President's Message

David Washburn, PhD

SEPA President 2009-2010

Psychological associations have existed almost as long as the discipline of psychology itself. According to Pickren and—former SEPA president—Fowler (2003), psychologists from different universities and cities have been meeting together since 1889.  That is, within a decade of the founding of Wundt’s laboratory in Leipzig, psychologists were identifying, organizing, and organizing into groups. A few years later, the American Psychological Association would be formed as the first of many professional associations for psychologists in this country.

Why did our young discipline need professional organizations 120 years ago? The answers to this question serve equally well as answers to the question, “Why do you need professional psychology organizations today?” Societies provided disciplinary identification and certification, networking and collegiality, as well as opportunities for professional growth in scholarship, teaching, clinical application, and service.

Of course, today you have many options with respect to professional organizations with which to associate. There are regional, national, international, general, and specialty organizations competing for your loyalty and your dues dollars—more than you can possibly support with your time and other resources, and of course there’s overlap in the benefits of these memberships, such that there’s diminishing return from each organization you join. So, what can SEPA do for you? Here’s a partial list:

SEPA provides opportunities to meet with psychologists who live and work near you. There are dozens of psychologists with similar research interests to mine at colleges and universities near my home institution; ironically however, I see them most reliably at conferences. As a regional association, SEPA allows you to meet potential collaborators (including those who work outside the academic setting) in your geographic region, and provides regular social opportunities with old friends and acquaintances. The SEPA convention is a social networking site!

SEPA provides access to the most influential scholars in the field.  The program at the annual meeting of the SEPA features distinguished speakers and innovative sessions that provide unique opportunities to learn the latest in the field. In the last two years alone, the list of invited speakers in the annual program is an all-star list of award recipients (e.g., annual addresses by G. Stanley Hall and William James lecturers), National Academy members, former APA Presidents, and other leading researchers including Roy Baumeister, Ruth Day, Judy DeLoache, John Dovidio, Beverly Greene, Diane Halpern, James Jackson, John Norcross, James Pennebaker, Layli Philips, Michael Posner, J. David Smith, Robert Sternberg, Jacquelyn White, and Tom Zentall.  Continuing education credit was available at many of these talks, and also at numerous excellent workshops hosted by SEPA at the convention.

SEPA is an affordable option for professional dissemination of your research results.  At the 2009 convention, there were more than 400 program events (papers, posters, symposia, etc.) representing all areas of psychology, including clinical, cognitive, community, comparative, developmental, physiological, school, social, and neuropsychology and behavioral neuroscience. Over 1,000 people attended the 2009 meeting. With reasonable registration fees and annual meetings convenient to anywhere in the southeast, SEPA provides an audience of scholars for your professional presentations. Outstanding presentations by professional members are recognized with an award. SEPA can help you build more than a CV—you can build a reputation.

SEPA helps you mentor your students in the profession.  With an annual program packed with invited sessions and your own best research presentations, you might be surprised to learn that SEPA is student-friendly. SEPA provides opportunities for your graduate students and best undergraduate students to develop professionally—both by attending talks and also by giving presentations and posters. Few professional organizations provide the supportive environment for students that can be found at SEPA. From the active role that Psi Chi plays at the meeting to the awards that are given annually to outstanding student presentations, SEPA is the place for your students to begin their careers as psychologists.

SEPA provides unique recruitment opportunities.  Trying to increase the number and the quality of students who apply to your graduate program? Where better to make those connections with undergraduates than at the conference where they are presenting their research? Looking for an edge in new faculty hiring for your department? Consider targeting outstanding new PhDs who have geographic ties to the region by meeting them at SEPA.

What can you do for SEPA?

For the professional member looking for disciplinary service opportunities, SEPA offers an additional benefit: there are lots of ways you can contribute to the organization. Any organization is only as good as its members are willing to make it. Do you wish that SEPA had more program content in your research area? Organize a symposium or invite some researchers around that topic to participate. Wish there were more or different vendors at the exhibit area? Send suggestions to the SEPA administrative staff. Think that the association should be moving in a different direction? Nominate yourself or others for election to leadership roles. Again, here’s a non-exhaustive list of ways you can make SEPA a better association.

Get involved!  Submit your best work for presentation. Volunteer to serve as a program-committee reviewer or Session Chair. Offer to help the Committee for Equality of Professional Opportunities.  Participate in the SWIM (Southeastern Workers in Memory) or the SEIOPA (Southeastern I/O Psychological Association), both of which meet at the SEPA conference. All SEPA needs to become an even better organization is for you to get more involved.

Encourage others to join and to attend SEPA. The best way for the organization to grow is for each member to recruit a new member. How can you do this? Contact new faculty members in the department and make sure they know the dates for the SEPA meeting and the submission deadline. Encourage your graduate students and best undergraduates to submit their research for presentation. Identify speakers you would like to hear—particularly those convenient to next year’s meeting in Chattanooga—and organize a session in which those speakers might participate. In other words, spread the word about the annual meeting and the other benefits of SEPA. Currently, SEPA has over 1,500 members. If every member invited just one new member from their daily contacts, SEPA would experience tremendous growth, which would in turn facilitate additional growth for our discipline in the region.

Whether you’re new to the organization or a long-time member, make SEPA your home. There are a myriad of reasons why you give your resources and loyalty to selected people, places, and organizations (e.g., sports teams, favorite restaurants, commercial products, causes). Consider making SEPA one of the organizations to which you are committed. Take a few minutes to learn more about SEPA by exploring this website. You’ll learn more about its history and mission, and see other benefits of SEPA membership. Invest in SEPA with your dues and registration payments, time, and energies. Convey your commitment to your colleagues and students. You’ll get a lot out of the association, and you’ll have opportunities to build the organization for the future. Discover the benefits of a psychological association that’s close to home by making SEPA your “home” organization.

See you in Chattanooga!

David Washburn, PhD

President 2009-2010

Pickren, W. E., & Fowler, R. D. (2003). Professional organizations. In D. K. Freedheim (Ed.), Handbook of Psychology: History of psychology, Vol. 1, 535-554. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.