Meeting began at 8:30 am and ended at 4:30pm.

In attendance:  Cary Cherniss, Marc Goldstein, David Lounsbury, Greg Meissen, Cliff O’Donnell, and Leah Gensheimer.  Alan Tomkins was out of the country and, therefore, was unable to attend.

The following is a summary of agenda items, our discussions and Board decisions.  The minutes are organized as items were discussed.

1.  Welcome.   Chair Greg Meissen welcomed Board members and distributed the meeting’s agenda.  A special welcome was extended to our new board member David Lounsbury, who is the student representative.

2.  Approval of Minutes.   Minutes of the July 22, 1996 mid-summer conference call meeting were reviewed and motion to approve them was made.  The minutes were unanimously approved.

3.  Treasurer’s Report.     Treasurer Marc Goldstein distributed copies of the treasure report which included a detailed listing of Council expenditures and income for the 1996 calendar year.  Overall, the financial status of the Council is good.  Balance on January 1, 1997 was $3,178.97; on January 1, 1996 it was $3,358.57 --- a net difference for 1996 of -$179.60.  Income generated during 1996 was $2,776.66 and expenditures were $2,956.16.  All but $5.00 of 1996 expenditures were related to the 1996 Mid-Winter Meeting.

Dues have been received from 28 institutional members and 4 individual members.  Three former members (Michigan State University, New York University, and Wilfrid Laurier University) had not renewed as of February 18, 1997, while three new institutions have joined (i.e., Arizona State University, University of New Haven, and University of Wisconsin).  The number of Council members has remained consistent over the years.  A brief discussion was held regarding the potential interest of former members who had not yet sent in dues.  While there was doubt about the continued interest of Wilfrid Laurier University because of its financial problems; it was anticipated that Michigan State and New York University would probably continue their membership.  Marc volunteered to follow-up with NYU, and David will follow-up with MSU.

A question was raised concerning how well the Council’s membership reflects institutions/programs identified in the Meissen et al., 1995 Survey of Graduate Programs in Community Research and Action.  While many of the programs are members, it was decided that it would be worthwhile to look through the survey later in the meeting to identify institutions which may be interested in joining the Council, and to personally contact and invite these programs to join.  Another suggestion was to identify individuals who might be interested in starting community programs.  Ideas suggested to accomplish this included: a) setting up a booth at the Biennial which would include Council information (e.g., Council mission statement, membership information, annual report, community psychology reading list);  and b)  mail information about the Council and an invitation to attend the CPDCRA’s pre-conference training session and business meeting, with the Biennial registration material.  Greg will contact Jean Ann Linney to see if there is time to do this, and will explore with her the value and feasibility of a booth/resource space.

Marc also distributed copies of the 1997 CPDCRA Membership List.  In reviewing the list, the Board raised two issues:  a) inconsistency of program classifications/interest groups and Executive Board membership; and  b) request for additional directory information (i.e., Directors’ telephone numbers and e-mail addresses).

Program Membership Classification & Executive Board Composition:  Currently the Executive Board is composed of two representatives from free-standing community programs, two from clinical-community, one from community/other, and one from masters programs.   The “community/other” category includes programs within psychology departments excluding clinical-community or free-standing (e.g., applied social, applied developmental) and programs in disciplines other than psychology (e.g., social work, child and family studies).  Concern was raised about adequate representation of non-psychology programs on the Board through the current classification approach of combining other community psychology programs with other community programs from non-psychology disciplines. After some discussion, it was proposed to divide the “community/other” category to two new interest groups:  “other interdisciplinary community” programs and “community/other psychology” programs.  Issues related to Board member elections are described under Item 5, New Board Member Election Plans/Needs.

Additional Directory Information:   It was decided that program directors’ telephone numbers and e-mail addresses would be a useful addition to the membership directory.  Cliff will provide Marc with the phone numbers and e-mail addresses he has to add to the directory, and David will contact Sean Azelton at UI-C to secure the most recent e-mail addresses of the directors.  Marc will update and edit the membership directory accordingly.

4.  Report from Council Member Phone Calls.   Overall reports from the program directors, across program types, were positive.  Programs remain stable, and a substantial number are hiring new faculty.

Greg and Cary provided very positive reports on the status clinical/community programs.  For the most part, programs are either growing with the hiring of new faculty in several programs, or programs remain very stable.  Student interest continues to be strong as  indicated by the number of applicants and students’ decisions to work with community faculty.  Issues raised among program directors included:  APA’s new accreditation guidelines and what it means for programs like Wichita State,  movement toward specialization in prevention and a felt sense of urgency for our field (i.e., CPDCRA and SCRA) to take some action, and the internship crisis.

In the master’s programs, Marc reported programs are either growing or remaining stable.  Issues raised:  changes in the health care system and the implications of managed health care for master-level graduates, value of developing program evaluation skills among master-level students, and the opportunities evaluation work brings to programs in terms of  local grants/contracts.

Cliff and Leah reported that most of the free-standing community programs are doing very well, with three programs hiring new community faculty.  Issues raised:  students’ concern about jobs opportunities in the field, undergraduates’ lack of awareness of/exposure to community psychology and its consequence on the number of program applicants, and interest in pursuing consortium idea (see Item 10).

In the other community programs (i.e., community/other psychology and other interdisciplinary programs), Leah reported directors were very positive.  U-Maryland/Baltimore County is hiring a new community faculty member, and U-Wisconsin, School of Social Work has been involved in collaborative efforts with university departments and has been focusing on recruitment strategies to increase applicant pool.  Issues raised:  Council should continue to establish linkages with other programs involved with graduate education in intervention work, applied research and evaluation to ensure an interdisciplinary emphasis; suggestion to recruit potential Council members from other professional associations which share similar interests (e.g., American Evaluation Association, Society for Research in Children Development);  student job issue especially in applied positions; student internships in community vs. clinical psychology; explore ways to increase student applicant pool; importance of promoting community psychology at the undergraduate level; and explore more proactive approaches to disseminate teaching resources.

5.  New Board Member Election Plans/Needs.   Two current Board members’ terms will be up at the conclusion of the 1997 Biennial Business Meeting, Chair Greg Meissen and Treasurer Marc Goldstein.  Elections will be held this Spring to fill the two Board openings.   Based on the discussion held earlier in the meeting (see Item 3, Treasurer Report, Program Membership Classification & Executive Board Composition), a motion was made for one new member to be elected from  Master’s programs (replacing Marc’s position) and the other from Interdisciplinary Community Programs.  The latter replacement would be instead filling the slot with a representative from a clinical-community program (Greg’s interest group). This action will begin the process of restructuring the Board’s composition as described in Item 3.  Through the natural cycling off process (i.e., this year Greg, representing clinical-community programs; next year Leah, representing free-standing programs),  by Summer 1998 the Board will be composed of one representative from the five institutional membership interest groups (i.e., clinical-community, free-standing community, community/other psychology, other interdisciplinary community, and master’s programs) and one student representative.  The motion was unanimously approved.

Chair-elect, Cary Cherniss, will run the election this spring.

6.  Board Officers Election.   Two officer positions needed to be elected to begin their terms at the conclusion of the Biennial Business Meeting,  Chair-Elect and Treasure.   In his absence, Alan Tomkins was nominated and unanimously elected as Chair-Elect.  Congratulations.  Cary will contact Alan about the vote and ask if he accepts the position.

A motion was made, and unanimously approved, to hold off the election for Treasurer until the Biennial Business Meeting.  At that time, Board elections will be completed and new Board members will be eligible to participate in the election process.

7.  Council By-Laws Review.   Greg distributed copies of  Council by-laws, revised 1996, for the Board’s review.  Greg requested any comments or issues to be sent to him by March 7, 1997.

8.  1997 Biennial Pre-Conference Training Session.  Greg distributed copies of the agenda for the Pre-Conference Training Session. Board members responsible for organizing various panels provided an update on the program’s status.

Session Topics:
-  Internship shortage: Crisis or opportunity for community psychology training?
    (Cary Cherniss, Greg Meissen)
-  Developing consortia among community graduate programs.
    (Cliff O’Donnell, Beth Shinn, Bill Davidson, Chris Keys)
-  New APA accreditation guidelines: Issues in training in community psychology.
    (Ray Lorion)
-  Specialization in prevention: SCRA now or Division 12 later.
    (Ed Seidman, Brian Wilcox)

To increase attendance, Greg will send out a letter to Council members inviting them to attend the pre-conference training session.  Enclosed with the letter will be a copy of the session’s agenda and the revised by-laws of the CPDCRA.

9.  Biennial Business Meeting & Executive Meeting.   Discussion on this topic was moved to the end of the meeting.  See Item 15.

10. Consortium & Use of Interactive Technology.   Cliff provided  an update on the status of the consortium project.  A number of e-mail exchanges have taken place among Cliff and interested program directors of free-standing community psychology programs who will be panelists at the pre-conference training session (Bill Davidson, Chris Keys, Beth Shinn).  Issues discussed included student exchanges, how assistantships would be handled, faculty exchanges, and sharing of student applicants. These and other issues and possible solutions will be presented and discussed at the pre-conference session.

11. SCRA Web-Site with Link to Council Home Page.   Board discussed creating a Council home page, linked to SCRA web-site.  It was agreed that the following information was to be included initially on the Council web-site:  statement of mission, by-laws, membership list, most recent annual report, reading list, and possibly a link to the SCRA Education Clearinghouse.  In the future, additional information could be added to the site, such as:  the Survey of Graduate Programs in Community Research and Action, links with these programs, and a survey of community students.  David volunteered to create the web page.  It was agreed that the immediate objective should be to create a site with accurate information and not be overly concerned about formatting/presentation.  David will begin to work on this and have something for the Board to review by the Biennial Meeting.

A question was raised on who would pick up the web-site responsibility once David’s term ended.  A suggestion offered was for the project to become part of the student representative’s position.

12. Membership Recruitment.   The 1995 Survey of Graduate Programs in Community Research and Action (Meissen et al., 1995) was reviewed for identification of institutions which might be interested in joining the Council.  It was agreed that personal contact by Board members to key persons affiliated with institutions, which are not currently Council members, might be an effective recruitment strategy.   The objective of this contact would be to inform them about the Council and extend an invitation to join.  Institutions and key individuals to target were identified and divided among Board members to contact.   Information of  interested institutions/individuals should be forwarded to Marc, who will send out application material.

13. Statement on Cultural/Racial/Gender  Issues -- Next Steps.    Cliff indicated that he had received good feedback on the Council’s statement on Cultural/Racial/Gender Issues.  The statement was passed and was included in the Board’s 1996 Annual Report.

Board discussed what the next steps should be in the planning of training activities in cultural/racial/gender issues.  It was decided that the Board needed to do some fact-finding by connecting with experts in the field to hear their thoughts and ideas.  Several key individuals were identified including:  Roland Tharpe, Ed Trickett, Meg Bond and Cris Sullivan.  Cliff, Cary, Marc and David agreed to contact these individuals for ideas.  They will bring this information to the Biennial Business Meeting for discussion and to develop future action steps.

14. APA Board of Educational Affairs Meeting.  A recent practice of the Board is to have the Chair attend this meeting. This year, Greg will not be able to attend because of a scheduling conflict.  Cliff has tentatively agreed to go in his place.  Cliff will relay information he secures from this meeting to the Board during the Biennial Business Meeting.

15. New Business.  Based on issues raised by Council Members (via report from Council Member telephone calls, see Item 4) and other issues raised by the Board during the course of this business meeting, the following new business items were identified and discussed:

a.  Community Reading List:  Cliff, with the assistance of Jim Dalton (coordinator of the SCRA Education Clearinghouse), will take the initial steps at updating/revising the reading list.  Cliff will also contact the individuals who are preparing the special issue of AJCP on critical readings in the field for suggestions.

b.  Accreditation & Specialization Issues (Prevention Specialization Issue):
The Board discussed the recent changes in APA’s accreditation guidelines, the movement toward prevention specialization, implications of these issues on curriculum and training, and what position and/or action the Board should take on these issues.  Different opinions were voiced, illustrating the lack of consensus in our field on this issue.  Two future actions were proposed:

a) survey community research and action programs to identify common courses and training experiences which could be used for establishing guidelines for accreditation or specialization, if the decision was made to move in that direction in the future;  and
b) based on the survey results, work with SCRA to develop advisory guidelines for programs in community research and action/prevention.

Cary will draft a proposal concerning the Board’s discussion and proposed steps regarding accreditation and specialization in community psychology and/or prevention, disseminate the proposal to the Board for feedback, and then disseminate it to several key SCRA individuals for their comments (e.g., Manuel Barrera, Ed Seidman, Brain Wilcox).   The proposal will be placed on the Biennial Business Meeting’s agenda for open discussion among Council membership.

c.  Employment Concerns of Community Graduate Students.   The recurrent concern voiced by graduate students regarding anxiety about employment opportunities in the field was raised.  It was the general consensus of the Board that employment opportunities existed for community graduates, and typically graduates did not have problems finding a job.  The Board did agree, however, that it could explore ways to help ease student’s anxieties.  One strategy discussed was to provide students with information on the types of positions recent graduates have secured and how they got them.  It was suggested that this information could be included on the Council’s web-site, i.e., brief write-ups featuring recent graduates of community programs.  Identification of these “exemplar community graduates” would be accomplished through soliciting nominations from each Council member.  This request will be made of Council members during the Open Session of the Biennial Business Meeting.

d.  Undergraduate Awareness of Community Psychology.  Concern about undergraduates lack of knowledge of community psychology and career options in community research and action, and the consequences of this issue for graduate programs and the field, were discussed.  The value of the Special Issue of The Community Psychologist on graduate community programs was recognized.  (A special thank you to Cliff and Jean Ann Linney for their efforts on this project).  Cliff mentioned that he had sent copies of the issue to all undergraduate majors at his university.  A good strategy that others may choose to adopt.  Another avenue suggested was through Psi Chi, specifically an article about the field in their newsletter.  Marc will check into that organization’s policy about accepting/publishing such articles.

e.  Agenda for the Open Session of the Council’s Business Meeting at 1997 Biennial.  It was decided that the following items would be placed on the agenda for the open session of the Biennial Business Meeting:  Specialization in prevention issue, request for names of exemplar recent program graduates to feature their employment decisions and strategies, Council web-site, and diversity training issues.