PSYCHOLOGISTS IN INDEPENDENT PRACTICE A Division of the American Psychological Association 919 W. Marshall Ave • Phoenix AZ 85013 • 85013-9848 Thank you for your interest in becoming an initial Fellow of APA through Division 42. As practitioners sometimes feel disadvantaged in meeting the criteria for Fellow status in APA, we would like to offer you some guidance in the application process. Let us suggest three steps that you might take, after requesting an initial Fellows application from the Division 42 Central Office, 919 W. Marshall Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85013, Phone: 602-284-6219, E-mail: div42apa@cox.net. First, we suggest you look at your c.v., both to make sure it is up to date and to ensure it completely reflects all the things you have done professionally. This includes offices in organizations, awards, papers presented at regional or national meetings, as well as publications, whether refereed or not. Many practitioners use a stripped-down c.v. but for this purpose that will not be helpful. Having made sure that your c.v. is complete and accurate, the next step is to evaluate it yourself in terms of any themes represented, and then relating those to the scene in professional practice over the last few years. The crucial question is, what part of your work has had an impact beyond the local level? Following this, structure your self-nomination letter along the line of the themes that you wish to develop. Remember that the emphasis is on the things you have done, or in other, words the work that you did and its visibility. Then select your endorsers, and instruct them as far as necessary on what aspects of your work you wish for them to comment on. Send each endorser a copy of your c.v, the Fellows Status Worksheet and your selfnomination letter, with a brief statement of your intent for their endorsement. The endorsement letters should be sent back to Central Office through you, so do not hesitate to read them, or at least read a copy. Many applicants in the past have selected more than the minimum of three endorsers, in order to cull any letters that are not sufficiently on target or that are not worded properly. Remember, the key element here is endorsement of your work, not you as a person. In other words, it will not matter to the APA Membership Committee that you are knowledgeable, a skilled teacher, an accomplished practitioner, or the like. What does matter is that you have received recognition for excellence, such as awards or offices in which you have accomplished various things, and that your work has received recognition. The job of your endorsers is to drive home the point of what you have accomplished and how they know your work. It may be somewhat helpful to select endorsers who do not live in your local area, and it probably helps to have endorsers who themselves are likely to be known to the APA Membership Committee members. Please note: your letters of endorsement must be from APA Fellows and at least two must be from Division 42 Fellows. Also, you endorsers must complete the Fellows Status Worksheet – or their endorsement will not be accepted. We have set a deadline of December 15, 2012 for receipt of your application by the Division 42 Central Office. As a review, then, the steps that are necessary for this process: (1) Ensure that your c.v. is in good professional form, making sure that you have included nationally important offices or professional activities in which you have participated, together with both refereed and non-refereed publications, paper presentations, and the like. (2) Contact a minimum of three endorsers (who must be Fellows of APA and at least two of which must be from Division 42). It helps to have more than three endorsers. (3) Send a copy of your c.v. and your selfnomination letter to your endorsers and the Fellows Status Worksheet., with a brief cover letter directing their attention to the aspects of your work that you want them to mention specifically. If you would like to have a Fellows Mentor help you with this process, please contact Jeannie Beeaff (div42apa@cox.net) 602 284-6219 and we’ll put you in contact with a current Fellow who has agreed to help. You may use their expertise in any way you wish and we hope this is a helpful addition to the process. Above all, we hope to offer you whatever support you find necessary in your application process. Very truly yours, Division 42 Fellows Committee