New Community for SPSP Members at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions

As part of the 2019 election cycle, SPSP membership voted to create a new Member-at-Large position on the SPSP Board of Directors that would focus on the unique needs and concerns of SPSP’s members who primarily work with undergraduate communities. Last year, SPSP past president Linda Skitka appointed Jarret Crawford to fill the position.

“As Member at Large to the SPSP Executive Board for Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), I am looking to determine ways to enhance the profile, productivity, and experience for our members who call PUIs their home,” says Crawford. One way he hopes to do this is through the creation of an SPSP Connect! Community focused on the needs and concerns of social and personality psychologists working at institutions that primarily serve undergraduate psychology students.

“We hope that this community space will be a resource not only for faculty who currently work at PUIs, but for graduate students who are considering such institutions in their career path. Members can use this community to address the particular concerns or needs associated with PUIs, from relatively limited financial resources, smaller participant pools, managing teaching and research loads, training undergraduate student researchers, and other relevant topics.”

The PUI group joins a wide-ranging collective of niche communities that are available for SPSP members, and access to Connect! is one of the many benefits of membership.  

At a time like this when you are unable to network in person, a member resource like Connect! can help foster these virtual relationships. In addition to the PUI Community, some of the current and active online communities include:

• Applying Social Psychology
• Attitudes and Social Influence
• Close Relationships 
• Early Career Members  
• Educators 
• Grad Student Parents' Community
• Group Process & Intergroup Relations 
• Media Psychology
• Nonverbal
• Open Forum
• Persons of Color 
• Political Minorities in Social-Personality Psychology 
• Primarily Undergraduate Institutions 
• Sexuality 
• Sustainability
• Violence Against Stigmatized Groups 

The Open Forum is by far the most popular discussion group on Connect, with more than 5,600 active members. For the period of April 15 – May 15, for example, the Open Forum featured more than 60 different discussions.

Now is the perfect time to join the Open Forum, the PUI Community Group or one of our many online communities to share ideas and spark collaborations.