NEWSLETTER
SPRING/SUMMER 2009
Applying the Science of Psychology and Evaluation Across the Globe
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
ALUMNI,
STUDENT, &
FACULTY
STORIES
1-11
POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
CONFERENCE
2
PSYCH &
TEACHING
CONFERENCE
7
ON-CAMPUS
EVENTS
11-13
ALUMNI/STUDENT
GATHERINGS
14
NEW BOOKS
15
NEWS &
MILESTONES
16
SPECIAL POINTS OF
INTEREST:
•
Webcast of Sold-Out
Conference Now Online
(pg. 2)
•
Sports to Help Children
with Autism (pg. 5)
•
“How I Survived Four
Recessions as an Org
Psychologist “ (pg. 6)
•
APA vs Gitmo? (pg 9)
•
Dr. Oskamp wins Lifetime
Achievement Award (pg. 9)
•
Students Lead New Talk
Series (pg. 11)
•
Alumni Mentor Students
(pg. 14)
MARCHING TO HER OWN BEAT—ALUMNA LOOKS BACK
AT DREAMS REALIZED & HER GOALS FOR AFTER 70
We usually lead off our newsletter with
stories about major events on campus, but
we couldn’t resist the opportunity to spotlight
distinguished alumna Dr. Patricia KeithSpiegel (Ph.D. 1968), when she surprised us
with the following story. Many thanks, Tricia!
Medical School. I did
become a Visiting
Professor of
Psychology in the HMS
Department of
Psychiatry for 3 years,
working on a grant
“I remember Claremont Graduate School (its
from NIMH and the
name way back when) with great fondness.
Dr. Patricia KeithOffice of Research
I appreciated the emphasis put on helping
Spiegel
Integrity to study how
us become good teachers as well as
local Institutional Review Boards both
competent researchers. After 25 years at
facilitate and inhibit the conduct of
CSU Northridge (where I was fortunate
responsible research. That was so much fun
enough to win the system-wide California
that I went for another one, this time in the
State University Outstanding Teacher
Department of Health Studies at Simmons
award) I accepted an endowed chair
College in Boston, on what scientists can do
professorship at Ball State University, where
when they observe or become aware of a
I stayed for 10 years. While in Indiana I was
colleague’s or student’s research
honored to receive the Distinguished
misconduct. (In anonymous surveys, the
Professor Award from the American
rate of such observations is disturbingly
Psychological Foundation of APA. I remain
high.)
Cont. on pg 6
grateful to my graduate training experience
for instilling a love of psychology and of
INSIDE: STAUFFER CONFERENCE/WEBCAST
teaching.
DRAWS RECORD CROWDS (pg 2)
“Then, after 35 years, I wanted to retire
from teaching and do something else.
But what? Thankfully, my graduate
training also instilled courage. I have
always been one for doing things a little
differently. And unlike my kindergarten
teacher, who banned me from
completing a bean bag activity because
I altered the standard dog pattern and
was busy making a cat when she
caught me, the professors at Claremont
were not only tolerant but encouraging
of most of my off-beat ideas.
“The courage came in handy when I
decided to try to get involved in major
research projects. I decided to try for my
fantasy of someday working at Harvard
Dr. Csikszentmihalyi sends a personal greeting to attendees around the world. Also pictured: Webcast Moderator Shabnam Ozlati. (Story on pg. 2)
Page 2
USING CULTURE TO PREDICT HIV-RISK BEHAVIOR
SBOS alumna Dr. Valerie Hoffman recently moved to San Francisco, where she is working on a research project at UCSF in
the Division of Adolescent Medicine. This is a five-year study of
cultural predictors of HIV/STD risk behaviors among African
American young adults from three cities: Birmingham (Ala.),
Chicago, and San Francisco. She explains, “The participants
were asked about their reasons for engaging in sex. After listing all the reasons they could think of, they were interviewed
in depth about some of their responses. We aren't asking
them what they did, but we are more interested in ‘why’ and
the meanings attached to their behavior. During the next year
we will be designing a survey based on the cultural concepts
found during the analysis of the interviews. The cultural factors, hopefully, will be better at predicting high-risk sexual behavior than the traditional measures used in the past. The
findings of the study can also be incorporated into designing
culturally-specific HIV prevention programs.”
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY CONFERENCE DRAWS RECORD CROWD
The world’s leading researchers in the growing field of
Positive Psychology gathered for an intense, yet upbeat
day on January 24, 2009. The venue (Garrison Theater at
the Claremont Colleges) was packed, some attendees
even standing in the aisles once all chairs were filled so as
not to miss out. Over 750 participants watched the event
live. The crowd (who came from Australia, Ireland, China,
Jamaica, New Zealand, and 8 of the United States) included university presidents, deans, and professors; researchers, clinical psychologists, and private consultants in
applied psychology; the heads of major foundations; graduate and undergraduate students; and many enthusiasts
from the private sector. An additional audience across the
globe participated online via a live webcast, some even
staying up all night in Australia, Finland, Hungary, Scotland, and Estonia to watch, and others scattered across 13
of the United States.
self, seeing the network of researchers across the positive
social sciences is really wonderful. Michigan, UCLA,
Chapel Hill, Penn—we are in great company here. As one
attendee told me, ‘This isn’t Chicken Soup for the Soul!’ It’s
rigorous, exacting science, and its application on so many
levels is really wonderful.
“On top of that, we’ve managed to reach a bigger portion of
the psychology community than ever, thanks to the webcast. People in Australia and Korea were posting questions for the panel, and I haven’t stopped getting phone
calls from around the world, weeks after the event ended!”
For those who missed out on the event, the full conference
is available to view online at www.cgu.edu/positivepsych,
including a free 45-minute preview with remarks by Stewart
Donaldson, Martin Seligman, Edward Diener, and Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi.
A highlight from the meeting was the preview announcement of the 2009 Clifton Strengths Prize, given to Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi of Claremont Graduate University’s
School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences. Dr.
Csikszentmihalyi was awarded the $250,000 prize for his
pioneering work in Flow Theory and Positive Psychology.
This announcement, made by Dr. Connie Rath of the
Gallup Organization, came in advance of the formal awarding, which will be given later at a gala event in Washington,
D.C.
Speakers included Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Martin Seligman (via video), Edward Diener, David Cooperrider, Christopher Peterson, Barbara Fredrickson, Shelley Taylor, Jane
Dutton, Kim Cameron, Jeanne Nakamura, Nansook Park,
Hans Henrik Knoop, and Stewart Donaldson.
“This conference has been inspiring on many levels,” said
SBOS Director of External Affairs, Paul Thomas. “Not only
was the research presented innovative and exciting in it-
The morning panel discusses the future of Positive
Psychology. From left to right: Dr. Christopher Peterson, Dr.
Barbara Fredrickson, Dr. Edward Diener, and Dr. Nansook
Park.
Page 3
TEACHING COMPUTERS TO TEACH
WELL
STUDENT PROJECT TURNS INTO
FULL-TIME JOB
Statistics: the very
word strikes fear into
the hearts of graduate
students. Ironically,
one of the greatest
tools social scientists
have at their disposal
is also one of the most
dreaded skills to learn.
Justin Mary
“If you look at the literature, statistics is a naturally difficult topic to teach,” explains doctoral student Justin Mary. “An amazingly high percentage of students, 75-80%, report having very high anxiety
levels when they approach statistics. So, I’ve joined up with
Dr. Berger’s team to create effective tutorials. It’s actually
really fun. We’re finding ways to explain science in userfriendly ways and help people learn and overcome their
fears through good teaching practice—with a computerbased tool as the teacher. There is a lot of basic research
out there on learning and what people respond to, but we’re
looking to bring that into computer tutorials, to help online
tools react as a seasoned tutor would: watching for learning
reactions from their tutees, reviewing concepts to make
sure they’ve been understood, and so on.”
When doctoral student Jacquelyn Christensen joined SBOS’s
Community Fellows program, she didn’t realize that she was
on track for a full-time job. “My Community Fellows project was
so successful that they created a full-time position for me at
the Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic as an Evaluation Associate. Needless to say, I am learning a great deal and having fun
along the way. I am becoming more involved in assisting the
various programs collect, report and utilize their outcomes, as
well as providing trainings to staff on how to use various assessment tools and how to aggregate data for usability.”
To cutting-edge technology and applied cognitive psychology, Justin also adds personal experience: he is a teaching
assistant for the first-year statistics series at CGU. “My classroom experience definitely informs my research, and keeps
my feet on the ground.” He says he would love to eventually
create a tool “similar to the Microsoft Office Assistant, but
much more useful!” Too many online tools, Mary says, incorporate flashy (even annoying) graphics and new technologies without any respect to what cognitive psychology has
discovered works. “Dr. Berger and a group of us will be presenting at the Western Psychological Association conference
this spring on statistics understanding—what do we know,
and what we can do better to teach stats. I’m also working
with Alissa Greenberg and Zach Hohman, using social psychology theory on expectancy violation. We’re using social
psych to better understand cognitive psych, which has been
really interesting.”
“On a side note, I will soon be co-facilitating a 12-week workshop on stress and trauma for the psychology interns at the
clinic. I am finishing up a research/evaluation paper with a
colleague at the clinic regarding the outcomes of their early
intervention day treatment program, and we hope to submit it
to the Journal of Early Intervention. During my time at the
clinic, I presented the day treatment outcomes as a workshop
at the Latino Conference in September and as a poster at the
American Evaluation Association conference in November. I
also presented the results from their multi-family group therapy activity nights at the National Zero to Three Conference. I
will be conducting a workshop on self-mutilation at the California Association of School Psychologists conference in Riverside in March, and again at the International Association of
Special Education conference in Alicante, Spain in July!”
As if this weren’t enough, Jacquelyn has also recently been
working as an adjunct professor teaching developmental psychology courses at nearby Woodbury University. “For summer
2009, I have been asked to teach a course that I designed
myself, entitled ‘Psychology of Fashion,’ which will incorporate
social, developmental, and evolutionary psychology with fashion design and marketing. I also spent some time in the fall
guest lecturing a few times in a Clinical Research Methods
course at the University of
LaVerne.
“And, as a student, I hope to
finalize my last portfolio items,
complete my orals, and begin
my dissertation research on
self-mutilation in adolescents
very shortly.”
In addition to his active research agenda, Justin also serves
on Claremont Graduate University’s Internal Review Board
(IRB). The IRB serves to ensure that all research is done with
the utmost respect for ethical guidelines when dealing with
human subjects. “It’s a tough job,” he admits, “But I think
it’s important to have the voice of a psychology student on
the board.”
Justin is the recipient of a 2009 Western Psychological
Foundation Student Scholarship Award.
Is that all, we asked? “Well,”
she admits, “On the side, I
wrote and am currently illustrating a children's book about feelings. FYI, illustrating a book is
very time consuming...it is a
slow moving process.”
Jacquelyn Christensen
Page 4
AUTHOR, CONSULTANT, FATHER... GRAD STUDENT
First year PhD student, writer, businessman and father of
two, Paul Edward is already “moving forward” in his short
time at CGU. Edward is a nontraditional student in the truest sense of the word. While completing his PhD program
in I/O Psychology, Edward currently operates a business
that provides executive coaching and organizational consulting services to its clients. Edward’s first book, Moving
Forward: Turning Good Intentions into Great Results, was
recently named as a Finalist in the Psychology/Mental
Health category of the 2008 National Best Book Awards.
When asked why he decided to come back to school, with
such an already busy life, Edward said, “Coming back to
school right now was a business decision. The knowledge
and skills I am learning in my courses at CGU are making
me a better coach and consultant.”
Edward’s main research interest is in police executive leadership. “As of 2005, police agencies employed more than 1
million people across the U.S., and yet there is very little
research on police executives,” said Edward, “I want to
paint a picture of what it means to be a police chief and
sheriff in the new millennium.” His interest in this area grew
largely from his time spent teaching in the Professional
Studies Department at Cal State Long Beach, where he
teaches emergency services administration to senior police
officers and firefighters. “Despite the important role that
police and fire organizations play in modern society, there
are relatively few leadership resources for their senior leaders,” Edward said, “Nearly all of the top leadership books
are written for corporate executives. I hope to create a
body of work about the police executive leadership context
so that other practitioners and researchers can use this
knowledge to develop interventions and create tools that
will strengthen police
organizations and their
leaders.”
Edward’s future research plans include
exploring the dynamics of what he calls the
“dignity exchange.” He
explained that this
phenomenon occurs
when a police officer
of one culture interacts
Paul Edward
with a citizen of a different culture. “In the urban communities that I am most
interested in, demographically, police officers are predominately white males who provide service to non-white citizens,” Edward said. “When these cultures interact, what
often happens is that police officers, in their intention to
preserve order, inadvertently rob people of their dignity,
rather than protecting or enhancing it. I want to look at the
kinds of interventions we can develop to train police officers
on how to be mindful of this dignity exchange and act in
ways that either maintain—or even better, enhance—the
dignity levels of the citizens they are interacting with.”
After earning his degree, Edward said he plans to continue coaching, consulting and teaching. “I’m going to get
the best research skills training in the world here,” said Edward. “This will enhance my skills as a coach and consultant, because I will have the ability to design research that is
both relevant to the needs of my clients and scientifically
sound.”
LUXURY CARS MEET COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Todd Blickenstaff (M.A. 1999) is currently planning the next generation multimedia system for
Lexus and Toyota. “That includes things like audio, navigation, Bluetooth, rear seat
entertainment, backup cameras, and telematics,” he says. “The statistics and research methods
classes I took at CGU have prepared me well. I analyze a lot of data (such as JD Power) to see
what features customers want, what they're willing to pay, what models the features should go on,
etc. I stay on top of what's happening in the consumer electronics industry by attending events
like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association
(SEMA) show in Las Vegas, and work closely with suppliers like Pioneer, Panasonic, Harman
Becker, and Denso.”
Todd has been with Toyota for six years, and is loving the urban environment of downtown LA,
where he has a loft. “I do miss the CGU campus and the Village, though,” he admits. CGU is
excited to be luring him back to campus, along with many other alumni, for our April 4 AlumniStudent Mentoring Day (see page 14 for details).
Todd Blickenstaff
Page 5
MONITORING CONSCIOUSNESS BEHIND THE WHEEL
Dr. Doug Wiegand is working to make the road a safer
place—but has used his psychology training in a number of
meaningful settings over the
past years. After finishing his
Master’s at CGU in 2000, he
managed a state-wide evaluation of children's mental health
services, and then tackled a
project that screened recently
arrested youth for mental disorders within the county of Los
Angeles’ juvenile justice system.
Doug Wiegand, PhD.
works as a Senior Research Associate within the Center for
Truck and Bus Safety. Road safety might not be the first
thing one thinks of when getting into psychology, but as
Wiegand attests, “I have a pretty interesting job. VTTI specializes in using a naturalistic driving methodology,
whereby participants drive instrumented vehicles—multiple
sensors, like a ‘black box’ in airplanes, video cameras
viewing the driver and surroundings of the truck, and so
on—that collect data continuously. We look for ‘safetycritical events’ which are flagged by spikes in our data for
certain variables: hard braking, swerving, close time-tocollision. Then we go back to review the video data to see
what happened. The video data is fantastic for viewing
driver behavior and the behaviors of other drivers on the
road, so we can determine what the contributing factors are
Finally, he found his way to the
to crashes and near crashes.” By analyzing all of this data,
Virginia Tech Transportation
Dr. Wiegand and the VTTI hope to increase the safety of all
Institute (VTTI), where he
drivers.
HEALTH BEHAVIOR GRADUATE LAUNCHES INTO BRIGHT FUTURE WITH
DAYTOP VILLAGE DRUG USE INTERVENTION COMPANY
Recent Alumna Erin O'Brien (M.A. 2008) has accepted a
position as a Health and Research Coordinator for Daytop
Village, whose centeral office is located in New York City.
Daytop Village is a non-profit substance abuse organization
whose facilities offer residential and outpatient treatment
for adolescents, adults, and their family members. According to Daytop, they are "based on the therapeutic community concept: a highly structured family environment where
positive peer interaction is emphasized. Over 100,000 individuals have reclaimed their lives with the assistance of the
program." Daytop has dozens of facilities nationally and
internationally, and gets most of its clients through the correctional system. With such a large program, O'Brien stays
busy with numerous tasks in research and evaluation.
One of the best parts about her job, explains O'Brien, is
that she can apply for grants that interest her, such as one
for a men's health promotion program she is beginning to
work on. O'Brien hopes that this grant will provide a muchneeded resource to 80% male, high-risk population of substance abusers.
O'Brien says that she was well prepared for the job by her
training at CGU. "All of the health papers I wrote were very
applied. I learned how to create a study and write a grant
application though my classes. In addition to teaching me
how to be a good writer, the program taught be to be a
methodologist and statistician, all of which are extremely
practical in the real world."
In the future, O'Brien hopes
to work on designing new
health promotion and intervention programs. "I would
really be interested in anything where I can apply a
Finally, O'Brien coordinates data collection for a National
creative, nontraditional apInstitute of Drug Abuse funded study that seeks to compare proach to creating protherapeutic communities that treat substance abuse in the grams," she says.
US, China, and Malaysia. "We are looking at cultural differences in the delivery of the program, and trying to determine which elements of the therapeutic community are related to positive outcomes, such as abstinence from substance use."
O'Brien uses her CGU training to conduct internal program
evaluations in addition to applying for grants in the domain
of substance abuse treatment. She has also assisted the
medical director in writing a book chapter on substance
abuse, to be used as a handbook for clinicians.
Erin O’Brien, M.A.
Page 6
MARCHING TO HER OWN BEAT...
Cont. from pg 1. “I suppose I should retire now that I am
staring my 70th birthday in the face, but I really don’t
want to quite yet. So, due to the success of the ethics
textbook Gerald Koocher and I wrote (now in its third
edition), I have agreed to a contract to create some
online continuing education courses for mental health
professionals.
“In the meantime, I also wanted to fulfill another dream of
my youth. (There comes a time when you can no longer
say, ‘Someday I will…’ You either do it or forget it.) I
always thought it would be exciting to be a political
cartoonist. Here again, CGU actually played a role in
how that quest played out! While at CGU, I did a huge (4’
x 10’) history poster for Dr. F. Theodore Perkins that he
hung in the hallway until it literally fell apart many years
later. The poster featured cartoons of famous historical
figures that influenced psychology. So, almost 50 years
later, I sent a cartoon last April to No Quarter USA, my
favorite blog. Edgy and outspoken (taking second place
in this year’s Weblog awards for Outstanding Political
Commentary), and featuring such great writers, I pretty
much expected to be ignored or rejected. But, nothing
ventured… Now, after 104 cartoons, I am a stable fixture
there (using my husband’s last name because the
cartoonist in me marches to an exceedingly different
drummer than does the research ethicist.)
“So, Claremont Graduate University, thank you for your
undeniable influence on a long and diversified career that
has brought me a considerable pleasure and many
rewards!”
Dr. Keith-Spiegel was too modest to mention it in her
letter, but she is a past president of WPA and the wellknown author and co-author of many texts, including:
Ethics in Psychology and the Mental Health Professions:
Standards and Cases; The Complete Guide to Graduate
School Admission: Psychology, Counseling, and Related
Professions; The Ethics of Teaching: A Casebook;
Academic Dishonesty: An Educator's Guide; and
Children, Ethics, and the Law: Professional Issues and
Cases.
A CHAT WITH A SUCCESSFUL
CONSULTANT (AND CGU ALUMNUS)
Alumnus Dr. Richard Strayer is giving
back to his alma mater in meaningful
ways. Not only has he served for
many years on the SBOS Board of
Advisors, but Dr. Strayer recently
took the time to fly to Southern California and address a packed room of
psychology students, eager to learn
from a man who has built a successDr. Richard Strayer
ful consulting company, and continues to look for ways to do good through good business.
Strayer’s down-to-earth talk painted a picture for students of
what a day in the life of an organizational development consultant looks like. As CEO of the Strayer Consulting Group,
Strayer has aided over 300 organizations looking for rapid
growth, as well as both startup and mature companies managing significant change. Strayer and his co-founder (Dr.
Linda Tirado) have also used their 25 years of experience to
train and manage over 20 consultants at regional affiliate
offices in Seattle, Portland, San Jose, Southern California
and Toronto using the “Strayer methodology.” The Strayer
Model for teams engages participants in developing vision
strategy, understanding styles, defining operating norms,
clarifying roles, decision-making and conflict resolution. “The
basic things I learned at Claremont are, honestly, still
the skills I use on a daily basis today,” he said.
“This is the fourth recession I’ve been through as a professional,” Strayer told one student, when asked about business prospects in an unsteady market. “Making it through
always means developing the capacity to deal with the next
wave of expansion, and developing that capacity while
things are still going well.” With this philosophy, Strayer was
able to catch the wave of technology start-ups in the late
80s, with cell phone companies and the explosion of personal computing, and to get into bio-technology when the
third recession came. “People always need surgical devices,
so they’re essentially recession-proof,” he says. “This was
an important safeguard in 2001 when the tech bubble burst,
and a lot of venture companies were hurting.”
Recently, Dr. Strayer has become fascinated with the idea of
using entrepreneurial enterprises to help desperate economies. It’s not simply a question of inspiring donors to buy
livestock for remote African villages—it’s about creating an
economy within those villages to make them economic engines unto themselves. “You help set up a local businessman in a rural African community with a water purifying business,” Strayer says, “And that creates a need for someone
to create the filters, someone to distribute them, and possibly someone to distribute the water itself. Suddenly you’ve
created a number of jobs that supply a crucial human need
while stimulating the flow of product in an area.”
Page 7
ENHANCING TEACHING AND LEARNING: LESSONS FROM SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
Over the past 22 years, the Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology has examined a broad range of
topics crucial to our understanding of human relationships
and the building of a healthy, diverse society. The 2009
Claremont Symposium will continue this tradition as we
consider applications of social psychology to teaching and
learning. This one-day conference, co-sponsored by
Claremont Graduate University and Xavier University of
Louisiana, will be held in Claremont, California on Saturday, March 28, 2009. The conference will consider such
issues as:
•
•
how students’ experiences in higher education differ
how educators can best support students to become
better citizens and people
•
how professors impact student motivation and learning
•
how professors bridge racial, ethnic, or generational
divides
The conference brings together psychological scientists
and educators working in higher-education settings. The
meeting will feature four keynote speakers, two panels
addressing student and faculty development, poster presentations, and opportunities for in-depth discussion of
strategies for applying to higher education.
More information and registration can be found online at:
www.cgu.edu/TeachingAndLearning
USING ATHLETICS TO HELP CHILDREN WITH AUTISM DEVELOP
"Two of the biggest challenges for children with autism are "I'm still developing my research project, but we'll probably
increasing verbalization and increasing social engageuse lunchtime sports such as soccer, kickball, and basketment," says doctoral student Catherine Miltenberger. "We ball to help train and motivate the children. They're relado a lot of work at the Claremont Autism Clinic on both, but tively inexpensive, and that makes this an easy intervention
I'm also focusing my personal research on increasing social for parents to implement at home." Many interventions for
engagement in the natural environment." Literature on au- children with autism, she notes, are carried out by specialtism has shown that early engagement helps increase the
ists in facilities such as the Claremont Autism Clinic, makdevelopment of social skills later on,
ing them less accessible to many parso Catherine is focusing on interents.
ventions at the elementary school
Catherine earned her B.A. from UC
level. Teaching children with autism
Santa Barbara, where she worked as
the play skills necessary to particia therapist at the Koegel Autism Cenpate in common school activities
ter, then and spent a year at Stanford
could help them to increase their
University working with Dr. Mendy
participation. "We've found that, in
Boettcher. While working as a theraother populations, children with athpist was rewarding, pursuing a degree
letic abilities tend to be more acin applied developmental psychology
cepted by their peers, so I'm pursuhas the added advantage of reaching
ing that as an avenue that might
a much wider population with her
help children with autism." Autism
work. "Once you find an intervention
can effect motor skills and social
that works, it's always great to see
learning, so a little extra help may
how much progress the children can
be needed.
Catherine Miltenberger and one of the children at make," she beams.
the Claremont Autism Clinic
Page 8
IN-LINE SKATING CHAMPION USES
EXPERIENCE TO GUIDE HER
RESEARCH AS A STUDENT
more flow in competition than in non-competitive events.
Before coming to CGU, Perkins had a successful career in
magazine journalism, but it was her foray into professional
sports that led her to train as a psychologist at CGU. While
Second year doctoral student Kim
coaching adult recreational speedskaters, she became inPerkins hopes to bridge the gap
terested in finding ways to measure the broader effects of
between the two worlds of busiher training methods – not just whether the skaters’ race
ness and psychology in how each
times were improving, but to what extent they were becomthinks about learning and enjoying more engaged and confident, both on skates and off. “I
ment in competition.
originally applied to CGU to study Positive Psychology, but
One of the constructs Perkins
in the process discovered that the piece missing from my
studies is called flow. Flow is a
coaching practice had a name, and it was called Evaluapositive psychology term for the
tion!” Before coming to CGU Perkins began assisting an
experience of total immersion in
evaluator in her work with New York City afterschool proan activity. Competitive situations grams, and was hooked.
are said to reduce the experience
So far, Perkins has no regrets about becoming a full-time
of flow for competitors. However,
grad student after so many years away from school. “Nonthis finding didn’t strike Perkins as
traditional students bring a lot of experience to the table,
quite right. In her previous career
but experience only gets you so far. To get the most out of
as an elite inline speedskater, she
it you need to be willing to be a complete novice again and
recalled skaters reporting much
Kim Perkins
develop a new way of thinking. It’s a bit scary, but incredimore flow in the midst of competibly invigorating, and I have yet to meet an older student
tion than in routine training. For her masters thesis, guided
who didn’t feel the shakeup was completely worth it.” Beby Dr. Jeanne Nakamura, Perkins is investigating competisides, she says, one benefit of being older is increased self
tive style as a moderator of flow experience. She suspects
knowledge. “By the time you’re 40, you’ve already lived
that many successful competitors view one another as partthrough all kinds of things, so if things aren’t going accordners in learning, rather than obstacles to achieving goals,
ing plan, you have the resilience to know it will still be all
and posits that people with that orientation will experience
right.”
HELPING VICTIMS OF HOMICIDE
USING ORGANIZATIONAL TRAINING
than a family member of a homicide victim, for example. “If
you have someone that has been directly traumatized,
recovery will be a slower process than another victim who
SBOS alumna (2003) Dr. Inga James explains that after
hasn’t had that experience.” To better understand victim
running a child abuse prevention program in Hawaii with a
recovery process, Dr. James conducted focus groups and
staff of 50 people, she became fascinated by the way in which interviews to develop models of recovery for different types of
staff members interacted with one another and what motivated victims. The models were then used to develop management
some of these individuals to work well with others. She soon
tools such as job descriptions, personnel appraisal forms, and
realized how diverse Hawaii was. “People come from all over
staff training plans.
the world and bring with them different styles of working,” she
After graduating from CGU, Dr. James moved to Maryland and
says. This led her to become interested in cultural and ethnic
joined a team contracted to evaluate a national demonstration
identity. Dr. James came to CGU to learn more about ways
project that provides services to child witnesses of domestic
that diverse groups of people interact and communicate. After
and community violence. In August of 2008, she was awarded
completing two years of coursework, Dr. James moved back
a fellowship at the US Department of Justice, Office for
to her hometown in Ohio and started looking for consulting
Victims of Crime (OVC). She
work. Using her vast experience in criminal justice, Dr. James
currently works with legal
began consulting with a victim’s assistance program, providing
clinics across the country that
research and management development services to victim
provide legal representation in
advocates who provided assistance to victims of crime as they
criminal proceedings to victims
moved through the court system.
of crime, and conducting
“The Executive Director was interested in using outcome
organizational assessment and
measures to improve their work. He wanted me to do some
measuring training and
research about victim recovery and how the agency's work
technical assistance needs for
contributed to victims' recovery process.” Dr. James strived to all OVC grant recipients.
model how victims of sexual assault might recover differently
Dr. Inga James
Page 9
APA TO TAKE A STAND ON DETENTION CAMPS—BUT HOW?
Last fall, the raging controversy over
Guantanamo Bay and other US
detention camps for “enemy
combatants” reached a head. Using a
rarely used provision in the
Association bylaws, members of APA
successfully petitioned to have a
resolution placed directly before
members for vote. (Normally,
resolutions and APA policy statements
are vetted through a series of
governance committees and boards in
an attempt to insure that all
stakeholders have input in the
Dr. Allen Omoto
process; in this case, the resolution
went directly to the full membership for vote.)
In September, a measure passed by a vote of 8,792 to 6,157,
which culminates in the statement that “psychologists may
not work in settings where persons are held outside of, or in
isolation of, either International law (e.g., the UN Convention
Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions) or the US
Constitution (where appropriate), unless they are working
directly for the persons being detained or for an independent
third party working to protect human rights.”
While the statement itself is strong, its implementation is
potentially unclear and thorny, especially because the policy
had not traveled the normal APA governance path on its way
to adoption. Thus, then-APA President Alan E. Kazdin
announced the formation of an advisory group to work on the
implementation of the resolution. Among the appointees was
CGU’s own Dr. Allen Omoto, who represents the Society for the
Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI). SPSSI has been
at the forefront of advocacy work among psychologists and
professional psychological associations in working for a
moratorium on psychologist involvement in interrogations at
U.S. detention centers for foreign detainees, or at least in
insuring that basic human rights are upheld in these settings.
The work of the Advisory Group was intense and compressed.
The group was charged with clarifying the meaning of the
adopted policy statement and also with suggesting possible
implementation activities, and Dr. Kazdin asked the group to
complete its work by the end of 2008. Dr. Omoto took part in
a face-to-face meeting with the group in Washington, DC, in
November, and subsequently helped to draft its final report.
According to Dr. Omoto, “It was challenging to try to balance
the concerns of a diverse set of constituencies in our work. …
In the end, we came up with what we thought was a very solid
two-part document; one part clarifies the intent and scope of
the new policy and the other proposes a wide range of
initiatives and activities that we believe naturally derive from
the policy itself.”
At its recent (February, 2009) meeting in Washington, D.C.,
the APA 's main decision-making body, the Council of
Representatives, received the Advisory Committee's report
and voted to put the resolution into immediate effect as APA
policy. In addition, it named the policy "Psychologists and
Unlawful Detention Settings with a Focus on National
Security" and referred many of the recommendations
for implementation to APA staff, boards, and committees for
further action. Dr. Omoto believes that this policy and these
actions now provide psychologists and especially the APA with
a set of interlocking resolutions and policy statements that
speak clearly to the protection of human rights.
Moreover, they provide a foundation for future contributions of
psychology to helping resolve pressing contemporary social
issues and controversies.
To read the full resolution, visit:
http://www.apa.org/governance/resolutions/worksettings.html
To read more about SPSSI’s involvement in this issue, visit:
http://www.spssi.org/index.cfm?
fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=1088&nodeID=1
“APPLYING PSYCHOLOGY TO HELP
SAVE THE WORLD”: REFLECTIONS
ON A CAREER
Dr. Stuart Oskamp, Faculty Emeritus at CGU, has been
awarded the prestigious APF 2009 Gold Medal for Life
Achievement in the Application of Psychology from the
American Psychological Association. He has also been
selected to receive this year’s Social Responsibility Award
from the Western Psychological Association.
In a recent article for the journal Analyses of Social Issues and
Public Policy, Dr. Oskamp traced his career through several
epochs in history, from the Cuban
Missile Crisis through the 1970s
OPEC oil embargo, up through
current popular methods of
persuasion such as the film An
Inconvenient Truth. The article
culminates in practical
recommendations for psychologists
who want to use science to effect
real world change.
Dr. Stuart Oskamp
If your library does not have access
to the journal (Analyses of Social
Issues and Public Policy, Vol. 7, No.
1, 2007, pp. 121--136) and you
would like to see the article,
contact us at outreach@cgu.edu.
Page 10
SUPPLYING LOW INCOME FAMILIES
WITH HOUSING AND EFFECTIVE
SOCIAL SERVICES
"The number one challenge faced by working families is
to find safe, decent, affordable housing,” says alumna Dr.
Joelle Greene, Director of Research and Evaluation for
National Community Renaissance, or National
CORE. “And in California, that can be nearly impossible,
especially if you are earning minimum wage. The company I work for not only provides that housing, but supports residents with additional services designed to help
individuals and families who want to better their circumstances—whether that be to remain living independently
if you are an older adult, to maintain stable housing for
your children or to save to buy your own home.”
National CORE, headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga,
CA, was recognized as one of the nation’s largest nonprofit affordable housing development companies by Affordable Housing Finance Magazine in 2007. The company currently owns over 70 apartment communities with
more than 10,000 units housing over 27,000 people in
California, Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida and New
Jersey. Dr. Greene notes, "One of the most distinctive
things about National CORE is that we do it all in house -we literally develop, construct, manage and provide social services ourselves. We pride our selves not on just
creating beautiful apartment communities that are safe
and affordable, but our bigger purpose is to transform
communities. By working closely with city partners
and having a stake in all the phases of the development
of the community, we can have a larger impact than if we
were only fulfilling some of the functions ourselves."
REAL-WORLD JOB, REAL-WORLD
LEARNING
Master’s student Yoon Elle
Uh has been working for National CORE alongside SBOS
Alumni Dr. Joelle Greene and
Susan Neufeld, M.A. since
Fall 2007, her first semester
in the M.A. program at CGU.
Among other projects, Yoon
has been studying the impact
of housing costs on recruiting,
developing, and retaining
Yoon Elle Uh
non-profit leaders in the
greater Los Angeles area. “How do we retain and attract
non-profit leadership when housing costs are through the
roof?” she asks. This work is funded by a grant Dr. Greene
received from the Majestic Realty Foundation. Yoon initially took a temporary position as an Evaluation Coordinator which quickly transitioned into a part-time position as
an Evaluation Analyst as her knowledge and skill set grew.
The best part about the job, she says, is seeing “how
evaluations work in real life and not just in theory.”
“Yoon has added tremendous value to my department,”
says her colleague Dr. Greene. “We work really well together. I know my work has benefitted from Yoon’s willingness to ask lots of questions. Frequently she will see
an angle on something coming from the outside that I
miss. And I really love when she comes into the office
with a new idea or article from class. Our discussions help
keep me connected to the larger field of evaluation which I
can easily lose sight of in my day-to day work.”
Dr. Greene spends most of her time working as the lead
evaluator for National CORE's social services department
(also known as the Hope Through Housing Foundation)
where she helps program leadership design and implement evaluation systems for three initiatives: Child Development (which includes Head Start and State-funded
preschools), Youth Development (which includes after
school programs for children and youth in grades K-12)
and Senior Health and Wellness. She also supports data
driven decision-making throughout the organization—
spearheading projects such as internal customer satisfaction and restructuring the company's key indicators reports. A number of SBOS students have worked with Dr.
Greene over the past 3 years. Currently, M.A. student
Yoon Elle Uh serves as an Evaluation Analyst working
closely with Dr. Greene. (See companion story on this
page.)
Another project Yoon has been working on is the evaluation of PeaceBuilders, an evidence-based curriculum designed to reduce bullying and violence among schoolaged children. National CORE has integrated this curriculum into their after school programs that currently serve
over 900 at-risk children and youth. “PeaceBuilders is an
innovative approach, and targets the entire culture of afterschool programs. It teaches children and youth prosocial
skills, like acknowledging the good and caring things other
do for them, emotion regulation and conflict mediation
skills. Past evaluations have shown that the program not
only reduces aggression, but also promotes language development, social skills, increases parenting and fosters
safer communities.” This evaluation is funded by a Byrne
Grant awarded to National Community Renaissance by
the Department of Justice.
Implementing and planning the programs that Dr. Greene
is evaluating is another SBOS alumna, Susan Neufeld,
She advises other students to jump into internships early
as she did, in order to have time to develop crucial professional skills. “Get your foot in the door, and don’t rule
things out!”
Cont. on pg. 11
Page 11
HOUSING & EFFECTIVE SOCIAL
SERVICES
“ORG TALKS”:
A NEW STUDENT-LED SERIES
Cont. from pg. 10
who works as Director of Youth Development Services. Ms. Neufled, who earned her M.A. in Applied Developmental Psychology, oversees all aspects of
National CORE's after school programs, called Hope
Through Housing's After School & Beyond. Last
year the program served over 900 children and youth
from about 25 properties and the number of programs is
rapidly growing as National CORE builds and acquires
more communities. "These programs are absolutely critical
to the families we serve," says Ms. Neufeld. "Most parents
are working nonstandard hours at minimum wage jobs, so
school-based programs, which require parents to pick kids
up by 6 pm, are inaccessible to our kids. Our programs are
located where families live—in the Learning Centers located right in the apartment community. We provide a nutritious snack, academic enrichment, homework support
and positive role models via our staff. Then kids safely
walk home."
"My graduate training in Claremont prepared me well for
this work," says Greene. “Whether I'm helping social services colleagues to establish the evidence base for the program, to develop the logic model, or to design evaluation
systems, I'm definitely relying on skills I developed while at
CGU. My background in cognitive development has facilitated my understanding of program logic across the lifespan, while the coursework in methods and evaluation has
given me an arsenal of different tools and techniques to
deal with the real-world evaluation issues I face on a daily
basis. Things move very quickly around here, so I can see
the impact of my work immediately."
Greene adds, "It's really an honor to work here, I feel like I
play on an all-star team. My colleagues have terrific vision
and put a lot of energy into their work; I support their work
with evaluation systems that help them know where things
are on course and what isn't working. But the most gratifying experience is watching the teams start to ask their own
evaluation questions. To me, that's when I've done my job
-- when people find the information so useful that they begin to ask questions for themselves."
When we asked what wisdom she has gathered from her
experiences, Dr. Greene says immediately, “Be open. I
would have never guessed in a million years that this is
where I’d end up, but it’s a very exciting and gratifying environment for me, and my skills are very applicable here. I
actually had no sense of how valuable my skill set would be
outside of academia but the last three years have helped
me appreciate the value that critical thinking and analytic
skills have in the marketplace."
A group of Organizational Psychology students have
banded together to create a new lecture and discussion
series, aimed at “promoting dialogue between students,
researchers, and practitioners.” Spearheaded by doctoral
students Rachel Schiff and Timothy Lisk, this group has
arranged for meetings with a number of exciting speakers,
including some prominent SBOS alumni.
Thanks also are due to Dr. Michelle Bligh, who is acting as
faculty advisor for the new group. We look forward to
watching this effort develop over the coming years!
Feb. 26 - Dr. Joelle Greene
April 9 - Dr. Geoff Smart
April 16 - Dr. Dov Eden
Recent organizational roundtable discussions in SBOS
were also offered in late 2008 by Dr. Jerald Greenberg
and Dr. Richard Strayer.
ATTITUDE CHANGE CONFERENCE IN
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
The 12th Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology
(March 17-19) is being coorganized this year by Dr.
Joe Forgas, Dr. Joel Cooper, and CGU faculty member Dr. Bill Crano. To those
familiar with Dr. Crano’s
work, it will come as no surprise that the theme in 2009
is to survey the latest developments in theory and empirical research in the rapidly
developing area of attitude
and attitude change.
The Symposium is a series
of annual meetings organDr. William Crano
ized by the University of New
South Wales with the aim of providing new, integrative
insights into key areas of contemporary research in this
field. Each Symposium has dealt with an important current
theme in social psychology, and the invited participants
are leading researchers in the field from around the world.
Page 12
Congratulations to those awarded their
Doctorate in Fall 2008:
Michelle Mason—Defining Love of Learning: Its
Relationship to Intrinsic Motivation for College,
Sensation-Seeking, and Global Innovativeness
Bryan Chae—Testing a Theory on Aging, Work
Frequency, and Naming
Danelle Hodge—Children's Sleep Problems and
Maternal Mental Health in Mothers of Children With and
Without Autism
CALLING ALL FAMILIES!
If you are the parent of an adolescent and are in a
monogamous relationship, we need your help!
All participants who complete our brief, confidential
online survey receive a $10 Amazon.com gift card.
Visit www.cgu.edu/diversefamilies or email us at
diverse.families@cgu.edu for more information!
To participate in this or other studies being conducted
by CGU psychology students, you may also visit
www.cgu.edu/pages/4961.asp .
WHAT AMERICANS REALLY THINK
ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009,
4:00PM
Dr. Jon Krosnick (Stanford
University, Humanities and Social
Sciences) has been conducting
survey research on the American
public's views of global warming for
over ten years.
This current talk will discuss the
American public’s attitudes on
climate change. Krosnick will
Dr. Jon Krosnick
describe findings from a series of
national surveys that he has designed and conducted
since 1996, tracking what Americans do and do not
believe on this issue and what they do and do not want
to have done about it. Surprising results challenge
many widely-held presumptions about public opinion,
illuminate the increasing politicization of the issue, and
help set the stage for future legislation on climate
change.
PROGRAM EVALUATORS:
PROVIDING A SERVICE TO THE
WORLD OR CHANGING THE WORLD?
THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2009, 4:00 PM
Claremont Graduate University
will be hosting Professors Dr.
Janet Clinton and Dr. John
Hattie from the University of
Auckland, New Zealand, this
Spring semester.
As an added treat, Dr. Clinton
will be introducing her research
on the role of the evaluator in
the arena of public health for our
third and final Stauffer
Colloquium on the semester.
Dr. Hattie will also be speaking
as a part of the 2009 Claremont
Symposium on Applied Social
Psychology (see pg. 7 for details).
Dr. Janet Clinton
BEYOND "HOMOPHOBIA": WHAT
SOCIAL SCIENCE TELLS US ABOUT
SEXUAL PREJUDICE
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2009,4:00PM
Claremont Graduate University is proud to introduce
distinguished professor and researcher in social personality
psychology, Dr. Gregory Herek (University of California,
Davis).
Dr. Herek is an internationally recognized authority on
prejudice against lesbians and gay men, hate crimes, antigay violence, and AIDS-related stigma. He has published
numerous scholarly articles and books on these topics, in
addition to having served as consultant and expert witness
for numerous legal cases involving the civil rights of lesbians
and gay men and people with AIDS.
As he discusses his research, Dr. Herek will explain why he
coined the phrase “sexual prejudice” to more accurately
describe what has traditionally been referred to in popular
culture as “homophobia.”
Everyone is welcome to attend Stauffer Colloquia. The talks are followed by a Q&A session and wine and
cheese gathering. For more information contact Paul.Thomas@cgu.edu.
Page 13
COGNITIVE BROWN-BAG LUNCHES
“SOCIAL SOCIALS”
Lunches are open to all! All talks are in room ACB 211,
12:15-1:30 pm, unless otherwise marked.
Organizing doctoral students Namrata Mahajan and Amber
Gaffney are keeping the “Social Socials” true to their original
mission of giving applied social psychology students a venue
for discussing their own research. Spring 2009 Social Socials
For more information contact roxanna.salim@cgu.edu.
February 9, Dr. Ned Block & Dr. David Rosenthal at
Pomona College, Rose Hills Theatre, 4:15pm
February 27, John McCabe, AP-LS student
presentation
dates include:
February 3rd, Student presentations (Heather Butler, John
McCabe, and Kathryn Sperry) ”Psychology and Law.”
April 3, Dr. Martha Mather, USC, Title TBA
February 17th, Dr. Julian Montoro-Rodriguez, “Impact of
Embarrassment on Caregiver Distress in a Multicultural
Sample of Caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients”
April 17, Dr. David Moore: "Mental Rotation in Human
Infants: A Sex Difference"
March 3rd, Dr. Daan van Knippenberg, “Moving the Hearts
and Minds of the Followers”
May 1, Dr. Gabriel Cook, Title TBA
March 24th, Student presentations, “LGBT Issues in
Psychology”
April 7th, Dr. David Hamilton of UC Santa Barbara
CONFERENCES NOT TO MISS THIS
SPRING & SUMMER
May 5th, Thesis Fair (11 am—1 pm)
Society for Personality and
Social Psychology (SPSP)
February 5-7, 2009
Western Psychological
Association (WPA)
April 23-26, 2009
MONTHLY M.A. PROGRAM STUDENT
MEETINGS
Society for Industrial
Organizational Psychology
(SIOP)
April 2-4, 2009
Association of Psychological
Sciences (APS) Convention
May 22–25, 2009
The monthly master’s program student meetings this
semester are listed below. In addition to presenting
important information for master’s program students, the
meetings provide a good opportunity to meet and mingle
over lunch. Upcoming meetings and topics include:
Association for Research in
American Educational
Personality (ARP)
Research Association (AERA) July 16-18, 2009
April 13-17, 2009.
All socials are from 12 noon—1pm unless otherwise stated.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
•
February 10, 12-1pm: Jobs and Internships
•
March 12, 7-9pm: Alumni panel
•
April 14, 12-1pm: Fall registration meeting
•
May 12, 12-1pm: Ice cream social
OTHER SPRING EVENTS OF INTEREST ON OUR CAMPUS
CGU continues to expand the number of events it hosts each semester in an effort to enhance and disseminate
knowledge, build a strong learning community, and to engage alumni, Board of Advisors members, and other potential
supporters of the school. A sample of events includes:
•
March 6, 2009: Minority Mentoring Program Conference, “World On Fire”
•
April 3, 2009: Black Graduate Student Association Conference, “Critical Perspectives: Exploring African Diasporic
Communities"
•
April 4, 2009: SBOS Alumni/Student Mentoring Day
•
April 9, 2009: Alumnus Geoff Smart (CEO, ghSMART), “Executive Coaching for Organizational Psychologists”
Visit www.cgu.edu or email us at outreach@cgu.edu for more details.
Page 14
2008-2009 ALUMNI
EVENTS
2008-09 promises more opportunities for alumni and
students to meet, share their career paths and goals,
and to just have a great time. Mark your calendars for
the following dates:
08-09 Alumni Events:
November 7, 2008, Denver CO: Cocktail Soirée
(during American Evaluation Association Conference).
April 4, 2009, Claremont CA: Alumni/Student
Mentoring Day. Students will gather on campus for a
9-1 program of learning from those who blazed trails
before them, both in academia and in applied practice.
Alumni—Please contact us if you are interested in
joining us at this event!
April 24, 2009, Portland, OR: Cocktail Soirée (during
Western Psychological Association Conference).
Below: Students and alumni gather at the Rialto Bistro Gallery in
Denver, CO, on Nov. 7, 2008.
From far left to far right: students Robert
Fierro, Leslie Fierro (also an alumna of the
Certificate of Advanced Study in
Evaluation), Dreolin Fleischer, and John
Lavelle; Alumni Dr. Robert LaChausse, Dr.
Tiffany Berry (currently Research Faculty at
CGU), and Dr. Elise Arruda; student Susan
Menkes, alumna Dr. Katrina Bledsoe, and
students Jessica Veffer and Krista Collins. STUDENT ADVOCACY ASSOCIATION
EVENTS
February
•
2.06.09 IRB Workshop
•
2.12.09 Networking Event with Office of Career
Management
•
2.21.09 Night Out at “Piano Piano” Dueling Pianos
Restaurant
March
•
3.01.09 Kickball Tournament
•
3.03.09 Student Survey
•
3.10.09 Spring Picnic
•
3.29.09 BBQ for Fall 09 Admitted Students
April
•
4.04.09: Alumni Networking Event
•
4.10.09 Clippers Game
•
4.30.09 Student-Faculty Feedback Lunch
May
•
5.15.09 Graduation Ceremony
Page 15
CHECK OUT THESE NEW BOOKS BY OUR STUDENTS AND ALUMNI!
Moving Forward: Turning
Good Intentions into Great
Results
The Handbook of High-Performance Virtual Teams
Current student Paul Edward
presents his newest book,
which he refers to as an
"others-help" book. One of
the keys to moving forward in
life is connecting with the right
people, says this consultantturned-doctoral student. Edward shares the five
strategies he uses to help his influential clients solve
problems, make better decisions, achieve goals, and
get connected. Drawing on his rich experiences as a
US Marine Corps officer, corporate executive, and
professional life coach, Edward's book leads the reader
on a journey that begins with self-discovery and
culminates in the development and implementation of a
plan for real change and personal growth. (Read more
about Paul on pg. 4.)
SBOS alumna Dr. Jill Nemiro, along with Drs. Michael
M. Beyerlein, Lori Bradley, and Susan Beyerle, introduce an essential resource for leaders, virtual team
members, and work group leaders. The editors provide
a proved framework
based on five principles for working collaboratively across
boundaries of time,
space, and culture.
Written by experts in
the field, the contributors offer practical
suggestions and tools
for virtual teams who
need to assess their
current level of effectiveness and develop
strategies for improvement.
EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE
Dr. Justin Menkes, SBOS alumnus and leadership expert, has recently published his findings
on Executive Intelligence. The book posits that brilliant leaders share a set of aptitudes.
Leading executives have often been described as "people with sound judgment, business
smarts, or business acumen." However, through interviews with senior executives and the
most celebrated CEOs in the world, Dr. Menkes discovered that—just as great mathematicians share an exceptional facility for skills such as computation and deductive reasoning—
great managers also have a certain set of cognitive skills that are at the heart of business
acumen. Accomplishments of star executives are made possible by specific, identifiable skills
that can be measured and improved. With a clear understanding of Executive Intelligence,
managers can develop a means to improve their own performance as well as identify and
cultivate the critical mass of talent their organizations so desperately seek.
To learn about publications by our faculty, visit:
www.cgu.edu/pages/4920.asp
Page 16
FACULTY, STUDENT, AND ALUMNI MILESTONES
•
Alumnus Dr. Harry Coffey has joined the Psychology faculty
at Washington State Community College, and continues to
serve as Vice Chair of the Washington County Mental Health
and Addiction Recovery Board.
•
Alumna Dr. Bettina Casad received a grant from the Army
Research Institute to do a study with female and ethnic
minority ROTC cadets on stereotype threat and leadership
performance.
•
SBOS student India Swearingen was a co-recipient of a
transdisciplinary scholarship, which will fund an Africana
Student Conference in April along with students from the
Black Graduate Student Association at CGU.
•
Congratulations to alumna Dr. Catherine Domier, who
accepted an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at UCLA's
Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. Dr. Domier's
research interests include the neurocognitive changes
associated with chronic substance abuse and abstinence.
•
•
Alumna Dr. Jill Robinson (Assistant Professor at University of
Redlands) and Professor Michelle Bligh of CGU just had their
article, “Was Gandhi ‘charismatic?’ Exploring the rhetorical
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi,” accepted for publication in
the Leadership Quarterly.
•
Congratulations to doctoral student Patrick Williams, who
married Jackie Williams (nee Serrano) in August 2008.
•
Students Shabnam Ozlati and Agi Horspool from SBOS,
Shamini Dias from School of Educational Studies and
•
Sumonta Kasemvilas from SISAT received a transdisciplinary
scholarship from CGU to form a "Knowledge Management
Study Group". They also received a Hillcrest award for
"Knowledge Management, Virtual Acculturation and Space,"
a web-based meeting spot.
•
•
•
Congratulations to doctoral student Clayton Stevenson, who
will be married in July 2009.
Doctoral students Zach Hohman and Robert Blagg will be cochairing a symposium at the Western Psychological
Association conference in Portland entitled “Identity and
Ideology.” Other SBOS participants in this all-CGU-student
symposium include students Janice Adelman and Miriam
Mathews.
•
Also at WPA, an all-student symposium entitled “Uncertainty
and Group Entitativity” will include talks by CGU doctoral
students Justin Hackett, Namrata Mahajan, and Zach
Hohman, as well as Shirley Samson, who is visiting CGU this
year from the University of Kent in southeast England.
•
Alumna Dr. Melody Graham, after creating two new graduate
programs at Mount Mercy College, was promoted to become
the college’s Dean of Graduate Studies.
•
SBOS flooded the Society for Personality and Social
Psychology Conference in Tampa with impressive and timely
research this February. Among their many presentations
were the intriguing titles, When competence and warmth
matter: Party identification and voting for women in the 2008 •
election (Amber Gaffney and Danielle Blaylock) and Threat is
in the eye of the beholder: SDO and the 2008 election
(Danielle Blaylock, Amber Gaffney, Justin Hackett, and Dr.
•
Michael Hogg). Students Heather Stopp, Zach Hohman,
David Rast, Namrata Mahajan, Miriam Matthews also
presented.
Students Joshua Lewandowski, Matthew Galen, and Timothy
Lisk are beginning to work with some of the members of the
UC Irvine student SIOP chapter on distributed teams
research.
•
Students Joleen Archibald and Liron Nemanim, in
collaboration with Dr. Ronald Riggio from the Kravis
Leadership Institute, created an online study to better
•
understand and frame the emerging discipline of Leadership
Studies. News of this study was published in the International
Leadership Association Newsletter.
•
Double congratulations to alumnus Dr. Chris Aberson
(Associate Professor at Humbolt State). He and his wife
Nanda just had their first child, Ernesto. Dr. Aberson is also
expecting the publication of his book, Applied Statistical
Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, from
Psychological Press (formerly LEA) in 2010.
Alumni Doug and Kendra Wiegland had their first child, Kallie
Ryan Wiegland, in June of 2008.
Student Timothy Lisk is presenting a poster at SIOP in April:
“Transformational Leadership among Guild Members in
Massively Multiplayer Games.”
Student Karen Redwine, who is in the final stages of her
doctoral program at CGU, has been hired as a tenure-track
faculty member at Whittier College.
Students Amber Gaffney and Danielle Blaylock are cochairing a symposium at the Western Psychological
Association in April, entitled “Threat and Ideology.”
Congratulations to the following SBOS students who have
won the Graduate Student Council Travel Award: Danielle
Blaylock • Anna Dor • Rupanwita Gupta • Stacy Hawkins •
Namrata Mahajan • Benjamin Marcus • John McCabe • Molly
McCallum • Precious Robinson • Erica Rosenthal
SCHO0L OF BEHAVIORAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL SCIENCES
123 East Eighth Street, Claremont CA 91711
Phone: 909-621-8084 Fax: 909-621-8905 Email: psych@cgu.edu