Fellow Psi Chi Members,

Welcome to what promises to be another great year for Psi Chi. I want to begin by thanking you for the opportunity to serve as your Regional Vice-President. I have really enjoyed getting a chance to meet many of you over this past year, and am looking forward to getting to know more of you this year. Please note that I recently moved to the Southeastern Region, and will complete my term as your Western Regional Vice-President from my new location. The updated address and phone information is provided below. As always, I welcome any comments or suggestions you may have for additional ways that I, or Psi Chi, could be of service to you.

Congratulations go out individually to the many newly inducted members of Psi Chi and collectively to a new chapter in the region, Woodbury University (Burbank, CA). Let me formally welcome all of you, and congratulate you on becoming contributing members to this great organization. I also want to congratulate the numerous award winners from the region during the past academic year. There were sixty-nine qualified presentations that were considered for Regional Research Awards at the regional meeting of the Western Psychological Association (WPA), which was held in Phoenix, Arizona from April 22-25. From these qualified applicants, twelve award winners were selected (including 6 graduate and 6 undergraduate awards). Institutions represented among the undergraduate award winners included Pacific Union College (Jill Breitmaier, Anna Lopez, Julie Ching), California State University, Northridge (Jennifer Leszczynski), University of San Diego (Alisa Burpee), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Duncan Leaf). Graduate awards were received by representatives from Pepperdine University (Elizabeth Krumrei), University of California, Santa Barbara (Barbara Drescher), California State University, Fullerton (Bradley Schuster), California State University, Northridge (Arpi Proudian), San Diego State University (Stephanie McGinty), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Erin Warnick). The Regional Chapter Award went to Humboldt State University (Arcata, CA).

These awards clearly reflect active involvement by chapters and members in the region. However, it is clear that the membership in the region is not taking full advantage of the vast array of award opportunities that Psi Chi currently provides in recognition of outstanding chapters and faculty advisors, as well as for individual research projects. Some available awards again remained unclaimed this past year. Something can be done about that this year, but you will need to act fast. Some deadlines for awards have already passed (October 1), and the December 1 deadlines for several awards are rapidly approaching (APA/APS National Convention Research Awards, Regional Chapter Awards, Regional Faculty Advisor Awards, and Denmark National Faculty Advisor Award). The next award deadline after that (February 1) will apply to the Website Awards, the Cousins National Chapter Award, the Newman Graduate Award (a national honor for research bestowed at APA), and the Bandura Graduate Research Award (for a 3-year APS membership and travel expenses to the national convention). A detailed list of awards can be found at www.psichi.org/awards/home.asp.

Psi Chi was a prominent force at regional and national conferences last year, particularly with celebrations of the organization's 75th anniversary. That was certainly evident at the 2004 WPA meeting. Psi Chi's contributions to the program were very well attended. A symposium about graduate school (Successful Admission and Training in Graduate School) was standing room only. The panel of speakers at this symposium consisted of members of the Regional Steering Committee and Psi Chi's National Council, as well as the Graduate Student Representative for WPA. Faculty and student representatives from graduate programs in the region then met with many interested potential applicants during the subsequent Graduate School Exchange session. Dr. Elizabeth Loftus delivered the invited address (Grand Illusions in Memory) to an audience of approximately 250-300 students and faculty. Approximately 60-75 attendees stayed for the entirety of the following Psi Chi-sponsored reception, during which Dr. Loftus kindly continued to field questions. Psi Chi also jointly sponsored with the Council of Undergraduate Psychology Programs (CUPP) an informative symposium for faculty (Assessment and the Undergraduate Psychology Program) which discussed assessment as a tool to guide program development. A Chapter Exchange and Social Hour was even attended by Dr. Philip Zimbardo, who was recently honored as a Distinguished Member of Psi Chi.

Plans are currently underway for Psi Chi contributions to the 2005 regional meeting of WPA, which will convene April 14-17, 2005 at the Portland Marriott Downtown Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Based upon your feedback, many informative elements from last year's program are expected to be retained. For example, several student attendees expressed how they benefited from the graduate school symposium and exchange. We would like to expand the exchange session to include participation from even more programs within the region. If your program is interested in participating, then please have your faculty advisor contact me directly so that we can arrange for an appropriate amount of display space for the session. There also is expected to be a Psi Chi poster session, an address by a distinguished speaker, and a social hour. Psi Chi also is planning to again cosponsor a session with CUPP, this time on learning beyond the classroom. This session is expected to be quite informative for students, in that it will likely include discussions on the value of field work, internships, and research involvement. In addition, participating in the program will be current National President of Psi Chi Christopher Koch (George Fox University), and Past President Martha Zlokovich (Southeast Missouri State University).

Students who wish to apply for a Regional Research Award should know that you are not required to present your work in the Psi Chi poster session to be considered for an award. In fact, all Psi Chi students with posters are potentially eligible. Just be sure to include both the Psi Chi Statement of Membership form along with an indication on the Submission Cover Page that work is being submitted for the Psi Chi Program. Directions for submissions are available on the WPA website at www.westernpsych.org. The deadline for submissions is November 16, 2004.

As a final reminder, please have your chapters consider involvement in any or all of Psi Chi's national service projects. For example, the Archives of the History of American Psychology (AHAP) continues to be a primary national service project for Psi Chi. We would like chapters to become more involved in helping the archives, which house documents (including those from Psi Chi) as a detailed historical record of our discipline. More information about the AHAP can be found at www3.uakron.edu/ahap. Psi Chi is requesting that each chapter include at least one fundraiser to this useful cause. As indicated last year, no donation is too small. Donations can be sent directly to the Psi Chi National Office. Thanks in advance for your help with this ongoing project.

I am excited about the promise of this year for the organization, particularly when it comes to seeing students reap the benefits of membership. Please do not hesitate to contact me if clarification is needed regarding any upcoming opportunities or events, or if other questions arise. I look forward to hearing from you during the year, and to seeing many of you at WPA.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Hall, Ph.D.
Psi Chi Western Regional Vice-President

Department of Psychology
James Madison University
MSC 7401
Harrisonburg, VA 22807

Telephone: (540) 568-7877
Fax: (540) 568-3322
E-mail: hallmd@jmu.edu