TIP Missives
To Boldly Go Where No TIP Has Gone Before
Allan,
As a TIP editor in the mid 1980s, I was THE FIRST editor to take an
issue of TIP over the 100-page mark. And I heard about it in spades (too
costly, too much to read, etc.). I see the most recent issue is over 200 pages.
I hope you are praised for the amount of work you do in putting out such a
quality publication.
The only thing I miss about the TIP editor's job is the irreverent
humor column I would write for each issue. Although its been 15 years since I
wrote them, I still get people who ask me about them and whether I would write
them again. Alas, I receive no such kind words about my published research.
Great job on TIP, Allan!
Paul Muchinsky
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
pmmuchin@uncg.edu
***
I encourage SIOP's leadership to take a considered look at TIP and
where it is headed as a publication. Looking at my bookshelf, TIP seems
to have grown progressively thicker since the mid 1990s. A 1996-era TIP
ran less than 80 pages, a 1998-era TIP ran about 150 pages, and our first
Y2K TIP ran a hefty 228 pages! Have we grown so big, that we need more
space to talk to ourselves about ourselves? Is all that advertising (much of
which is from firms that already bombard us with direct mailings) really
necessary to support TIP, or just to support a bigger TIP?
TIP seems to be caught in a proverbial Certs mints dilemma. Is TIP
a newsletter, or is it a journal? Should it try to be both? The Society needs
news about what is going on with members. We also need information relevant to
the research and practice of applied psychology that is unlikely to be included
in refereed journals. However, if TIP keeps growing at its current rate,
it will begin to rival the APA Monitor, which serves an organization many
times larger and more diverse than SIOP.
I hope that these remarks do not dampen the zeal of Allan Church and his
editorial colleagues. All the things TIP is doing offers something of
value to segments of the membership, but it is difficult to find time to sift
through a 200-plus page newsletter. Maybe TIP should be published more
often. Maybe SIOP needs a newsletter and a journal.
I am not advocating any position aside from pointing out that the pace of TIP's
enlargement seems to be putting its utility, and perhaps its relevance, at risk.
Dr. Thomas F. Hilton
National Institute on Drug Abuse
thilton@nida.nih.gov (Hilton, Thomas (NIDA))
***
Is There a Career at the End of the Tunnel?
Dawn Riddle and Lori Foster,
As a recent graduate and entrant to the workforce (I finished my dissertation
and started working in 1998) I am excited about your TIP column! I have a
couple of ideas for you.
1. I'm hitting a point where I am not learning much new at work. I am getting
more responsibility managing projects and getting involved in some new arenas,
but I am not encountering new experiences at the rate I was before. I would like
to hear how others have responded to this stage at work. I am not quite ready to
move to a new job and would like to maximize my learning opportunities here. How
have others avoided boredom, or am I in an unusual position?
2. Thinking down the road a little, I would like to read about others'
experiences transitioning FROM their first job. In graduate school, I got lots
of advice about hunting for a job, but people outside school don't talk about
changing jobs as openly. I'd like to read about how people conducted job search
plans, particularly when it would not have behooved them to use SIOP's placement
center.
Feel free to use my ideas or branch off from them. However, I'd rather not
have my name published with these questions.
Best wishes!
Anonymous
***
Hi Lori and Dawn,
I just finished reading your January TIP column (featuring Ed Salas).
I think it is a great and much-needed column and builds well on your previous
student column. Keep up the good work.
I thought I would throw a potential future column topic out there to you.
Namely, the possibility of post-docs for I-O graduates. In many fields
(including many within psychology), getting a coveted tenure track position
often requires one or two postdoc stints before one can even be seriously
considered for a tenure-track position (particularly in a PhD-granting
institution). Might there be a possibility that I-O would ever go this route? If
so, what forms might it take (i.e., could you do a postdoc at IBM or Proctor and
Gamble for example)? How would a postdoctoral internship differ from the more
typical post-doc position in other areas of psychology?
Why do I bring this up? Well, my interests have recently turned to looking at
aging workforce issues, and it was clear I need some life-span/gerontology
training. So for my first sabbatical, I did a 1 year postdoc at the Andrus
Gerontology Center at USC last AY. It was a great experience and will no doubt
help tremendously as I continue to build my program of research in this area. I
thought to myself, "I should have done this right after my PhD" (I
finished in 1992), but of course being in I-O who does postdocs? As other topics
within
I-O become more interdisciplinary will such additional training be needed? I
realize this seems like a nonissue at this point, but I get the sense that
postdocs for I-O PhDs may in fact become more prominent in time, although they
may not look like those in experimental, developmental, or neuroscience.
Anyway, just thought I would throw that possible topic out there for you in
case you can't think of anything better for a future column. Best of luck with
your future columns and again keep up the great work.
Kenneth S. Shultz, PhD
Department of Psychology
California State University, San Bernardino
kshultz@csusb.edu
***
Hi, Lori,
I just read your column in the January TIP. It was great! Apparently,
grad school and your first year teaching have not dulled your quick wit! I hope
all is well and that your new semester is off to a good start. Mine is, so far.
We're supposed to move to the new building in March or April and they are hard
at work clearing and grading the land right behind Bellevue Hall for the second
new academic building.
Well, I just wanted to congratulate you on the column. Take care and keep up
the good work!
Best regards,
Bob Reeves
Augusta State University
rreeves@aug.edu
***
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