news since my last update of SIOP’s activities (see my penultimate column in the January TIP) is that SIOP Executive Director (ED) Dave Nershi announced his plans to retire effective 1 May 2017. Dave has been SIOP’s ED since 2005 and he has been extraordinarily effective in supporting your elected leadership, managing the Society, and delivering a wide range of services to SIOP members. His service as ED has been instrumental to SIOP’s flourishing as a professional association. Finding a new ED to succeed Dave is critical to SIOP’s future evolution. Dave’s retirement announcement was not anticipated, so as you can imagine, it demanded my full attention because SIOP did not have an ED succession plan in place.

Three years ago, when I became editor of TIP, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.

I mean that in the best possible way.  Which is not to say, I suppose, that I didn’t have some delusions early on.

It was probably late March 2013, so I wasn’t fully “official” yet, and I was out mowing the lawn for the first time that season.  I had my earbuds in, my Zune blasting away, and my brain musing about what would be different, now that I was an editor.  Because editors are, I have always believed, Important People. 

I was on the cusp of becoming an Important Person!  Wasn’t it the case that Important People didn’t mow their own lawns?  Being an editor had to have some perks, right?  Why, now that I was Important, I might never have to mow my own lawn again!

The 170+ member APA Council of Representatives met in Washington DC February 19-21, 2016.  

The policies discussed largely grew out of organizational introspection associated with issues raised by the independent review (IR) report authored by the law firm of Sidley Austin and released in July 2015. While there have been questions raised about aspects of the IR, there is also broad commitment within Council and the Board of Directors to ensure that APA rededicates to its core mission through policy and organizational functional improvements. 

Greetings SIOP! As we approach the Annual Conference in Anaheim, I want to devote some time to update membership on the progress of several Professional Practice Committee (PPC) projects and goals, as well as to acknowledge the terrific work of the committee’s members in making this progress possible. SIOP is fortunate to have such an incredible team of professionals focused on helping advance the practice of I-O psychology and support I-O psychologists who practice.