Focusing on Students: The APS Student Caucus Winter Meeting

Over the centuries, students have led revolutions, challenged established ways of thinking, and shaped history in countless and diverse ways. In their own small way, the 2002-2003 APS Student Caucus (APSSC) Executive Committee is playing their part in the direction and development of APS by initiating innovative ideas focused on student affiliates.

In November 2002, the APSSC Executive Committee met in Lopez Island, Washington for their annual winter board meeting. The two-day meeting focused on ways to increase and diversify student membership, and bridge the communication gap between student affiliates and academic members. As a result of this exchange of ideas, the APSSC is sponsoring a range of activities and providing services both in and outside the upcoming 15th Annual Convention in Atlanta (May 29-June 1, 2003) to promote and encourage student involvement in APS and APSSC.

One very exciting development in the 2002-2003 year is the Subcommittee Initiative. As a way of involving as many students as possible while also maximizing resources, APSSC Board members have been encouraged to recruit subcommittee members to help carry out specific tasks and undertake new projects and developments. As a result of this initiative, approximately 80 additional student members outside the Student Caucus Executive Board are directly involved in the development of APSSC-sponsored activities. We are very excited to involve fellow enthusiastic students and would like to say a big thank you to all of you who have been involved in making APSSC a strong component of APS. For more information about how to get involved with APSSC please contact Seema Assefi at assefiseem@scs.vuw.ac.nz.

In an effort to support students’ scientific endeavors, the APS Student Caucus offers various competitions and award programs. Some programs offered through APSSC are: the Student Research Competition and Grant Program, the RiSE-UP competition, and the Travel Award competition (please see announcements in this issue of the Student Notebook for more details about these competitions). In addition to these mainstay programs, this year the APSSC is proud to bring to you: the Student-Run Symposium. This competition invites students to organize and submit a symposium (sponsored by a faculty member) based on the APS requirements for symposia. The APSSC will screen and select the best entries to be judged by the Program Chair. The winners of this competition will be invited to present their research at the 15th Annual Convention in Atlanta on Saturday, May 31, 2003. Entries close February 28, 2003. For more information about this competition, please visit the APSSC Web site at www.psychologicalscience.org/apssc/ or email Rhiannon Ellis at rellis+@pitt.edu.

APSSC is also proud to bring to you Workshop with Editors- the first workshop in a series covering topical issues geared towards student members of APS. This year’s topic is focused on “how to get published.” Editors from various well-known journals will provide tips and insights on topics such as: what journal editors look for in manuscripts, secrets to getting your manuscript published, common mistakes of first-time submitters, and many more relevant ‘publishing’ issues. This year’s panel includes: James Cutting (Incoming editor of Psychological Science), Marilyn Brewer (Journal of Social Personality), and Scott Lilienfeld (The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice and also starting a new journal Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology). This event will be held on Friday, May 30, 2003.

In addition to these exciting new events, the APSSC is also sponsoring several other activities at the 15th Annual Convention in Atlanta. These activities include:

• Pre-Convention Orientation. All student affiliates are invited to this informal gathering that will be held prior to the Opening Ceremonies on Thursday, May 29, 2003. This event will allow students to mingle and get to know one another prior to the start of the conference.
• Tea with Champions. All student affiliates are invited to come and meet their esteemed mentors in an informal and approachable setting on Friday, May 30, 2003. Please note that you must sign-up to attend this event. A form will be provided with Convention registration materials.
• RiSE-UP Symposium. On Saturday, May 31, 2003 we will hold our fifth annual symposium to honor the winners of the Research on Socially and Economically Underrepresented Populations (RiSE-UP) competition. All RiSE-UP winners are selected for excellence in scholarly research on issues that enhance the understanding of populations that are underrepresented in psychological science.
• APS Student Caucus Business Meeting. Saturday, May 31, 2003 we will hold our annual Business Meeting. This meeting will provide fellow students with a general overview of the past year’s highlights and updates. Additionally, the elections for the 2003-2004 Student Caucus Executive Committee will be held. Positions are open to all student members.

Please look for more details about these and other APS Student Caucus-sponsored events in future issues of the Student Notebook, the APSSC website, and future monthly e-mail newsletters from Timothy Odegard, our Communications Director. (To receive the e-mail newsletter, contact Odegard at todegar@uark.edu.)

I would personally like to thank all the APSSC Executive Committee members and APS Membership Director Louis Shomette for the time, effort, and energy that went into making this year’s Board Meeting such a huge success. I would also like to thank all the staff members at APS, and the APS Executive Board for supporting student initiatives. Together, we continue to promote psychological science by ensuring that APS remains a strong, dynamic and prestigious organization.