10.05.2011
Dear Psychology Coalition members,
During the meeting last Wednesday (October 5), we were visited by Thomas Hutter, a
representative of Contact Crisis Line. He explained that Contact is a nonprofit organization that
works in crisis prevention and intervention. Their main initiative is a 24-hour crisis hotline that
is manned by volunteers and inters. Last year alone they answered 41,000 calls (7% of which
were suicide calls).
During a call the volunteer is expected to follow three steps:
1) Build rapport: Give unconditional positive regard, listen actively
2) Focus: Concentrate on the main issue at hand
3) Closure: Develop a plan for the future
Volunteering with this organization required 42 hours of training. Three-fourths of the training
occurs in the classroom, and the last portion centers around supervised calls. The next training
session is January 13-16 from 9:00AM – 5:30 PM each day. After training is complete, each
volunteer is expected to commit to a four hour shift every other week, with an intended goal of
100 volunteer hours total.
For more information regarding Contact Crisis Line, please refer to the attached flyer.
If you would like to become involved in a committee and have not already done so, please
contact the following people:
Constitution Committee — Lauren Weittenhiller, lauren.weittenhiller@utdallas.edu
T-Shirt Committee — Jessica Hendricks, jmh103020@utdallas.edu
Service committee — Courtney Ramirez, Courtneyramirez@yahoo.com
Social Committee — Jessica Hendricks, jmh103020@utdallas.edu
We will have another general meeting in November, details to follow
Announcements:
Membership: To become a member of Psychology Coalition, you must fill out an application.
These may be found outside Dr. Rosen’s office (GR 4.802), or at our next meeting
Psi Chi: Applications for the psychology honor society, Psi Chi, can also be found outside of Dr.
Rosen’s office (GR 4.802)
Research Fair: On November 3rd from 2-4 in the SU Galaxy Rooms B/C a research fair will be
held. Psychology Coalition will be co-sponsoring this event, and thus your help is needed. We
will be asking for volunteers shortly, more information to follow.
10.05.2011
Graduate Program Lecture: Dr. Underwood will give a lecture on November 11th from 11:00
AM-12:00 PM in GR 4.428 explaining how to get into a psychology graduate school program.
Graduate School Expo: On Wednesday, October 12 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM in the SU galaxy
rooms, there will be representatives from law and medical schools, as well as a variety of
graduate programs willing to speak to UT Dallas students.
Career advice and a slice: The Career Center will be holding an event on Friday, October 14 in
the SU Galaxy Rooms. It will begin at 12:00 pm, and pizza will be provided. Career advice will
be given by professionals in the following fields: nonprofit organizations, higher education/
student affairs, banking, research and science, IT, public affairs, staffing agencies/recruiting,
green/sustainability careers. If you would like to attend, register using your careerworks account.
Undergraduate award: Dr. Santrock established this award for students in the school of Brain and
Behavioral Sciences. Several awards will be given to undergraduate juniors and seniors to cover
expenses (maximum of $1000) to attend a psychology convention. Students with a primary
interest in developmental psychology will be given priority in the selection process.
Applications are due November 7th by 5:00 PM. Selections will be made by the end of the fall
semester. Applications should be submitted to Dr. Lisa Rosen (lisa@utdallas.edu)
Sincerely,
Lauren Weittenhiller
Psychology Coalition Secretary