Report From the APA Council of Representatives, August 2009
Deirdre J. Knapp
Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO)
Your 2009 APA council representatives (José Cortina, Deirdre Knapp, Howard Weiss, and Bill Macey standing in for Ed Locke) joined roughly 160 of our fellow representatives in August for the summer Council of Representatives meeting in Toronto.
More time than usual was devoted to discussion of the finances of the organization. APA ended 2008 roughly $5M in the red. This outcome was even worse than we expected when we met in January. Because APA must reflect investment losses but not the real estate it owns in calculating net worth, the financial health of the organization is actually somewhat better than this might suggest. Nonetheless, it is imperative that APA finish 2009 without appreciable losses.
The APA CEO worked with his management team on serious cuts to operational costs, including cutting about 30 staff positions. The COR also took responsibility for achieving a balanced budget in 2009 by voting on dramatic cuts, including once again canceling the fall consolidated meetings of the various APA boards and committees. Nothing was sacred, and there was considerable angst over the vote to greatly reduce APA’s contribution to the Akron Historical Archives.
On a more pleasant (though not terribly exciting) note, the COR voted to accept the APA strategic plan goals and objectives, adding to the vision statement approved in January.
The COR received two reports. One report, the product of an APA Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change, examined how psychological science can be applied to encourage people to engage in environmentally sensitive behaviors. The second report, also based on a review of the relevant published literature, found insufficient evidence for claims that sexual orientation can be changed through therapy and concluded that therapists should avoid telling their clients that they can change from gay to straight. Both reports received national press coverage during the convention. If you have suggestions for an APA task force that would focus on a societal issue of particular relevance to work-related psychological research, please offer suggestions to one of your APA council representatives. It is a long process to get these task forces approved and funded, but it would be rewarding to see something initiated by I-O psychologists.
In response to ongoing concerns regarding APA Ethical Standards 1.02 and 1.03, which address conflicts between ethics and law and ethics and organizational demands, the CRO directed the APA Ethics Committee to propose language that would clarify the psychologist’s obligations when such conflicts arise.
José and Deirdre will complete their terms as council representatives in December. David Peterson and Debra Major will be starting their terms in January. Welcome!