The Board circulated proposed changes in the by-laws to the full Council membership which were adopted. The most significant change in the by-laws was to change the name from the Council of Community Psychology Program Directors to the Council of Program Directors in Community Research & Action. The primary rationale for this change was to reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the Council’s members, and to be consistent with the Society for Community Research & Action, our primary organizational affiliation. The other changes to the by-laws centered on making them more consistent with recent changes in technology (e.g., conference call meetings) or changes in the field (e.g., business meeting at the Biennial instead of APA). The revised version of the by-laws were mailed to program directors of each Council member and are available on the CPDCRA Web Page.

2. Training Pre-Session at Biennial Conference on Community Research & Action.

The Board organized a special Pre-Session on Training at the Biennial Conference on Community Research and Action that included the following discussion sections:

Internship Shortage: Crisis or Opportunity for Community Psychology Training?
Cary Cherniss, Rutgers University & Greg Meissen, Wichita State University
Developing Consortia Among Community Graduate Programs
Cliff O’Donnell, University of Hawaii, Beth Shinn, New York University, Bill Davidson, Michigan State University, & Chris Keys, University of Illinois, Chicago
New APA Accreditation Guidelines: Issues in Training in Community Psychology.
Raymond P. Lorion, University of Maryland
Specialization in Prevention: SCRA Now or Division 12 later
Ed Siedman, New York University & Brian Wilcox, University of Nebraska

3. Specialization in Prevention

There is much discussion in psychology about the designation of specialities. There is some concern that if SCRA does not become involved in the Prevention speciality process that other groups and societies might. Community psychology has consistently championed prevention approaches but has just as consistently avoided issues around accreditation or related matters. It is hoped that greater clarity regarding what role, if any, the Council and SCRA might play in the specialization of prevention might come from the discussion on this issue at the Training Pre-Session at the Biennial.

4. Interest in Internships

There has long been concern among clinical-community doctoral programs about the very small number of approved internships that furthered community psychology training. Now there are simply not enough clinical internships, though it is important to note that established clinical-community programs have been able to place their students. The Board wanted to assess the interest and feasibility of developing new community oriented internships that could be facilitated or developed by graduate programs to meet the needs of doctoral students with an interest in community research and action.

5. Development of a Community Research & Action Consortia

There has been much excitement about developing a consortia to promote student and faculty exchange between programs, to serve as a forum for exchange of information, collaboration on student admissions, and other ways to promote the diversity of education in community research and action. It is hoped that the discussion at the Biennial will further this effort.

6. Publication of Special Issue on Training in Community Psychology.

The Board facilitated the publication of a Special Issue on Training in Community Psychology in the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community (formerly Prevention in the Human Services). This special issue was published just this month. Cliff O’Donnell worked closely with the Journal in developing the issue and getting it in print in a timely manner. Copies of this Special Issue can be obtained by contacting the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community or the Executive Board of CPDCRA.

7. CPDCRA Web Page

The Board commissioned the creation of a web page for CPDCRA that will be linked to the SCRA web page. The initial work on the page was done by David Lounsbury, a Board member from Michigan State. Included on the page are the list of graduate programs that affiliate with Council, the current Executive Board, annual reports, by-laws, the last survey of Training Programs in Community Psychology, and other relevant and helpful information. Information on how to access the page will appear on the SCRA listserve and the Community Psychologist.

8. Jobs in Community Research & Action

Jobs continues to be a major training issue, in part, due to lack of information and the uncertainty that naturally surrounds the unpredictable nature of jobs in academic, research, policy, program development, and community based service settings. As a first step, the Board wants to compile a list of recent Exemplar Jobs on our new Web Page to provide some information about what our recent graduates are doing.

9. Election of New Board Members and Leadership for 1997-98.

Chair: Cary Cherniss, Rutgers University
Chair-Elect: Alan Tomkins, University of Nebraska
Secretary: Leah Gensheimer, University of Missouri - Kansas City
Member: David Lounsbury, Michigan State University
Member: Cliff O’Donnell, University of Hawaii
Member: Pat O’Conner, Sage College
Member Stephen Small, University of Wisconsin

Annual Report submitted by Greg Meissen. May 28, 1997
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