REPORT OF THE PRIORITIES TASK FORCE ON THE DIVISION 42 2001 GOVERNANCE RETREAT

APPENDIX B: Report of the Membership Breakout Group

Group Members: Jeff Barnett, Nancy Bacher, Rita Dudley-Grant, Mike Gallardo, Stanley Moldawsky, Lou Perrott, Elaine Rodino, Bob Wernick.

Goal 1: To increase student and young professional membership and active involvement in Division 42.

Strategy 1: Student representation on the Division 42 Board.

• Action 1: There will be one student member of the Division 42 Board who is elected by the student membership of Division 42 for a voting position on the board in coordination with APAGS.
• Action 2: Each student representative to the Division 42 Board will serve one year as the student representative-elect and be mentored that first year by the incumbent. Accordingly, each student representative will mentor the Mentor the representative-elect during their year in office.
• Action 3: The Division 42 Board will fully fund the student representative to attend the Board’s two annual meetings.

Strategy 2: Division 42 will create targeted publications for students and young professionals.

• Action 1: Have regular student/young professional columns and a Q & A column that addresses students’ and young professionals’ concerns in the IP.
• Action 2: Create a "Division 42 Newsgram," a brief four page publication or news- letter that addresses student/young professionals’ needs and issues. If budgetary restrictions exist, reduce the size of the IP so that the more frequently published Newsgram can be afforded.
• Action 3: Assign each Board member to a one month commitment each year to respond to students’ questions on the Mentors listserve. Active involvement that month will be expected and monitored by the President- elect of the Division.

Strategy 3: Create mechanisms to increase student and young professional membership in Division 42.

• Action 1: Offer a free first year of membership to the first 1,000 students, young professionals, and psychologists of diverse backgrounds who join the Division.
• Action 2: Create a mentoring relationship for each new student and young professional member with a Division 42 member in their local area. Create a Mentorship Task Force to actively coordinate and oversee this endeavor or expand the Membership Committee so it can accomplish this.
• Action 3: Increase the number of members on the Membership Committee so that it will be able to coordinate, oversee, and track these initiatives.
• Action 4: Actively integrate student and young professional members into Division 42 committees and task forces. If possible, each committee and task force should have at least one student and/or young professional member.
• Action 5: Create special programs at the APA Convention specifically that interest and meet the needs of students and young professionals.
• Action 6: Recognize all new members of the Division at it Annual Membership Meeting at the APA Convention.
• Action 7: Cerate new member welcome packets with a welcome letter, samples of Brochures and other Division 42 products, a description of the Division 42 listserve and the Mentors listserve with instructions for how to get on each of them, a list that describes all committees and task forces with a way to sign up and become involved in them, the e-mail address and telephone of a senior member they can call if they have any questions, a description of the Division’s mentoring program and a means to sign up for this, etc.

Follow-up and Assessment: The Membership Chair will track the number of new members each year, the number of new members who remain members vs. those who drop out after one year, find out what those who continue their membership find valuable about it and why those who discontinued their membership did so, monitor board members’ active involvement on the Mentors list server, monitor the mentoring program to ensure that it goes will and is perceived positively and report on these activities at each Board meeting.

Goal 2: Increase diversity at all levels of Division 42.

Strategy 1: Increase the diversity (of all types) of the Division 42 membership.

• Action 1: Create an annual award to recognize the psychologist who has done the most to expand/innovate/advance independent practice for members of diverse groups.
• Action 2: Host a diversity breakfast at the annual APA convention. Each Division 42 Board member should invite two diverse psychologists from their State to attend.
• Action 3: Create a mentorship program for Division 42’s diverse members.
• Action 4: Offer a free first year of membership to those diverse psychologists who attend the diversity breakfast at the convention and/or sign up to be mentees (out of the 1,000 free first year memberships proposed).

Strategy 2: Support the biannual Multicultural Conference.

• Action 1: Send a letter of apology and a check for $500. owed immediately to the Multicultural Conference Planning Committee.
• Action 2: In this letter commit right now to a major financial contribution to the next conference.
• Action 3: Get on the planning committee for the next conference. Offer two Division 42 members to be on their planning committee.
• Action 4: Hold the Division 42 mid-winter meeting in conjunction with the Multicultural Conference.

Strategy 3: Increase diversity representation on the Division 42 Board.

• Action 1: Create a diversity slate for one APA Council seat from Division 42. This seat would come up for re-election every three years and would only be open to Division 42 members of diverse backgrounds, to include all forms of diversity.
• Action 2: Assign at least one appropriately qualified (eg. for Finance Committee) Division 42 member from a diverse background to each Division 42 Committee and Task Force and that each be assigned a mentor from one of the other committee or task force members.
• Action 3: Seek matching grants to pay for diversity members to attend Division 42 Board meetings.
• Action 4: Assign a Diversity Committee Associate Chair who is the chair-designee and who will be mentored by the Diversity Committee Chair in preparation of the chair-designee taking over as Chair when the Chair’s tenure ends.

Follow-up and Assessment: The membership chair will monitor the numbers of new members from diverse backgrounds and the numbers of those on committees and task forces and report this at each meeting of the Board. The Nominations and Elections chair will ensure that qualified nominees are actively sought by the Division to run for the diversity seat on APA Council. Each committee and task force chair will survey their diverse committee and task force members and report on mentoring relationships for them within their committees and task forces and report on this to the Membership Chair prior to each Board meeting.

Goal 3: Create a professional identity for practitioners that includes membership in Division 42, APA, and SPPAs (and local psychological associations when present).

Strategy 1: Inform the members and potential members of the Division how Division 42 advocates for independent practitioners and why it is in potential members’ best interests to join.

• Goal 1: Utilize the Division 42 Newsgram, the IP, and the listserve to communicate this information and disseminate it widely.
• Goal 2: Forward COR announcements to the BOD and Members’ listserves.
• Goal 3: Coordinate with, and support, the activities of the CAPP Working Group to promote APA/SPPA joint membership and the APA Task Force on Membership, Recruitment, and Retention.

Strategy 3: Create a Division 42 Ambassadorship Program. Use it to promote the identity of an independent practitioner. Ambassadors will visit doctoral programs and internships. They will give presentations on issues concerning the independent practice of psychology and teach the attendees the significant value of membership in Division 42 as well as in APA and their State or local psychological association.

Strategy 4: Create a packet for ambassadors that includes orientation materials, briefing materials, sheets describing the value and benefits of membership in Division 42, membership applications, samples of brochures, etc.

Follow-up and Assessment: The President or President-elect will assign the ambassadors. The membership committee, under the direction of the Membership Chair, will assign programs for the Ambassadors to visit, provide them with their packets of materials, monitor their activities, and follow-up actively with all those who complete application materials. The Membership Chair will report on all these activities at each meeting of the Division 42 Board and regularly keep the President appraised of these activities and any difficulties experienced. The President will ensure that all COR announcements and reports are forwarded to the membership.

Goal 4: Create linkages with SPPAs.

Strategy 1: Establish formal liaison relationships with each SPPA.

• Goal 1: Assign a Division 42 member to be a liaison between Division 42 and each SPPA. Share with SPPA members the value of membership in Division 42. Find out what SPPA members want and need. Target SPPA Board members to join Division 42.
• Goal 2: Host a Division 42 liaison breakfast at the annual APA convention with the opportunity structured into it for them to share information with each other. Invite each SPPA to send a representative to share information and receive information on issues of concern to independent practitioners.
• Goal 3: Have the Division 42 President attend this breakfast and brief attendees on Division 42’s activities on their behalf.

Strategy 2: Work to establish and engage in activities of mutual benefit to Division members and SPPAs and their members.

Goal 1: Engage in outreach activities and joint projects with APA Division 31 and the SPPAs directly.

Goal 2: Actively support the Speakers Bureau grant presently in effect with Division 31.

Follow-up and Assessment: Monitor the above activities and report on them at each Division 42 Board meeting. Empower the State Linkages Task Force chair to pursue such activities, to monitor them, and to report on them to the Board each time it meets.

Goal 5: Member Retention.

Strategy 1: Create a comprehensive mentoring program for the members of Division 42.

• Goal 1: Create a Mentoring Committee to coordinate and monitor this program.

Strategy 2: Survey the membership on their needs and perceptions of the Division.

• Goal 1: Conduct a survey of what the members really want and need from the Division. Goal 2: Create strategies to meet these needs.

Strategy 3: Communicate actively and regularly with the Division’s membership on how Division 42 advocates for them.

• Goal 1: Utilize all available media to communicate regularly with the Division’s members.
• Goal 2: Advertise the listserve and website, and what they have of value to offer to the membership, much more actively through various media.

Strategy 3: Actively involve the Division’s leadership in member retention activities.

• Goal 1: Each Board member and Committee and Task Force chair will contact one current member of the Division each month to solicit their feedback and input concerning Division 42 activities and initiatives as well as their needs and concerns. Members to call each month will be assigned randomly and distributed once each year for the leaders to call. A contact sheet will be provided as well that will be faxed to the President each month when completed. The President (or President- elect) will then send each member who was contacted a letter of follow-up.
• Goal 2: Recognize members with significant numbers of years of membership in Division 42, such as 5, 10, 15, 20 years and so on, with a letter from the President that congratulates them, solicits their input and views, offers to place them on a committee or task force and encourages them to get more involved in the Division (if appropriate) and provides them with an update on what the Division has been doing for them lately.

Follow-up and Assessment: The Membership Chair will coordinate and supervise these activities with the assistance of the Website editor, IP editor, and "Newsgram" editor. The Membership Committee will be expanded so that adequate staffing exists to address all of the committees new responsibilities. The Membership Chair will report on all these activities at each Board meeting and keep the president appraised of all difficulties and concerns on an ongoing basis. The President will monitor the leadership’s member Retention activities and report on them at each Board meeting.

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