Psi Chi
Encyclopedia
Psi Chi is the International Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology. With over 1,050 chapters, Psi Chi is one of the largest honor societies
Honor society
In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America...

 in the United States. Psi Chi has inducted over 500,000 lifetime members from chapters in the United States and Canada. Famous members include B.F. Skinner, Philip Zimbardo
Philip Zimbardo
Philip George Zimbardo is an American psychologist and a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is president of the Heroic Imagination Project...

, and Dr. Phil
Phil McGraw
Phillip Calvin McGraw best known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality, author, former psychologist, and the host of the television show Dr. Phil, which debuted in 2002...

.

Psi Chi is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies
Association of College Honor Societies
The Association of College Honor Societies , founded in 1925, is a predominantly American organization that serves a number of functions with respect to national collegiate and post-graduate honor societies...

 and is an affiliate of the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...

 (APA) and the Association for Psychological Science
Association for Psychological Science
The Association for Psychological Science , previously the American Psychological Society, is a non-profit international organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in research, application, teaching, and the improvement of...

 (APS).

Founding

Psi Chi was founded by Frederick Howell Lewis and Edwin B. Newman, psychology students at the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

. Lewis and Newman first thought of a national organization for psychology students while working on research late one night in 1927. Over the next two years, they wrote to psychology faculty and students at various universities and formed discussion groups with other students. Psi Chi's first official meeting was on September 4, 1929, at the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...

's annual meeting. Psi Chi's original name was Sigma Pi Sigma, but it was learned that the name was already in use by an honor society in physics. "Psi Chi" was chosen as the honor society's official name at its second annual meeting in 1930 because of the name's similarity to the word "psychology."

Membership

Membership is open to graduate and undergraduate men and women who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests, and who meet the minimum qualifications. Membership is attained through application and acceptance at the local chapter level. A list of institutions with Psi Chi chapters can be searched here. Psychology majors who attend two-year junior or community colleges may join Psi Beta, Psi Chi's sister society.

Undergraduates must meet the following criteria in order to become members of Psi Chi :
  • Must be at least a second-semester sophomore
    Sophomore
    Sophomore is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the second year of study at high school or university.The word is also used as a synonym for "second", for the second album or EP released by a musician or group, the second movie of a director, or the second season of a...

  • Must be enrolled as a major or minor in a psychology program (or a program psychological in nature that is equivalent to a psych major)
  • Must have completed 9 semester hours (or 14 quarter hours) of psychology courses
  • Have an overall GPA in top 35% of their class (based on rankings within sophomore, junior, & senior classes); note: if the cutoff for the top 35% in their class is below 3.0, the applicant must have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4-point scale)
  • Have a psychology GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.


To join Psi Chi as a graduate student, one must be enrolled in a psychology graduate program and have an overall GPA of at least 3.5 (on a 4-point scale) in all graduate courses.

Psi Chi chapters may also induct full-time faculty who have a doctorate in psychology (or a psychology-related field).

Psi Chi chapters may elect (as allowed by the national Psi Chi Constitution) to have higher academic standards for membership in their chapter and may optionally elect to add a local chapter membership fee.

The current one-time national membership fee is $45.00(www.psichi.org). There are additional Chapter fees which are determined at the local level. No further national fees are necessary as membership is for life. Past fee increases were as follows:
Fee Date Began Date Ended Notes
$1.00 Sep 1929 Aug 1945 Aug 1945 is an approximate date...it is unclear exactly which month the fee changed (it did occur in summer/fall '45)
$2.00 Aug 1945 Jan 1952 specifically Jan 14, 1952
$3.00 Jan 1952 Nov 1954 specifically Jan 15, 1952
$5.00 Dec 1954 Aug 1961
$7.50 Sep 1961 Aug 1968
$10.00 Sep 1968 Dec 1974
$15.00 Jan 1975 Dec 1978
$20.00 Jan 1979 Dec 1981
$25.00 Jan 1982 Aug 2000
$35.00 Sep 2000 Jun 2009
$45.00 Jul 2009

Awards and grants

Psi Chi rewards its members annually with over $250,000 in various awards and grants programs.

Activities

Psi Chi members may attend national and regional conventions, held yearly. Some chapters provide information on graduate study in psychology and assist members in the graduate school application process. Tutoring, community service, and social events are also common activities of Psi Chi chapters.

Structure/Governance

Psi Chi, a federally-recognized, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is governed by the Psi Chi Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is composed of three presidents (President, President-Elect, Past-President), six regional vice-presidents (East, Midwest, Rocky Mountain, Southeast, Southwest, West), an executive director, and an executive officer. The presidents and regional vice-presidents are elected by Psi Chi chapters. The current President (2009–10) is Alvin Wang, PhD, University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...

, while next year's president (2010–11) will be Michael D. Hall, PhD, James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...

 (VA).

Regional vice-presidents serve two-year terms and may serve up to a total of two terms (four years). Regional vice-president elections are held in odd-numbered years for the Eastern, Rocky Mountain, and Western Regions, and in even-numbered years for the Midwestern, Southeastern, and Southwestern Regions. The term of office for regional vice-presidents begins on July 1.

President candidates must have served at least one full two-year term as a regional vice-president. If elected by chapters to become president, the candidate becomes the society's President-Elect for one year, President the following year, and then the Past-President the year after. Presidents' terms of office begin at the close of each year's Board of Directors business meeting held at the Psi Chi/APA National Convention.

Past officers of the organization can be viewed here. Psi Chi's fiscal year is from July 1 - June 30.

Central office

The Psi Chi Central Office fulfills the needs of the society as directed by the leadership of the Board of Directors. The current Central Office staff is composed of an executive director, executive officer, membership director, publications director, information systems manager, and awards director. As needed, the Board of Directors creates new staff positions to help better meet the needs of and provide benefits to members of the society.

A list of Psi Chi's executive directors follows. The title of the "executive director" position has changed over the years: Secretary-Treasurer (1929–54), Executive Secretary (1954–68), Executive Director (1969–91), Executive Officer (1991–2003), Executive Director (2004–present).

(1929-1958) Secretary-treasurers

  • 1929-30: Paul E. Martin
  • 1930-34: Ruth B. Guilford (Ruth also served briefly in 1951 between Miriam Crowley and Lucille Forer)
  • 1935-40: E. Louise Hoffeditz Porter
  • 1941-42: Louise T. Grossnickle
  • 1942-46: Dorothea W. F. Ewers
  • 1946-48: Katharine M. M. Maurer (née Cobb)
  • 1949-51: Miriam E. Crowley (née McCue)
  • 1951-55: Lucille K. Forer
  • 1956-58: Meredith J. Marks

(1958-1991) Ruth Cousins

Ruth Hubbard Cousins (b May 21, 1920) was one of the society's most famous executive directors, serving for more than 33 years (Dec 1958 - Oct 1991). She died on January 11, 2007. Read more about Ruth Cousins, her life, and her service to Psi Chi here.

(1991-2003) Kay Wilson

After Cousins retired as executive director, Kay Wilson (b September 21, 1939) took over as executive officer (the title changed, but her position still functioned as executive director) from October 1991 until her death in June 2003, of cancer.

(2004-2008) Virginia Andreoli Mathie

When Wilson died in 2003, the National Council reviewed the position of executive officer and decided to split the position's function into two positions: executive director and executive officer. A search began in 2003, and Virginia Andreoli Mathie, PhD, a professor of psychology at James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...

 (VA) previously, was hired for the executive director position and began on July 1, 2004. Dr. Mathie served until June 30, 2008. Paula Miller, who was the organization's previous membership and awards director (1997–2003), was hired as the executive officer in 2003, and served in that position until 2007. In March 2007, Lisa Mantooth, formerly of the Cleveland, TN Red Cross Chapter, began as executive officer and served through November 2009.

(2008-present) Martha Zlokovich

Beginning July 1, 2008, Martha S. Potter Zlokovich, PhD, from Southeast Missouri State University
Southeast Missouri State University
Southeast Missouri State University, is a public, accredited university located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States, near the banks of the Mississippi River. The institution, having started as a normal school, has a traditional strength in teacher education...

and a former Psi Chi National President, began serving as Psi Chi's newest executive director.

Current/Past staff members

Executive Officer: Lisa Mantooth (2007–09); Paula Miller (2003–07)

Interim Executive Officer: Melissa Strickland (2009–present)

Director of Awards: Melissa Strickland (2006–present); Jennifer Lopez (2005); Brian Welsh (2004); Paula Miller (1997–2003)

Director of Membership: Amie Austin Hearn (2000–present); Paula Miller (1997–2000); Laura Senecker (199?-97); Donna Bolin (198?-9?)

Director of Publishing: Susan Iles (2004–present); Daniel P. Bockert (1989–2003)

Information Systems Manager: Mark Cobbe (2007–09); Scott Gast (1998–2007)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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