Message from CPA's President,
2018-2019: Dr. Sam Mikail
It is indeed an honour to be serving as President of CPA for 2018-2019. CPA has been my professional home since I first began graduate studies in psychology. Over the course of the past 30 years of my career, CPA has been an important source of support, information, and ongoing professional development. My decision to take an active role in the association was instilled by graduate faculty and mentors who themselves modeled the importance of engagement and service to professional associations. My hope is that each one of us will take every opportunity to convey that message to all students and non-member colleagues with whom we interact. CPA’s influence with policy makers, government officials, research funding organizations, and indeed the general public, is strengthened when the organization is able to capitalize on the collective wisdom of the entire psychology community.
Over the coming year the Board of Directors will continue working through its review of Board composition and any required revision of the current bylaws. To some of you, this may seem like a rather dry and uninteresting initiative, and yet, it is vital to ensuring our members and CPA’s various constituents are represented in a manner that reflects best-practices in governance. Our Past-President, Dr. Patrick Baillie, will host another virtual Town Hall meeting in September, 2018. Please look for announcements and consider registering in order to ensure your viewpoint is heard. If you are unable to attend the virtual Town Hall please feel free to contact me or Dr. Ballie directly with your views. A core component of my mandate during this presidential year will be to implement the recommendations emerging from these member consultations.
This coming year CPA will also hold two events that are sure to be critical to shaping the future of our discipline. A Summit on the Future of Professional Psychology Training will be held in May, 2019 and co-chaired by Dr. Ian Nicholson, President-Elect, and me. A second Summit on the Future of Psychological Science Training that is being organized by the Scientific Affairs Committee will be held during the CPA Annual Convention in Halifax. I am very excited about these initiatives and look forward to updating you on their progress as they continue to take shape.
Finally, over this coming year I look forward to working with CPA’s section chairs, in an effort to ensure that the needs of all sections are considered and met to the best of our ability. Our sections reflect the diversity and richness of our discipline and serve as an essential means through which the science, practice, and education of psychology are fully animated. In that spirit, I encourage those of you who do not belong to a section to consider doing so.