Student Affiliates of Seventeen – December 2016

At Ball State University (BSU), we are honored to serve as the host institution for SAS for the next 3 years. As an organization at large, SAS is a vehicle for enhancing communication between counseling psychologists-in-training and leaders within counseling psychology.  Furthermore, SAS seeks to encourage student engagement in both SAS and SCP, as well as promote the professional development of counseling psychologists-in-training. Perhaps most important of all, is SAS’s commitment to cherish and promote diversity and social justice within the organization and Division 17 at large.

We are committed to furthering the mission originally set forth by SCP, and it was with this in mind that we chose our four pillars: the four areas upon which we chose to build our time as host institution for SAS. Through our first pillar,Scholarship, Collaboration, andEngagement we seek to further integrate science and practice by fostering collaboration efforts among students of diverse interests and between students and career professionals in counseling psychology. Through our second pillar, Multiculturalism we aim to support and encourage diversity, while focusing on expanding awareness to multicultural engagement in research and practice. Through our Social Justice and Advocacy pillar we hope to increase awareness of social injustices and promote social justice efforts by future counseling psychologists. Through our final pillar, Prevention and Promotion in mental health, we will focus on the health and well-being of our student members, career professionals, and the community as a whole, by highlighting prevention efforts and encouraging individuals to integrate these practices into their personal and professional lives.

Largely, our hope is to increase membership, membership engagement, and to continue to provide a supportive and safe space in which to learn, share, and explore the complex issues that surround many of our communities. First, we will be working to increase our overall membership, by collaborating with counseling psychology programs, training directors, regional representatives, and program representatives. We will also seek feedback regarding the expectations and hopes of our membership and prospective membership for SAS and will use that feedback to shape the organization to best meet those needs. To this end, we will reach out to doctoral, master’s and undergraduate programs in order to engage in dialogue about the potential benefits of membership in a professional organization. Second, we hope to provide opportunities for membership involvement. It is our belief that the more our members are involved in the organization, the stronger our organization will be. We are aware that SAS members are a diverse group of individuals, with equally diverse interests and that they are continuously working, learning, and developing in a variety of settings engaging in research, practice, advocacy, and more. Thus, we want to highlight those accomplishments and share them with not only the SAS community, but also with the counseling psychology community as a whole. Finally, we are dedicated to remaining a positive and supportive voice for the victims of social injustice and inequity. In an increasingly complex world full of equally complicated issues, it is more important than ever before that SAS continues to advocate for our members and the entire community.

Consequently, we encourage psychology students to join and current professionals in the field to encourage students to become involved with SAS. It is our hope to continue to serve our community and provide a smooth transition from student to early career professional life.