Chair: Alison Dunton [Contact]
Mission or Role of Committee: The mission of the Maryland Psychological Association's (MPA's) Early Career Psychologists (ECP) Committee is to support the career development of Maryland psychologists who have obtained their doctorate degrees within the last seven years. This mission is achieved by bridging the gap between student membership and full membership as an ECP, encouraging active membership and leadership within MPA, and increasing comfort levels with advocacy and legislative issues pertinent to Maryland psychologists. The committee strives to provide opportunities for networking, training and education, mentoring, and other areas of career development and support. The goal of the committee is to serve the needs of all early career psychologists in terms of areas of practice and geographic representations in the state of Maryland.
Accomplishments this Past Year: It was a productive year for the ECP Committee! The committee grew, as did participation at ECP events! Seven new ECP committee members were recruited. The committee hosted six ECP educational seminars and five ECP social/networking events in various locations/counties in MD, yielding very nice turnouts for most events. Peter Smith assisted in the development of a vibrant informational ECP brochure to be used in conjunction with recruitment efforts. Additionally, the committee drafted a detailed list of ideas regarding ways the ECP Committee could work together with all other MPA committees to collaborate and further involve ECPs in MPA's efforts. Furthermore, several MPA committees now have ECP representatives or liaisons, and several ECPs participated in advocacy events at both Annapolis Watch and APA's State Leadership Conference. Lastly, the ECP Committee collaborated with MPAGS to develop an ECP/MPAGS mentoring program. Sixteen Early Career Psychologists and 21 MPAGS members were matched, mentor and mentee expectations were clarified, and a social event was held to kick off MPA's newest mentorship program!
Current Initiatives: The ECP Committee is currently planning educational seminars and social/networking events for the 2012/2013 year. Another ECP/MPAGS mentorship match is planned for the fall of 2012 to continue matching graduate student members with ECP mentors. Also, ECP plans to reach out to local internship and fellowship training directors to ask for their assistance in encouraging post docs to attend ECP events.
Future Goals: The ECP Committee will continue efforts to encourage ECP's to be active members in MPA, to become comfortable advocating for the practice of psychology, and to take on leadership roles within MPA. Additionally, efforts will be made to identify an ECP to take on the role of ECP Chair for the 2013-2015 term to allow for a smooth transition of leadership.