All current affiliates of the Section for Students are eligible to apply to stand as a candidate and to vote in the annual Section for Student Executive elections. To be eligible to apply for any position on the Section Executive, the applicant must (a) be a current member of the Section for Students, and (b) must remain a Student Affiliate of CPA for the full term of the position (see below), and therefore is only eligible if he or she intends to remain a student in a psychology program at a Canadian university. Additional details about the eligibility criteria and the election process can be found in the CPA Section for Students By-Laws.
The terms begin immediately following the annual business meeting of the Section for Students at the annual CPA convention. Executive positions have 2-year terms, with the exception of the Chair, Chair-Elect and Past Chair positions which are 3-year terms whereby the newly elected candidate will spend one year as Chair-Elect (year 1) before automatically moving on to Chair (year 2), and finally Past-Chair (year 3).
Roles and Responsibilities
Chair
- Responsible for general and specific organization of Section goals and activities
- Regularly communicates with Section Executive and CPA Head Office
- Works to advance Section mission of increasing the voice of psychology students in Canadian universities
- Coordinates Section program at annual convention, including organizing the review of section submissions, coordinating planning of section presentations, attaining an invited speaker, and managing the business meeting
- Writes articles for Psynopsis/Mind Pad as necessary or appropriate
- Expected to attend the annual convention
Chair-Elect
- Assists in decision-making and organization of Section activities
- Works with Chair over the course of the year
- Participates in convention preparation, including presentations and workshops
- Coordinates the CPA Student Mentorship Program
- Coordinates the CPA Section for Students Travel and Best Poster Awards
- Manages student submissions to Psynopsis with an aim at having student submissions in each issue; includes calls for submissions
- Every third year, the Chair-Elect will sit concurrently as the Student Member on the CPA Board of Directors and will continue to hold the position during their time in the Chair and Past-Chair positions
- Expected to attend the annual convention
Past-Chair
- Helps transition Chair into his/her new role
- Available for consultation and feedback
- Help facilitate transitions in working relationships between Chair and CPA representatives
- Appoints Editor-in-Chief of Mind Pad; may appoint him or herself
Administration and Finance Executive
- Maintains Section budget, including coordinating reimbursements and ongoing communication with the CPA Finance Coordinator
- Reviews budget to determine if there are budgetary shortfalls for Section activities
- Responsible for keeping track of all incoming and outgoing monetary transactions
- Prepares minutes of all Executive meetings; circulates minutes to Executive for review before deeming them final
- Maintains all internal Section documents, including Executive contact list and historical records (e.g., agendas, minutes, reports, by-laws)
- Schedules meetings of the Executive as directed by the Chair
- Works with Chair to ensure that the Section meets all necessary deadlines
- Assists Graduate Student Affairs Officer and Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer with Student Representative program, as needed
Graduate Student Affairs Executive
- Along with the Undergraduate Student Affairs Executive, maintains the Student Representative program
- Responsible for management of graduate Student Representatives and faculty Representatives
- Management of Representatives includes:
- Recruitment of new Representatives
- o Ongoing communication with current Representatives
- o Ensuring that current Representatives are active
- o Handling inquiries from graduate students or faculty interested in become a representative
- o Distribute and collect bi-annual representative reports from Representatives (sent out in October and April each year)
- o Review concerns/issues/suggestions mentioned in bi-annual reports and addressing them in a timely manner, including contacting Student Representatives that have asked to be responded to individually
- o Along with the Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer, tabulates responses and circulates common questions/concerns among Representatives, and ensures that questions/concerns are discussed by the Section Executive as appropriate
- o Assists Representatives with ideas of how to increase exposure of CPA at their home institutions
- o Collaborates with Communications Officer to ensure that the Representative list on the website is up-to-date
- o May seek assistance of the Administration and Finance Officer for any of the above duties
Undergraduate Student Affairs Executive
- Along with the Graduate Student Affairs Executive, maintains the Student Representative program
- Responsible for management of undergraduate Student Representatives
- Management of Representatives includes:
- Recruitment of new Representatives
- Ongoing communication with current Representatives
- Ensuring that current Representatives are active
- Handling inquiries from graduate students or faculty interested in become a representative
- Distribute and collect bi-annual representative reports from Representatives (sent out in October and April each year)
- Review concerns/issues/suggestions mentioned in bi-annual reports and addressing them in a timely manner, including contacting Student Representatives that have asked to be responded to individually
- Along with the Graduate Student Affairs Officer, tabulates responses and circulates common questions/concerns among Representatives, and ensures that questions/concerns are discussed by the Section Executive as appropriate
- Assists Representatives with ideas of how to increase exposure of CPA at their home institutions
- Collaborates with Communications Officer to ensure that the Representative list on the website is up-to-date
- May seek assistance of the Administration and Finance Officer for any of the above duties
- Should ideally be a first or second year graduate student or senior undergraduate student in order to be in touch with undergraduate student needs and current issues
Communications Executive
- Main contact point for students in, or interested in, psychology
- Coordinates and sends Section News to Section members, on at least a bi-monthly basis
- Maintains the annual Convention package
- Proofreads official Section documents and communications
- Coordinates sending materials via the Section listserv
- Maintains the Section website, including all sections of the website
- Maintains any electronic forums hosted by the Section
- Maintains online voting system
Francophone Affairs Executive
- Must be fully bilingual (spoken and written) in French and English
- Engages in outreach activities to Francophone students and psychology programs in Canada
- Advises Executive on issues pertaining to the Francophone psychological community, and on issues of sensitivity to Francophone members
- Responsible for prompt and accurate translations (English-French and French-English) of Section materials (e.g., Sections News, listserv postings, website pages, voting applicant profiles)
- Representative on the Executive on behalf of all francophone communities across Canada