About SASP:

The Student Affiliates in School Psychology (SASP) is a student organization formed under the auspices of the Division 16 Executive Committee. SASP has over 50 chapters in APA-approved programs across the United States and has an executive board that provides resources and direction to SASP chapters.

The executive board is composed of 12 school psychology graduate students, representing school psychology programs and SASP chapters across the nation. By being active participants and collaborators with the APA Division 16 Executive Committee, the SASP executive board works steadfastly to provide meaningful representation of and advocacy for SASP chapters, graduate students, and  future scientists and practitioners in our field.

SASP Executive Board Mission (Updated Fall 2023):

The mission of the SASP executive board is to 1) build a student community that is ready to take on the future challenges of the field, 2) advocate for strong training, 3) commit to social justice and anti-racist work, and 4) foster collaboration with students and faculty across school psychology programs and their respective institutions. To actualize these  goals, we have several key objectives. Each objective is matched with projects/tasks that the SASP executive board is currently undertaking:

• Given our unwavering commitment to serve school psychology graduate students, the SASP executive board strives to maintain consistent outreach and communication with our constituents. We seek to keep graduate students appraised of emerging and developing issues within the field. We also strive to provide transparent channels of bidirectional communication to empower graduate students to share their unique perspectives.
• Given graduate students are the future of the field, the SASP executive board is committed to providing several professional development opportunities. Through publishing, presentations, networking opportunities, and funding, we aim to build a student community that is able to independently and collaboratively engage in important research, apply research to effective practices within their schools and communities, and enact structural and policy improvements to cultivate a more just society. We also seek to recognize and honor individuals who are committed to promoting diversity, equity, and anti-racism in their work.
• As a student-led organization, the SASP executive board recognizes the competing demands and unique challenges school psychology graduate students face. We seek to amplify graduate student voices, with an emphasis on empowering underrepresented student groups, to the Division 16 executive board. We commit to advocating on behalf of student perspectives in order to advance the interests and welfare of everyone’s educational experiences. 

SASP’s Current Projects/Tasks:

Although our projects/tasks may change from year to year based on student needs and the ever changing field, our commitment to the above goals remain true. Projects for the 2023 SASP executive board are outlined below.

1. Represent and advocate for student interests within Division 16: The executive board has an active voice and role in Division 16 to represent relevant student needs and issues.

2A. Provide publication opportunities for students in The Student Corner (TSC): The executive board has secured a spot in The School Psychologist (TSP) exclusively for graduate student publications.
2B. Provide presentation opportunities for students in the Student Research Forum: The executive board hosts the annual Student Research Forum, which is a student and faculty attended event at the APA conference where students present and engage in discussions of their work.
2C. Provide funding opportunities for students: The executive board has secured consistent funding for a scholarship to support BIPOC students in the field of school psychology, called the BIPOC Equity in School Psychology Training (BEST) scholarship. At this time, the board is able to provide two scholarships of $500 to incoming 1st and 2nd year school psychology graduate students and two scholarships of $1000 to advanced graduate students.
2D. Provide student networking opportunities in the Diversity Meet & Greet: The executive board hosts the annual Diversity Meet & Greet, where students and faculty members of color meet at the APA conference to discuss research and other professional topics.

3. Provide outreach to chapters on varying topics and resources: The executive board provides resources relevant to school psychology graduate programs and students, including: funding opportunities, important events occurring within the field, and advocacy efforts to further the profession. Additionally, they work with SASP Chapter Representatives at each participating university to understand the needs of their students and programs to further inform the work of the SASP executive board.

4. Recruit new chapter representatives: The executive board works to expand SASP’s reach by aiming to have at least one chapter representative at each APA-approved school psychology program to best advocate for the interests of students.

5. Creation of LinkedIn page & updating of social media pages: Last year, the board created both an LGBTQ+ Facebook group and a BIPOC Facebook group. The executive board has developed a networking group which aims to build an online student community and provide peer-to-peer mentorship for incoming and current graduate students in the field of school psychology who identify as a student of color. This group strives to create an online space to share resources, access supportive feedback, provide opportunities to interact with faculty members of color in the field, and connect with other ethnic- and racially-minoritized students of color pursuing school psychology.The board has also created a networking group for incoming and current graduate students in the field of school psychology who identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. This group strives to create an online space to share resources, access supportive feedback, provide opportunities to interact with faculty members of color in the field, and connect with other sexual & gender minority and queer students pursuing school psychology. This spring, the communications liaison for SASP created a Linkedin page for our organization to connect students, SASP chapters, and other organizations affiliated with school psychology. 

6. Election process transparency & fairness: We have made significant revisions to our election process to make it fairer. These include anonymising candidate profiles and providing clear election results. Furthermore, we provided the opportunity for nominees to provide anonymous demographic information from the previous election to understand where we need to do more to recruit from underrepresented groups on the board. In doing so, we gained some insight into a lack of students with disabilities, BIPOC, non-female and gender minority, and first-generation students on the executive board and are aiming to increase the messaging of our organization in the months leading up to our election.