2008 Psi Chi National Elections: Candidates for Midwestern Regional Vice-President
1/31/2008
This year's candidates for the position of Psi Chi Midwestern Regional Vice-President for the 2008-2009 Psi Chi National Council are
Betsy L. Morgan, PhD, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, and
Dan Corts, PhD, Augustana College (IL). Their biographical and position statements are as follows.
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Betsy L. Morgan, PhD
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Dan Corts, PhD
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Biographical Statement
I am a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse and am serving a two-year term as the Midwestern Region Vice President of Psi Chi 2006-2008. My undergraduate university did not have a Psi Chi chapter so I was inducted into the society when I became the faculty advisor for the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse’s (UW-L) chapter. I have served as the faculty advisor for the chapter for over 10 years and on the Midwest steering committee for several years until elected VP. My doctorate is in Social Ecology - an applied social science program at the University of California - Irvine. I am the coordinator of the psychology honors program designed to have students conduct independent research projects at UW-L. Our honors students have presented widely, received several regional awards and have published in the Psi Chi undergraduate research journal. My major research interests are in attitude measurement and career options for psychology majors. I’m excited that the 4th edition of my book with colleague Ann Korschgen “Majoring in Psych?: Career Options for Psychology Undergraduates” will come out in 2008.
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Biographical Statement
I have been co-advisor of the Augustana College chapter for almost six years. This is my third year on the Psi Chi Midwestern Steering Committee and my fifth year as a consulting editor of the Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research. Last January, I attended the Psi Chi National Leadership Conference along with our chapter president, and for this academic year, I am a reviewer for two Psi Chi research grants. The regional and national committees and boards provide a glimpse of the interests and activities of Psi Chi members around the country and offer the privilege of contributing to the larger organization. However, working within my local chapter has been the most exciting and rewarding experience for me. We’ve collaborated on research, traveled to regional and national conferences, sponsored social activities (the famous Psi Chi cooking classes!), and raised funds to support student research in our department.
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Position Statement
I would like to serve another term as the MW VP because there is a steep learning curve and I feel that I can serve in the position more effectively now. I would like to play a more active role in encouraging our chapters to utilize the resources of the national Psi Chi office – both information and grants. It is exciting to be the VP of the Midwestern region because student involvement in research is vast and appears to be expanding. My goal is to continue to have the research presented at MPA represent high quality studies from the wide spectrum of public and private universities that we represent and to have undergraduate research be an integral component of MPA programming and services.
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Position Statement
My primary goal stems from Psi Chi’s National Leadership Conference. I hope to bring the national discussion to the Midwest to explore what our chapters can do to foster leadership. Psychology students have skills and interests that provide unique opportunities for service projects in their communities. Might your Psi Chi chapter take the lead in establishing service projects or service learning? And how can we promote and reward leadership at the regional level? Second, I hope to continue improving the submission and review process for MPA research presentations. My ultimate goal would be to extend the submission period to encourage more submissions. Finally, I would like to work with Midwestern chapters to ensure we are getting the most out of our time at MPA. Do we need a greater variety of programs related to research, careers, and graduate school? And is the current array of graduate and career-related programs effective?
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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, 2008.
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 Midwestern, Southeastern, and Southwestern 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.