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SPSSI’s Summer Policy Workshop

June 30-July 1, 2013 in Washington, DC

See the online flyer for more details about this amazing opportunity and instructions on how to apply! The deadline to apply is Tuesday, April 30, 2013. This exceptional training opportunity will offer diverse content that is applicable to psychologists at all career stages, although several sessions are targeted primarily at early career psychologists and graduate students. Participants will learn how to bring empirical research findings to bear on public policy and will also learn about policy-related career opportunities. The workshop will feature panel presentations and interactive sessions on:

•  Communicating scientific research to the general public, to policy makers, and in legal settings

•  Policy-related fellowship opportunities

•  Grass roots policy and advocacy work

•  Policy-related careers

•  In the executive and legislative branches of government

•  In non-governmental organizations

•  In think tanks and advocacy organizations

Speakers include renowned journalists, congressional staffers, American Psychological Association government relations staff, legal experts, community psychologists, policy analysts, and many other psychologists who have had a career-long policy focus. Check out more details, regarding fees, lodging, and travel scholarships, then fill out the application form and submit your application today.

 

Don’t Miss This Workshop Opportunity!

By this time, I hope that you have seen notices about (and applied for) the Policy Workshop that SPSSI is sponsoring this summer in conjunction with the American Psychological Association and several other psychological divisions and societies (see the Workshop Announcement box above and apply on the SPSSI website). As a reminder, one of my main initiatives for my SPSSI Presidential year is “to devise and implement new programs aimed at providing SPSSI members at all career stages with skills and experiences to assist them in engaging in policy work and social advocacy” (see Forwardcolumn, Fall 2012). Many SPSSI members want to help create social change or to see SPSSI’s special brand in terms of the generation, dissemination, and application of social science knowledge to addressing social issues and problems. This workshop is an attempt to introduce SPSSI members and like-minded others to the skills and contexts necessary for effective policy work. In other words, its purposes are to help participants figure out ways of linking their desirefor policy involvement to actual policy impact.

So far, interest in this workshop has far exceeded expectations, with the lion’s share of interest coming from graduate students and early career professionals. Thus, it appears that there is considerable unmet need or thirst for this type of policy exposure and training, and particularly among individuals relatively early in their careers. In planning this workshop, we aimed small – the goal is to have 40 participants – but it seems that we could have set our sights much higher. Looking to the future, this type of activity may be one piece in a puzzle of how to strengthen SPSSI, expand its membership base, and still remain true to its three P and three H history (see my column beginning on p. 1 of this issue). SPSSI Council has fully supported the development of this workshop and staff members and volunteers have been hard at work to help insure its success. We will critically evaluate the workshop after it is over and decide if it is a program that warrants being repeated in the future. Regardless of that decision, however, I am interested in hearing your ideas for activities and initiatives that can assist SPSSI and its members to increase their effectiveness and reach in policy and advocacy contexts. Providing this type of exposure and training is a niche that I believe SPSSI is uniquely positioned to fill, and is also a perfect complement to the policy work in which SPSSI and its staff members are already engaged. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you at the workshop!

—Allen M. Omoto, SPSSI President


 

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