Across the Nation: News of the Councils

Déonda Scott, Associate Editor

Introducing: Chicago Industrial/Organizational Psychologists (CI/OP)!

CI/OP may not be new, but it's new to this column as the author just located it on the web. The website is new, but the organization has been around for quite some time. I guess I was a bit behind the power curve on this one. CI/OP generally has Friday afternoon sessions from 1:00 - 5:00 P.M. featuring several speakers addressing a topic. CI/OP's March meeting was entitled "Can Competency Models and KSAO's Co-exist?" The next meeting will be held on May 14 and will focus on "Selection Issues in the 21st Century." Speakers are TBA. A dinner meeting is scheduled for June 10. Speakers and topic TBA. Call Ron Haverson at (773) 278-8229 for information.

Bay Area Applied Psychologists (BAAP)

"Virtual Teaming" presented by Deborah Jude-York of York Consulting Team will be the topic of BAAP's April 21 meeting. Sandra Yingling of Hay Group will be the speaker at the July 29 meeting and the October 26 meeting will feature Larry Fogli of People Solutions. Topics TBA. For information contact Becca Anhalt (415) 743-8705.

Metropolitan New York Association for Applied Psychology

METRO's March meeting featured "Executive Coaching: A Practitioner Forum with speakers Gary Ranker and Kathleen Espinoza of Traninfo, Inc.; Michael Mazzarese of Mazzarese & Associates; and Robert Patraw of Manchester Consulting. A Career Day will be conducted in April. Donna Thompson, Karen Lyness and Madeline Heilman will present "Women's Issues in I/O Psychology" at the May 13 meeting. Members are requested to suggest topics or nominate papers to be presented at the meeting on June 15 at Hofstra University. A reception will follow. For information contact Vince Conte (212)708-6424 or e-mail vincent.a.conte@ac.com, or Seymour Adler (212)539-7593.

Mid-Atlantic Personnel Assessment Consortium (MAPAC)

MAPAC's Spring Meeting will be held in Philadelphia, PA on April 28-30. The overall topic will be "Technology in Human Resources," as it applies to the selection, testing, and recruitment functions. It promises to be an interesting and exciting program. More details and the conference program will appear on the website soon. For information on upcoming events, contact Linda Dunn (212) 794-5672.

Minnesota Professional for Psychologists At Work (MPPAW)

The Minnesota Professionals for Psychology Applied to Work now in existence for 9 months, has 184 members. There are two meetings scheduled this spring. On March 11, Jack Wiley of Gantz Wiley Research will present "Linking Employee Survey Results to Customer Satisfaction and Business Performance." Theresa Millis of Right Career Dynamics will discuss "Retention Strategies for Professional Employees" on May 13. We will soon begin planning for the 1999-2000 program series. MPPAW holds meetings at the University of Minnesota on Thursday evenings. Programs include a social hour, presentation, and question and answer session. For information, contact: Sidney Teske at (612)348-4443 or send an email to Sid.Teske@co.hennepin.mn.us.

PSC/Florida

The Personnel Selection Council of Florida's October meeting in Ft. Lauderdale featured speakers Ron Frankel and John Burns with the Florida Department of Veteran's Affairs, who discussed veteran's preference in employment. Future meetings are in the planning stages. Contact Desiree Bice (954)724-1351 for more information.

PTC/Arizona

On April 16, the Personnel Testing Council of Arizona will hold a full-day workshop on Non-Cognitive and Personality Testing. Key presenters will include Dr. Donna Denning and Dr. Doug Jackson. For more information contact: Terry McKinney at (602)261-8861 or tmckinne@ci.phoenix.az.us, Vicki Packman at (602)236-4595 or vspackma@srp.gov.

PTC/Northern California

PTC/NC's Annual Conference was held in March in the Sacramento area. Contact Sharon Rose at (510) 676-6265. Pete Rosin of AC Transit will provide a demonstration of training videos developed for personnel professionals on topics related to conducting job analysis and the concepts of exam development on April 9. Contact Chris Wright, PTC/NC Vice President - Bay Area, California Public Utilities Commission, (415) 703-1930, e-mail cww@cpuc.ca.gov for more information.

PTC/Metropolitan Washington

PTC/MW hosted a special luncheon/workshop entitled "Work, Stress, and Health '99: Organization of Work in a Global Economy" in March. The next regular luncheon meeting will be held on April 14. Speaker and topic TBA. Contact Suzanne Tsacoumis (703)706-5660 for information. The PTC/MW also has a very good website that can be accessed through IPMAAC Online! Their newsletter provides summaries of past presentations, job announcements and a professional calendar.

PTC/Southern California

Calvin Hoffman of Southern California Gas Company presented "Exploring Options for Supporting Test Use in Situations Where Criterion Validation is not Practical" at the March meeting. The Spring Symposium: "Selection for the New Millenium and the Best of the Basics to bring with you" will be held on May 7. Contact Kathryn Paget (909) 387-6086 or Doren Schott (909) 955-6135. PTC/SC holds a luncheon meeting in Monterey Park, CA on the fourth Wednesday of each month. PTC/SC and its upcoming activities are listed on IPMAAC Online!

Western Region Item Bank

The Western Region Item Bank (WRIB) is a cooperative organization of public agencies using a computerized test item bank. Services include draft test questions with complete item history, preparation of "printer ready" exams, and exam scoring and item analysis. Membership includes 190 agencies nationwide. For more information, contact Kathryn Paget at (909)387-6086.

WRIPAC

WRIPAC will present a one-day professional development workshop, "Exam Item Writing" on June 2, 1999 in Sacramento, CA, in conjunction with a two-day conference to be held June 3 & 4. The trainer will be Mike Willihnganz, Ph.D. Mike manages the Test Construction & Validation Unit at the CA State Personnel Board. The workshop is $100 for WRIPAC members, $120 for non-members. For more information or registration materials, call or e-mail Sophia Selivanoff, WRIPAC Training Committee Chair-- (707) 565-3145, sselivan@sonoma-county.org. Western Regional Intergovernmental Personnel Assessment Council (WRIPAC) is comprised of assessment professionals from more than sixty small, medium, and large public agencies throughout the western United States. For more information contact Mark Rau at (209)297-2335.

Déonda Scott is the Civil Service/Testing Manager for the City of Orlando. If you have regional organization news or an item to add to the calendar, please contact her. She can be reached by phone (407)246-2061; fax (407)246-2019; or e-mail dscott@ci.orlando.fl.us. Snail-mail will eventually find her at the City of Orlando, 400 S. Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801-3302.