The SPSP Board of Directors held its winter meeting in two phases: On the Sunday after the convention in San Francisco, and a few weeks later in a virtual format. Board meetings always include a financial report, reports from committees and task forces, and actions taken on proposals from committees or board members.
At this year’s meeting, we also engaged in brainstorming conversations about increasing SPSP’s revenue stream. Several factors have raised concerns about the continued financial health of the society: Reduced revenue from our journals, hits to membership, membership growth, and conference attendance due to COVID, and the expense of our recent hybridized conference in an expensive city. Possible prospects include advertising and corporate partnerships, monetizing of our current programs/services for non-SPSP members, and development of new sellable programs or services (e.g., books, training programs). We welcome input from our members on how SPSP can expand and diversify our income streams so that we can continue to fund and support our programming.
The Board also reviewed early feedback on the 2022 SPSP convention. A survey was sent to all conference attendees, and though the response rate was quite low (14%), we can report that 72% found the convention satisfying (compared to 77% in 2021), and 77% felt the convention met their primary objectives well (e.g., presenting at the convention, professional and personal development, and viewing program content), compared to 85% in 2021. Satisfaction was higher for preconferences, with 85-88% of respondents satisfied with their experiences. The least satisfying aspects of the convention included the poster sessions, both the virtual and “in person” versions. The Board and Convention Committee will take this feedback under advisement as we move forward with plans for the 2023 meeting in Atlanta. Roughly 76% of respondents indicated they were likely to attend the Atlanta meeting in person.
The Board also approved several budget items:
1) Funding to pilot an SPSP Early Career Mentoring Program, developed by the Early Career Committee. The goal is to pair interested early career SPSP members (0-6 years post-Ph.D.) with mid-career mentors (7-20 years post-Ph.D.) for structured individual, small group, and full cohort meetings and discussion. All SPSP early career members will be invited to apply for the program, with the goal of including 20-30 mentees and up to 10 mentors the first year.
2) Funding to support activities of the Eliminating Racism in Workplaces and Communities Task Force. The funding will be used to create resources aimed at 1) improving mentoring of students and faculty of color (mentoring rubrics, videos depicting best practices), and 2) helping departments and organizations assess adherence to anti-racist best practices (e.g., checklists, a click-through website tool). Once developed, these resources will be available on SPSP web pages and updated as needed.
3) Support for a scholarship pilot program with Psychgeist Media. Psychgeist is a non-profit organization that “helps researchers share their research with the public in an accurate and engaging way.” The financial support involves earmarking funds SPSP already receives from Psychgeist to help defray costs of SPSP members’ consultation with the Psychgeist team. Details of the program and product are still under development.
The Board election slate was also approved, based on recommendations from the Nominations and Elections committee. Candidates will run for President, Member-at-Large for Science-Publishing, Member-at-Large for Science-Convention, and Division 8 representative to APA. This is the first year graduate students will be able to vote in Board elections! Watch for your ballot in April.
As always, we welcome feedback and suggestions from our members. SPSP governance exists to serve SPSP members, and we seek ways to improve the range and quality of our programming and outreach.