What is I-O?

On October 20^th, SIOP sponsored a Professional Development Workshop in Boston. Mike Beer gave a workshop on Developing an Organization Fit to Compete: How to Overcome Barriers to Alignment. From my point of view, the workshop was highly successful: (a) I attended and learned a lot; (b) I earned seven CE credits that are APA approved; and (c) SIOP made some money! Many thanks to Mike for his efforts in providing an outstanding workshop and to Jack Kennedy, the former chair of the Professional Development Workshop Committee, and Karen Barbera, the current chair of the Professional Development Workshop Committee, for coordinating the logistics of this workshop. Karen is in the process of evaluating our midyear professional development workshop and determining what form future professional development workshops should take. Please send your comments and suggestions to Karen at kbarbera@pra-inc.com. 

Conference Planning

Many SIOP members are in high gear getting ready for the Annual Conference in April. A large number of you submitted 805 papers and proposals. Talya Bauer organized a team of approximately 400 reviewers to read and rate the submissions. SIOP heroes include Adrienne Colella, Murray Barrick, Donald Truxillo, Angelo DeNisi, Tahira Probst, Pamela Tierney, Leslie Hammer, and Robert Sinclair who conducted last minute reviews (50 in 4 days!) when reviews were not returned by the deadline. A subcommittee composed of Talya, Adrienne Colella, Murray Barrick, Richard DeShon and Donald Truxillo took those ratings and developed the Conference Program, which will be on the Web soon and mailed to you prior to the Conference.

SIOP is continuing its work on making I-O psychology more visible to the public. This year Clif Boutelle (SIOPs public relations consultant) and the SIOP Visibility Committee (chaired by Gary Carter) will write press releases with the authors of conference presentations that are judged to be of particular interest to the public. These press releases will be distributed to the news media in waves beginning February 2001.

Work on the 16 Workshops Karen Paul and her committee (Kalen Pieper, Vicki Pollman, Steve Johnson, Tim Patton, Kris Fenlason, Luis Parra, Steve Robison, William Shepherd, Jeff Stanton, Irene Sasaki, James Eyring, Blake Frank, Alberto Galu, Ed Kahn, Joan Rentch, Mick Sheppeck, and Karla Stuebing) have planned is well underway. Look for the list of Workshops on the SIOP Web site, in the Conference Registration book, as well as in this issue of TIP.

Adrienne Colella has headed up the Expanded Tutorials Program and has four scheduled. Our thanks go to Greg Oldham, Jing Zhou, Murray Barrick, Tim Judge, Michael Hitt, Angelo DeNisi, Katherine Klein, and Paul Hanges. Look for the details on the Web and in the Registration book.

Although most of us wont attend SIOPs Doctoral Consortium, the future of I-O psychology depends partly on training and education opportunities like this. Martha Hennen, chair of the subcommittee on the Doctoral Consortium, has an excellent program planned for the 40 students who will attend.

A new addition to the Conference this year is Technology Showcase Sunday, which was developed in response to members requests for more information on technology and the Internet and their effects on I-O psychology. Bill Macey and his subcommittee (Talya Bauer, Ken Brown, Steve Brown, Fritz Drasgow, Craig James, Nathan Mondragon, Jeff Stanton, and Donald Truxillo) have scheduled a series of events including panel sessions, symposia, posters, and demonstrations that explore technological innovations and their impact on I-O psychology. Information on how to submit a proposal for a demonstration is included in this TIP and can also be found at the SIOP Web site. Technology Showcase Sunday will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Be sure to make your travel arrangements so you can attend this new event.

Commercialization of the entire Conference is a growing concern for SIOP. Our common interest in technology and the inclusion of a technology program has clouded the boundaries still further. The Conference is intended to be an opportunity for professionals to exchange information regarding the science and practice of I-O psychology. While sales and marketing activities clearly occur and have their place in the exhibits and other external venues, the Conference program is not intended to be a sales event. A lot of gray area exists between a sales presentation and a presentation demonstrating an effective approach to a scientific problem. In order to provide guidance regarding what is gross commercialization, I am in the process of appointing a task force to provide guidelines on what is acceptable and what is not.

Another new feature of the 2001 Conference will be a special reception for our Foreign Affiliates and SIOP members who are interested in international I-O issues. Im hopeful that this reception will introduce I-O psychologists with international interests to each other and facilitate a discussion on where SIOP ought to be going internationally. Look for the time and place details in the Conference Program.

In past years, Conference-wide events provided us the opportunity to recognize all the people who served on committees and performed the work of the Society. Without the luncheon, we have no good way to recognize the contributions of the many volunteers who serve the Society. To remedy this problem, we have made pins to recognize that service. If you have served on a committee, subcommittee, task force, or any other SIOP group this year, please be sure to stop by the registration desk, get a pin, and wear it. When you see people with a pin, please take the time to ask them about their service and thank them for their efforts.

Many thanks to those who are working hard to make the 2001 Conference a success. 

Principles

The Committee on the Revision of the Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures has had their second meeting and is well on its way. The purpose of this revision is to ensure the Principles reflect the 1999 Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests and currently known best practices in the field of personnel selection. The Committee, which is chaired by Dick Jeanneret, includes Marcie Andberg, Steve Brown, Wayne Camara, Wanda Campbell, Donna Denning, Jerry Kehoe, Jim Outtz, Paul Sackett, Mary Tenopyr, and Shelly Zedeck. I am an ex officio member of the group. Dick is in the process of appointing an advisory panel to review the work of his committee before a draft is broadly disseminated. The committees goal is to complete a first draft by June 2001. The first draft will be given to the advisory panel and the SIOP Executive Committee for review and comment, then revised. The second draft will be available to all SIOP members who request a copy and wish to review and comment late in 2001. Comments submitted to the Committee will be used by the members of the Committee only and will not be posted on the SIOP Web site or disseminated further. 

Task Force on Licensure

SIOPs current policy on licensure states that an industrial and organizational psychologist should be able to become licensed if he or she chooses to do so. While SIOP can maintain this policy, we can no longer remain silent about the terms and conditions for licensure without risking being shut out of licensure completely. Based on reports on the activities of the APA Commission on Licensure, various state boards, and ASPPB, SIOP cannot simply complain about what we dont like about current or proposed licensure requirements. Instead, the time has come for us to formulate what an acceptable licensing requirement for an I-O psychologist would look like.

This task force has been asked to

1. define what would constitute acceptable licensure requirements for industrial and organizational psychology

2. draft an implementation plan evaluating which people or institutions meet those requirements

3. strategize how we might go about counteracting decisions that have already been made within APA and at the state boards.

Mort McPhail, the chair of the State Affairs Committee, and Mickey Quinoes, the chair of the Education and Training Committee, have agreed to co-chair the task force. Rich Klimoski, Laura Koppes, Kevin Murphy, and Ann Marie Ryan have agreed to serve on the task force. I anticipate having more details about the plan of action late this year. 

Task Force on SIOP Communications

Another important task force recently appointed is the Task Force on SIOP Communications. The purpose of this task force is to review the purpose of our communications media (e.g., TIP, Web site, possible chat rooms, press releases, visibility efforts, etc.) and determine what sorts of policies should be developed for each medium. Allan Church, the editor of TIP, will chair the task force, which will also include Debbie Major (the incoming TIP editor), Katherine Klein (member-at-large), Gary Carter (chair of the Visibility Committee), and Dave Dorsey (chair of the Electronic Communications Committee). 

APAs Task Force on the Ethics Code Revision

Many of you know that APA has its own Task Force to Revise the Ethics Code. Several drafts have come out and several SIOP members have commented on them. Deirdre Knapp has been appointed an official observer to the Task Force for SIOP and attended the last meeting of the Task Force. A draft for comment is scheduled to appear in the February or March Monitor and the APA Web site. The draft will be accompanied by a call for comments that will set a 2-month deadline for response. Steve Brown, chair of the Scientific Affairs Committee, and Wanda Campbell, chair of the Professional Practices Committee, will jointly appoint a SIOP Task Force to review the draft and write formal comments on behalf of SIOP. If you would like to share your comments with this subcommittee, please forward them to Steve (sbrown@limra.com) or Wanda (wcampbell@eei.org), and they will forward them to the subcommittee. 

APAs Work Group on Executive Coaching

One more task force that some of you will be interested in is APAs Work Group on Executive Coaching. APAs Board of Professional Affairs (BPA) established a work group to determine what kinds of guidelines should be developed for psychologists who provide executive coaching. SIOP was very fortunate to have one of our own members, Ben Dowell, appointed to the Work Group. The group has met once and dealt with three main questions:

1. How should APA and BPA go about defining executive coaching as an area of practice?

2. How should APA and BPA support the responsible expansion of practice in this area?

3. How can APA and BPA help create a brand for psychology in the executive coaching marketplace?

We anticipate a report from the work group and a summary of the next steps soon. 

JobNet

By now everyone should have received a letter about JobNet, our new Web-based placement service. JobNet is the result of a tremendous effort by Larry Nader of the Administrative Office and Linda Sawin, chair of the Placement Committee. Anyone can still review all the job listings as we always have. Whats new is our ability to provide a resume only to those employers who pay a fee to review resumes. When you use JobNet in the next few months, please take the time to send Lee Hakel an e-mail about how well it worked. We need the feedback to improve the system and to give Larry and Linda some well-deserved appreciation. 

Foundation

SIOPs Foundation Committee (Irv Goldsteinchair, Paul Thayer, Cathy Higgs, Bill Mobley, Lyman Porter, Lee Hakelex officio, and Jeff McHenryex officio) met this summer and have awarded SIOP $7,500 to fund our proposal for a SIOP Small Grants Program. The Long Range Planning Committee (Ann Marie Ryan, Mike Burke, and Katherine Klein) developed a program to be implemented by the Awards Committee, chaired by Tim Judge. The purpose of the program is

• to provide support to SIOP members for research-related activities,
• to help guide research activities where there can be real impact, and
• to foster cooperation between academicians and practitioners in non-academic settings.

For the 20002001 year, SIOP intends to make three $2,500 awards. Details about the Call for Proposals will come out in the April TIP and also be placed on the Web.

In addition, the Foundation has granted us $2,500 in seed money to pursue our work on Educating the Public about I-O Psychology. The goals of this project are

• to inform the general public of I-O psychology and its contributions to the workplace,
• to provide tools summarizing professional approaches to work-related problems, and
• to provide guidance for selecting professionals who assist in solving work-related problems.

In order to meet these goals, the Long Range Planning Committee has proposed a toolkit approach in which Web-based toolkits will be developed for an array of I-O related topics. Tabs will be developed for important topics such as general description, legal issues, FAQs, how to find an expert, and so forth. A toolkit subcommittee of the Education and Training Committee will be established by January 1, 2001 to develop the first toolkit, which is targeted for completion March 1, 2002. 

Final Words