NEW IN POLICY AT SPSSI
Registration is open for the 2019 SPSSI Policy Workshop in San Diego. Please join us on Thursday, June 20, 2019 for an all-day, hands-on policy workshop that is being planned by SPSSI's Policy Committee in partnership with other SPSSI committees, SPSSI staff, and the Scholar Strategy Network. Attendees will learn the nuts and bolts of op-ed writing: How to structure an op-ed from start to finish; how to "hook" an op-ed to timely news; how to pitch an op-ed to a media outlet; etc. Registration is $25 for students and $50 for non-students.
Registration is open for the 2019 Pre-Convention LGBTQ Workshop in Chicago. Six divisions of APA (7, 9, 27, 37, 43, 44) are coming together on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 to create a Statement of Priorities and an Agenda for Psychology of LGBTQ Youth and Emerging Adults. The Workshop will be held at the campus of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and will immediately precede the 2019 APA Convention in Chicago. Registration is $30 for students and community members and $70 for professionals and faculty.
Judicial Notebook: A call to study Native Americans' experiences in tribal and U.S. courts. There are 573 federally recognized tribes, each with its own government and court system. In the latest issue of APA's Monitor on Psychology, Kathryn A. LaFortune, JD, PhD, and Violet S. Rush, Cherokee Nation citizen/Muscogee Creek, JD candidate—both of the University of Tulsa College of Law—argue that psychologists have an important role to play in examining Native Americans' comparative experiences in tribal and U.S. courts. Such work can "bring out of the shadows of invisibility the rich diversity of native tribal courts’ procedures and philosophies of justice." This article is part of SPSSI's longstanding "Judicial Notebook" series.
SPSSI co-sponsors 2019 Psychology Day at the United Nations. This year's theme was "The Time is Now: Psychological Contributions to Global Gender Equ{al}ity." Presenters included psychologists Olivia Espín, PhD, Lillian Comas-Díaz, PhD, Shelly Grabe, PhD, and Virginia Schein, PhD. The panel was moderated by H.E. Ambassador Richard Arbeiter (Mission of Canada), with opening remarks by H.E. Ambassador Katalin Bogyay (Mission of Hungary) and closing remarks by Nahla Valji (Executive Office of the Secretary-General). A recording of the event is video-archived on UN Web TV.
NEW IN POLICY AT APA
Search for a new Chief of Psychology in the Public Interest. APA has launched a nationwide search for a new Chief of Psychology in the Public Interest. This person will be responsible for leading a transformational agenda to increase the impact of APA’s efforts by applying the science and practice of psychology to benefit society and improve lives.This person supervises the approximately 30-person staff of the Public Interest Directorate, with programs and federally-funded projects focused on societal issues (e.g., violence prevention, health disparities, poverty, and immigration) and specific populations (i.e., ethnic minorities; LGBT persons; people with disabilities; children, youth, and families; women; and older adults). Visit the link above to learn more and to apply.
Offer of one-year membership to persecuted peace psychologists. APA Division 48, the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence, is offering a free one-year membership to persecuted peace scholars. Interested colleagues can contact Division 48 President Serdar M. Degirmencioglu, PhD, for more information.
APA Expresses Support; Submits Testimony on Behalf of the Equality Act. The Equality Act, introduced by Representative David Cicilline (RI), would amend existing civil rights law to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity) at work, in places of public accommodation, housing, credit, education, jury service, and in programs and facilities that receive federal funding.
SOCIAL AND POLICY ISSUES IN THE NEWS
Senators call for fix to Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness. In a letter issued April 24, U.S. Senators Kaine (VA) and Whitehouse (RI), among others, called on Secretary of Education DeVos to fix missteps with implementation of the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) Program. This program, created one year ago, was designed to provide discretionary appropriations to supplement Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for borrowers who met all of the requirements of PSLF but were shut out of forgiveness due to inadvertently enrolling in the wrong student loan repayment plan. Under TEPSLF, 96% of applicants have been denied in what the Senators call a "bureaucratic process [that] is unnecessarily complicated, confusing, and frustrating for borrowers."
Investigations of scientists with ties to China raise concerns about racial profiling of scientists. As reported by CNN, the Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent a letter last August to more than 10,000 research institutions that had received or applied for NIH funding. In the letter, NIH warned that "some foreign entities have mounted systematic programs to influence NIH researchers." The agency proceeded to flag some scientists for further investigation by their own institutions. In March of this year, Science Magazine published an open letter from three professional groups for Chinese and Chinese American scientists. The letter drew attention to "'several high-profile cases in which Chinese-American scientists were wrongfully accused of spying' and warned that NIH policies surrounding collaboration, some not clearly defined, could be implemented with bias."
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES
National Academies releases consensus study report "A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty"
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