Letter of Nomination: Susan Whitbourne, PhD
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dear Psi Chi National Office:
Dr. Susan Whitboume has been the Psi Chi Faculty Advisor of the University of Massachusetts Chapter for the past 10 years. Since her initial year as Advisor in the fall of 1989, Professor Whitboume has become a mentor, organizer, supporter and role model to the officers and members of Psi Chi. A sincere interest in and dedication to the success and progress of our Psi Chi chapter as well as the individuals that take part in it, makes Professor Whitbourne an exceptional Advisor.
As an Advisor for the Honors Program in Psychology and the Office of National Scholarship Advisement, Professor Whitbourne has continually provided important information and advice to Psi Chi members through her expertise in these areas. She has given workshops at Psi Chi meetings and for the Psychology Department to aid students. Examples of these workshops include the Graduate School Workshop for the department and a Leadership Workshop for Psi Chi. Professor Whitboume maintains intimate connections with Psi Chi activities and the scholastic progress of Psi Chi members through regular meetings with Psi Chi officers and office hours for Psi Chi members. Personal relationships with Professor Whitboume have empowered students to learn about and apply to graduate schools and numerous campus awards, such as the Senior Leadership Award and the Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
Many Psi Chi members over the years have benefited greatly from having Professor Whitbourne as a guide at EPA and APA. Professor Whitbourne routinely encourages Psi Chi members to present at conventions and has advised them on their posters and papers. In addition to the personal attention she devotes to students at conferences, Professor Whitbourne has run several workshops at national and regional conventions. These activities include a Graduate School Preparation Workshop for Psi Chi in 1992 and 1994 through 1999, 3 years of professional workshops at APA for APAGS and Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging).
Participation in our community service activities is a very important part of an Advisor's role. In addition to taking part in our community service, Professor Whitbourne also informs Psi Chi of community service opportunities that our chapter is able to take part in. The Psychology Department's faculty involvement in Psi Chi is greatly increased by Professor Whitboume's actions. She helped increase faculty contributions to United Way by rewarding contributors with free coffee from the Psi Chi coffee table in the Psychology building. The chapter collected donations to sponsor Professor Whitbourne in the "Dance for Heart" in which attendance at certain aerobics classes helps the American Heart Association. The presence of the Coffee Table every morning has become the greatest vehicle for faculty involvement in Psi Chi by making Psi Chi visible to faculty and introducing them to our members.
In addition to Professor Whitbourne's chapter activities, her active involvement in the department helps Psi Chi as well. She is the instructor of two very popular undergraduate Psychology courses: Elementary Psychology and Psychology of Aging. Technologically advanced teaching aids combined with the integration of current events make these classes very highly demanded within the undergraduate curriculum. These classes also offer Psi Chi the opportunity to inform students of Psi Chi's community service activities and participate in fundraisers. Every year Psi Chi is invited into her Elementary Psychology class to offer students the chance to receive Halloween Candy Bags and Finals Study Kits by filling out envelopes for Psi Chi to send care package order forms to their parents. The opportunity that is given to Psi Chi to inform the first year students in the Elementary Psychology course is very valuable in enhancing Psi Chi's visibility and desirability early on for these students.
Above and beyond her exceptional teaching, advising students, and involvement in Psi Chi, Professor Whitbourne is highly esteemed in her field of Psychology. Professor Whitbourne served as the President of APA Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging) for the1995-6 term, was Program Chair of APA Division 20 in 1998, and has recently been selected to be Council Representative of APA Division 20 for the years 2000 to 20003.
Professor Whitbourne is the co-author of Abnormal Psychology: The Human Experience of Psychological Disorders with Dr. Richard Halgin, published by McGraw Hill, now in it's third edition, which is used as a textbook for courses in Abnormal Psychology all across the globe. The textbook's companion A Casebook of Abnormal Psychology: From the Files of Experts, also with Richard Halgin, published by Oxford University Press, is a collection of case studies that have been used in courses to benefit students of Psychology. In her own field of Gerontology, Professor Whitbourne has recently produced three books: Adult Develonment and Aging: Biopsychological Perspectives, published by John Wiley & Sons, 2001; The Aging Individual: Physical and Psychological Perspectives, published by Springer Publishers; Gerontology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives with John Cavanaugh, published by Oxford University Press. The benefits that Psi Chi members receive from Professor Whitbourne' s actions and the contributions she has made to Psychology as a science make Dr. Susan Whitbourne a prime candidate for the Psi Chi Regional Faculty Advisor Award. In her ten years as the University of Massachusetts Amherst Psi Chi Advisor, she truly has achieved Psi Chi's purpose: "to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members in all fields, particularly in psychology, and to advance the science of psychology."
Sincerely,
Jennifer Plumb
Chapter President