2007 Psi Chi National Elections: Candidates for President-Elect
1/30/2007
This year's candidates for the position of Psi Chi National President-Elect for the 2007-08 Psi Chi National Council are Michael Newlin, PhD, University of Central Florida at Cocoa, and Scott VanderStoep, PhD, Hope College (MI). Their biographical and position statements are as follows.
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Biographical Statement
Dr. Michael Newlin received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his graduate degree, in industrial/organizational psychology, from Purdue University (IN). Upon graduation, he taught for Auburn University and now has been with the University of Central Florida (UCF) for the last twelve years. He has been the charter advisor for the UCF-Cocoa Psi Chi Chapter and the coadvisor for the last ten years. Additionally, Dr. Newlin has been the Southeastern Regional Vice-President for Psi Chi for the last three years and previously a member of the Southeastern Region Advisory Council for four years. He is a frequent Psi Chi speaker in Florida and at the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) annual conference. His teaching responsibilities include research methodology, social psychology, and industrial/organizational Psychology. His research addresses the evaluation of web-based instruction effectiveness. Dr. Newlin resides in Cape Canaveral Florida with Nola, his mischievous Maine Coon cat.
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Biographical Statement
Scott VanderStoep writes it was an honor to serve as the Psi Chi Midwestern Region Vice-President from 2002-06. His educational journey began in the same place where he currently works, Hope College (1987), where he is an associate professor and chair of the Psychology Department. He received his MA from the University of Illinois (social psychology, 1989) and a PhD from the University of Michigan (education and psychology, 1992). He began teaching full-time in 1993 and has taught at Northwestern College (IA) and Calvin College (MI). In 1999, he returned to his alma mater. He was pleased to have the opportunity to charter Psi Chi chapters at Northwestern and Calvin. He currently serves as Psi Chi chapter advisor at Hope College, the same chapter that inducted him as an undergraduate. In his 14 years of college teaching, he has taught introductory, developmental, social, cognitive, I/O, research lab, psychology of religion, and advanced statistics.
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Position Statement.
Few events in my life have meant as much to me as this nomination. Throughout my career, I have been dedicated to assisting students in expanding their knowledge of psychology, their individual growth, and career success. I have received two teaching awards and presented at conferences over 50 times, often with Psi Chi students. While preparing the charter application for the UCF-Cocoa Chapter, I became familiar with the needs of incoming chapters. As a ten-year coadvisor, I understand the issues for existing chapters. My role on the National Council as a two-term Southeastern Vice-President has provided knowledge of the important issues and the leadership skills necessary to ensure that every chapter receives the benefits of Psi Chi's mission to encourage, stimulate and maintain excellence in scholarship. If elected, I will do my very best to expand the opportunities Psi Chi provides for each and every valued member.
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Position Statement
I fondly remember presenting a paper at Psi Chi my senior year. Back then, there were only a handful of submissions, and everyone who was accepted presented a paper. In my four years as Midwest Region Vice-President, we had over 225 submissions each year. Such growth is due to dedicated faculty encouraging their students in research. My Psi Chi activities have included helping to start two Psi Chi chapters, serving as chapter advisor at three institutions, supervising student research (including two Regional Award Winners), and serving as a Midwest Region Vice-President. The undergraduate awards program is very strong. If I am elected, I will focus on maintaining contact with students after they finish college. This could include sponsoring graduate fellowships, Psi Chi alumni serving as internship supervisors, or alumni panels at regional conferences. Psi Chi is a lifetime membership, and we should strive to sustain people's interest in Psi Chi after they graduate.
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How Does My Chapter Vote?First, chapters should plan to organize a chapter meeting where all members can be present when the candidates for office are announced. Use this meeting time to read the candidates’ background information. Have your chapter make an informed decision about selecting which candidate your members think would best benefit Psi Chi in the upcoming year.
After your chapter has made a decision on the candidate(s), your Psi Chi Chapter President, with assistance from the faculty advisor as needed, can access the electronic ballot by logging in as a chapter administrator between February 1 and March 15 on the Psi Chi website at
www.psichi.org/chapters/login.asp.
If your chapter has lost its chapter administrator login information, it can be emailed to your chapter’s current email contact by going to
www.psichi.org/chapters/login_forgot.asp.
A menu of administrator options will appear after successfully logging in, and a new section named “Ballots/Voting” will appear at the top of the list of options. Click on the “Ballots/Voting” link to continue. This section will only be visible February 1–March 15, 2007.
You will then be presented with your chapter’s ballot(s). All active chapters will have a ballot and be able to vote for the Psi Chi National President-Elect position. Chapters in the Eastern, Rocky Mountain, and Western Regions will also be able to vote for their respective region’s vice-president.
Select the ballot you want to cast a vote for, choose the candidate your chapter has selected, and click on the “Submit Ballot” button. A confirmation screen will appear with your candidate selection and, if necessary, allow you to cancel your vote and resubmit it if you made an error. Just as with mail ballots, once you submit your vote, you cannot edit or change your vote.