Canadian Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Minutes of 2010 CSIOP AGM/Business Meeting

June 3, 2011
Kent Room - Sheraton Centre
Toronto, Ontario

Welcome and approval of the agenda. The Chair, Cheryl Lamerson, introduced herself and the other members of the Executive who were present, and also introduced the agenda. She thanked all attendees for coming to the meeting, and asked for additions to the agenda (none added). Deb Powell moved to approve the agenda, seconded by François Chiocchio. Motion carried.

Approval of the 2009 AGM minutes. Deb Powell moved to accept the 2010 AGM minutes (seconded by Karen). Motion carried.

Executive Reports
a. Chair’s Report.

Cheryl Lamerson stated that we are healthy in numbers, finances, and activities. She thanked Executive members for their contributions in light of their busy jobs. In the last year, CSIOP solicited grad programs to give updated/standardized information to place on our CSIOP website. We collected this information last fall. We invited people to go to the site, and to check their program’s profile for accuracy.

Peter Hausdorf and Cheryl Lamerson represented CSIOP at the CPA professional affairs committee. The committee is clinical- and counseling-focused, but they are receptive to hearing CSIOP’s voice. Peter was (at the time of the CSIOP AGM) attending the CNC/IUPsyS meeting, and will provide a report on how that is going – he is on a three-year term. CSIOP is also working with an international alliance of organizational psychology groups (more details will be provided by Francois, who attended the conference).

Cheryl went to CPA’s section chair’s meeting earlier in week. CPA is trying to encourage greater membership. They have created a student price card which gives student members discounts on various items (e.g., books, tapes, movies). CPA is also engaging with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to encourage student/younger members. They are creating a newsletter award, given to CPA sections, for having the best newsletter. Cheryl thinks we should apply for this award.

CPA is also negotiating a package with APA that would give CPA members access to academic databases. CPA would also like all our membership to fill in a ‘media spokesperson’ form. CPA is often contacted by members of the media, who need to speak to experts on short turnaround times, so organizing this contact information would facilitate this. Also, CPA registered the domain for psychologymonth.ca, so different kinds of activities can be posted there (this month will occur next February).

CPA also urged caution to sections about attracting sponsorships. A section which is entering into a sponsorship needs to gain approval for that with CPA. CPA is an incorporated body, and if we (i.e., CSIOP) are not an incorporated body we should be careful with attracting our own sponsors. CPA encouraged that sponsorship should be aligned with the goals and objectives of CPA. Blake asked “what is the nature of the risk?” He cautioned that the cost (i.e., trouble and expense) of incorporating CSIOP might outweigh the benefits.

Psynopsis has an issue coming out in the fall on the topic of training. Cheryl said that the publication lets us know in advance what topics will be covered in each issue, so we can provide content for them. This is a good way to promote I/O Psych.

At the CPA section chair’s meeting, Cheryl mentioned she talked about providing translation services at the CPA conference. This was an issue that resonated with other sections as well. Cheryl noted that keynote speeches and presidential addresses have simultaneous translation, but that CSIOP has an interest in having CPA do more. There are different options: CPA could provide translation for one entire day, or for all sessions in a given area. Whichever approach is used, we would like translation services to be as cost effective as possible. Kevin and Blake will correspond with CPA, to confirm that we want to offer more extensive translation services in Halifax and Quebec City.

Cheryl also reported news from the section chair’s meeting that there is an agreement with APA, where if you are CPA member, you can get an APA membership for a reduced price.

Cheryl raised issue on guidelines for selection in policing. We have heard some concerns about limits being placed on I/O trained individuals who work in police selection. Cheryl encouraged as many of our members as possible to attend the Saturday session on this topic.

Blake Jelley moved to accept the Chair’s report, seconded by Gary Latham. Chair’s report approved.

b. Treasurer’s Report.

CherylLamerson presented the report in the absence of Joan Finegan. We have a good financial position. Cheryl outlined a beginning balance at the start of 2010 of over $18K, and an ending balance for 2010 of approximately $23K. Cheryl gave Joan credit for CSIOP’s healthy financial status. Tom O'Neill moved to accept the Treasurer’s report, seconded by Kevin Kelloway. Treasurer’s report approved.

c. Membership Report.

Deb Powell reported that we have 297 members, 87 student members, and that the bulk of our members are from Ontario. Deb said that we get a surge in membership around conference time every year. We do not have numbers on how many associate members we have. We have not created a membership directory since Tracy Hecht was involved with CSIOP. It was suggested that we might think about creating a printed directory. Blake guessed that the reason we have not created a directory lately is because it involves work that is difficult to accomplish in an organization staffed by volunteers. Francois mentioned that creating this new directory could be a part of revamping our online presence. He also asked if we can we make it automated in order to make the management of the directory less labour intensive. He suggested that CSIOP could make the directory password protected. Blake Jelley moved to accept the Membership Coordinator’s report, seconded by Francois Chiocchio. Membership Coordinator’s report approved.

d. Program Coordinator’s Report.

Kevin Kelloway noted that there were 67 submissions this year, up from normal (this was likely due to the conference being held in Toronto). He had a lot of help reviewing submissions, and thanked his reviewers for assistance in creating the program. This Toronto conference represents the first time that I/O sessions could run all day at CPA. Kevin also thanked Francois and Cheryl for help adjudicating the RHR Kendall award. Blake Jelley moved to accept the Program Coordinator’s report, seconded by Cheryl Lammerson. Motion approved.

e. Communication Coordinator’s Report.

François Chiocchio thanked people for the opportunity to hold the job. Francois talked about the column called ‘Member in the News,’ where you can see what the profiled person has done recently. He also talked about the ‘Conversations’ column, and that he wrote a few in every newsletter (note these columns were bilingual). Francois said he saw his role as fostering unity within the country, so he launched the ‘Big Country’ project. This involves gathering stories about working in your profession, and sharing your experiences about something meaningful (“10 stories from 10 provinces”).

Francois also discussed the Alliance for Organizational Psychology. He reported that this organization reached a milestone at the Maastricht, Germany meeting. This is an opportunity to create an international federation of I/O related groups. Francois wants CSIOP to be one of first to sign up for this federation. Other countries that are likely to be involved include Austria, Poland, and others. The mandate of this new organization is to promote organizational psychology all around the world. The role of the chair-elect will now involve international affairs.

Francois also talked about fostering ties with other organizations. Francois is a member of the Project Management Institute, which boasts 1 million members. He had a panel discussion at SIOP with two important people in the project management area. Cheryl Lamerson was present, along with Natalie Allen, and they participated in a discussion about what we can contribute/how we can collaborate. Francois thinks this kind of collaboration can be a good model to use with other associations, and is a lot of fun to be involved with. Blake motioned to accept the Communication Coordinator’s report, seconded by Tom. Motion carried.

f. Student Report. Tom O’Neill updated the CSIOP website with his personal information. He has also engaged in a number of actions to keep students informed: he alerted students to the RHR Kendall (via newsletter, Facebook, southwestern Ontario I/O graduate student conference [SWIOGSC]); he looked into CSIOP sponsorship document on dropbox (DDI may be considered Bronze); he promoted conference attendance (via SWIOGSC, Facebook, election message, newsletter, email messages).

Tom made a trip to Toronto to find a suitable location for the student-mentor social. He also secured funding from DDI and Marjory Kerr (the event will involve 5 practitioners, and 3 academics).

Tom also updated the student rep’s job description, especially in regards to internships. Previously the student rep was tasked with tracking all internships in Canada, but the Executive deemed this was too demanding.

Tom also conducted an election for the student representative position (congratulations to Tom Oliver).

Tom has updated the I/O grad student research symposium on Saturday of the conference. He secured speakers from 4 Canadian universities.

Kevin Kelloway motioned to accept the student rep’s report, seconded by Deb Powell. Motion carried.

New Business a) CNC/IUPsyS

There was a discussion about how Peter should maintain his reporting relationship to CSIOP while on serving on this other committee. Kevin suggested he should report back to the chair. Francois asked whether he has a voice for I/O. Cheryl responded that he is there as a CPA person. Francois said that he would not like to give him formal tasks, but would be interested to be kept informed of what happens at the meetings.

b) Sponsorship

CSIOP has been working on different levels of sponsorship. François Chiocchio said that we need to track our numbers, and gather knowledge about what we do, so we can communicate our value to organizations. We need to think about revenue generating activities, not just sponsorship. We should not just try to cover costs, but we should create revenue. We can create value statements/value propositions – what people/orgs can gain by sponsoring, or contributing money to CSIOP (which would be received as revenue).

Election of the 2010-2011 Executive

Blake Jelley will move into the role of Chair. Cheryl Lamerson will become Past-Chair. Joan Finegan (Treasurer), Kevin Kelloway (Program Coordinator), David Stanley (Newsletter Editor), and Deborah Powell (Membership Coordinator) will remain in their roles.

The other roles were filled as follows:
Chair-Elect: François Chiocchio
Communications Coordinator: Tom O'Neill
Cheryl welcomed Tom Oliver as the new Student Representative.

Other business Cheryl Lamerson thanked the Executive for their help while she was Chair. She also thanked Peter Hausdorf for being very supportive of the Executive. She publicly acknowledged DDI for their support of the mentoring event. She also thanked RHR for their support of the student award. Gary Latham also said we should tell Vic Catano that he is missed and that we wish him well.

Blake Jelley moved to adjourn (seconded by Kevin Kelloway). Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:02 am.