During the February 2017 APA Council meeting, a motion was passed (by a very large margin) to send a bylaws change to the APA membership to address representation on Council for SPTAs (State, Provincial, and Territorial Associations). The bylaws change would assure that each SPTA is guaranteed a seat on Council. Presently, seats on Council are determined by the apportionment ballot, split among SPTAs and Divisions.
The bylaws change was proposed because in 2018 only 59 of the 60 SPTAs will be seated. The US Virgin Islands lost their seat on Council after the last apportionment ballot. Given this, we were able to successfully argue during the Council discussion on this proposed change that each SPTA is an important individual entity, deserving of representation, despite its population or number of APA members.
SDPA, being one of the smallest Psych Associations, could be next in line to lose our council seat if this bylaw change is not passed.
If the Divisions get more votes in the apportionment ballot in its present form, then more SPTAs could lose seats, including small-population states like Wyoming and South Dakota.
Voting will be open until December 14. It is very important for you to vote. APA rules require that the membership must vote to approve a bylaws change, and this must be accomplished by a 2/3 majority of the vote. So please vote, and vote yes, allocating all your votes to our state association. And please help spread the word to other APA members!
