From the Editor
by Beverly Waldron
It is now mid-January and the first issue of the 1996 ACN is almost finished. Everyone has come through with his or her promised contribution (for which they have my deepest gratitude). In fact, the only thing left to be done before shipping everything off to IPMA for publication and distribution is my own contribution to this issue. Guess I'd better get busy, as I've been telling everyone else - the deadline is coming!
As the new editor, it is not my intent to write a column or editorial for each issue. Instead I will only have a few notes about the content of the current issue and probably a plea or two for content and ideas for the next issue. Having said that I'm going to turn around and contradict myself by writing a long article for this issue. It's not that I'm being contrary, but that there are some things about the ACN that I want to discuss with you.
The ACN is our newsletter. It is the main (and sometimes only) method we have for communicating with the entire IPMAAC membership. We want and expect it to serve several functions: to keep us informed on what is going on within the organization, to let us know what our colleagues around the country are doing, and to give us information that might help us do our jobs better, faster, and easier. Over the years the ACN has gotten better at meeting these expectations. This year we want to continue the trend and create an ACN that adds to all the hard work done by previous editors and contributors.
The change in committee tenure/timing gave me an advantage previous ACN editors didn't have - about nine months of advance notice. I tried to put that time to good use. I talked with Marianne Bays, Jim Johnson, Dan Masden, Marianne Ernesto, and just about anyone else who would let me bend his or her ear on the subject. Those conversations have resulted in some changes of which I hope you approve. (Note: to those of you who were at the conference last summer, I have not forgotten your committments for ACN contributions.)
Physical
The first change you've probably already noticed - the ACN looks different. We've changed paper, ink, and layout. The goal is to provide a good easy to read format.
Delivery
If all goes according to plan, you can expect to receive your copy of the ACN early in the even months of the year (February, April, June, August, October, and December). We hope to have it to you the first week of the month.
Content
The four regular sections (Public Sector Practice Exchange, Assessment Council News, Technical, and Legal) will still be in each issue with each having its own excellent associate editor.
Ilene Gast is continuing as Associate Editor for Federal, State, and Local Affairs. Compiling the Public Sector Practice Exchange column is a role that she has ably played for five years. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology in 1987 from the George Washington University. Ilene (only her cat, Julius, is required to call her Dr. Gast) began her Federal career in 1972 as an Employee Development Specialist for the former Civil Service Commission. For the past 15 years she has worked for the Federal Government as Personnel Research Psychologist. Her employers include the U.S. Army, Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Science, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (twice) and most recently, the Immigration and Naturalization Service. She is currently preparing assessments that INS will use for promoting employees into supervisory and managerial positions. Ilene is also preparing a model for evaluating INS's return on its investment in these promotional assessments. Her past work has included training evaluation, job analysis, criterion development, development of construct-based biodata questionnaires, and the design and administration of organizational assessment surveys. She has been a member of IPMAAC since 1989. Besides her ACN role she has served on the IPMAAC Executive Board, chaired the Ad Hoc Task Bank Committee and has been a member of the Program, Student Paper, and Research & Resources Committees. Ilene is also a past president of the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington and a Member of the American Psychological Association.
Mike Willihnganz is our new Associate Editor for Assessment Council Affairs and, as such, is responsible for the Across the Nation - News of the Councils. Besides regular reporting on the various assessment organizations and their activities, he will be creating a national calendar of events. The calendar will help all of us keep up with opportunities for professional development and interaction. Mike is currently the Supervisor, Recruitment and Selection for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), an electric utility serving the Sacramento area. He is a frequent speaker and seminar leader at regional and national conferences. He has served on a variety of IPMAAC committees and chaired the Host Committee for the 1993 IPMAAC Conference. Besides being an active IPMAAC member, Mike is involved with several other assessment organizations including WRIPAC and PTC/Northern California.
Mike Aamodt is taking over as Associate Editor for Technical Affairs. As you will see later in this issue, his plans for the technical affairs column are excellent and should be very useful and informative to all of us. (I will add one contrary note to his current column - some of us do care about editorials . . . ) He received his B.A. from Pepperdine University (1978) and his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Arkansas in 1983. Mike is currently a professor of industrial/organizational psychology at Radford University. He is the author of the text book Applied Industrial/Organizational Psychology (2nd edition) plus more than 35 publications and 60 conference presentations. In addition, he is the president, secretary, and janitor of Personnel Research Associates, Inc. According to Mike, this is "a small human resource consulting firm that does more good than harm." Mike brings the following editorial experience with him: Editor of Applied H.R.M. Research, Associate Editor of the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, and membership of the publications advisory committee for Public Personnel Management.
Jeff Feuquay, Ph.D., J.D., is our Associate Editor for Legal Affairs. I've known, liked and respected Jeff for several years and I must confess to mixed feelings about Jeff going back to law school and passing the bar exam (on the first try, too). On one hand he became one of "those" people while on the other hand, he became an excellent choice to edit the legal section. In addition to 15 years in public-sector personnel psychology (Jeff is a former Deputy Director of the OK Office of Personnel Management) he is currently an employment law and civil rights attorney with the law firm of Irish & Associates. Jeff is a member of IPMA and a long time active IPMAAC member. He has served on many of our committees, including Program Chair in 1993, and is currently an IPMAAC Board Member, serving as the Regional Relations Representative.
In addition to these sections we will have several regular columns in each issue. In no particular order, they are:
President's Message - Marianne Bays has graciously volunteered to continue the trend started by Jim Johnson and provide us with a column/article/message for each issue. She will be keeping us up on her plans and ideas and on what's going on with the "organization." This month's article focuses on member development and last October's Board meeting.
Clyde's Corner - Clyde Lindley has been involved with the ACN since its beginning. He served as editor for a number of years and has been a regular contributor in all the other years (statistics articles & quizzes, book reviews, various articles, and more recently with "Quotable Quotes"). At the 1995 conference IPMAAC recognized Clyde with its highest distinction, the Exemplary Service Award. Now, the ACN would like to recognize his wonderful contributions and give him his own section of the ACN, Clyde's Corner. His "Quotable Quotes" will still be there but we have asked him to also share with us any articles, opinions, ideas, and thoughts that he feels would be of benefit to the membership.
Guest Editorial - This is a new column that replaces the point/counter-point idea that we've talked about but had trouble implementing. It is to be an editorial piece by a member on a topic of interest or importance to the membership. Basically, it is a membership soap box. The idea is to raise issues that will get the membership to examine what we do, why we do it, and how we do it. It is not so much a technical forum as it is an opinion forum. We recognize that some ideas/opinions expressed could bring individuals into conflict with their management or co-workers. Rather than have these opinions go unexpressed or discussed we will offer the use of a standard pseudonym such as T.C. Worth (Two Cents Worth). We would have to know who the individual is before we would publish the editorial but would protect the person's identity. So, if you've got an opinion that you want to express or a topic that you think we need to think about - this is your opportunity. Speak up! (And be sure to read Jim Johnson's contribution to this issue.)
Letters to the Editor - This is our feedback section. We are looking for responses to the contents of the ACN, areas the members want to hear about, requests for assistance, and responses to the Guest Editorial. You don't have to send a "letter." It can be E-mail, fax, or a phone call. Just let us here from you!
Statistics - Through a generous member contribution we will have a statistics column. Each issue will include a "tip" and an "enigma." The author doesn't want a byline but I would like to thank him for his kind contribution and for sharing his expertise with us. Thank you, Chuck Schultz.
The Mouse Pad - This will be a regular column on electronic communications and all things computer. Brad Jensen has put together the first column and has committed himself (and the other members of the Electronics Communications Network Steering UnCommittee) to providing us with information for each issue of the ACN. If you don't already have E-mail and access to the Internet, I strongly urge you to get connected. These tools provide the IPMAAC membership with an excellent way to keep in touch and to share information and questions. (I wanted to add one more honest observation to Brad's column. The more people who get involved the better the resource will be for all of us.)
Survey - We will also be running a short survey in each issue of the ACN. Please take a few minutes of your time and respond. Your input is crucial to our success!
Conference - In the issues prior to the conference we will have articles from the program and host committees. In the August issue we will also have a report on the conference.
A Day in the Life of . . . - This is basically an attempt at a humor column. No, not a joke column (but we will accept them) but rather a collection of those things that happen in our daily lives that are silly, inane, and usually can only be truly appreciated by someone else in the "business." They are the groaners that happen to us. They are usually only amusing in retrospect (or to someone else). So please share - we can also use the laugh and the joy of knowing we're not alone.
Thanks for hanging in there, I'm almost finished. I just have two more issues to cover.
The first is to thank Marianne Ernesto and Daglyn Padilla of IPMA for all their hard work in making the ACN a good newsletter and to apologize to them in advance for all the aggravation I'm sure I'll cause in the coming year.
The second is to tell you that I think we've done a good job with this issue of the ACN and that I hope you find it informative and useful. However, we can do a better job - but to do that, we need your help. We need your input, your ideas, your articles. On the "net" there is a term for those people who sit back and just watch what others are doing. They are called "lurkers." Unfortunately lurking is not something that just happens on the net, it happens in organizations like IPMAAC. Yes, there are times to lurk but you can't lurk your life away. It's time to get involved. Join a committee. Write an article. Send us your ideas and questions. Get on the net. Get involved. To borrow from Jim Johnson's editorial - JUST DO IT!