Meeting Minutes! In Case You Missed It!

At The Last Meeting:

Thanks to those of you who came out to our final meeting, ELECTIONS!! 

Two quick announcements first:
1) Tshirts- If you still want one you can get one, the sizes are S, M, or L. They are $8, and contact Samm about getting
one. If you signed up Samm is waiting for you to pay and pick up your shirt! Please contact her at wunde1sr@cmich.edu

2) Don't forget that the induction banquet is December 5 at 1pm. The price is $9.50 a person. You can start paying as soon
as possible by either cash or check made out to Psi Chi and bring it to the Sloan office and ask for it to be put in the
Psi Chi mailbox. 

AND HERE IS YOUR SPRING 2010 E-BOARD!!

PRESIDENT: Ashley Linden
VICE PRES: Molly Deslandes
SECRETARY: Tasha Nacarato
TREASURER: Lindsay Pietruck
HISTORIAN: Brittany Pietsch
WEBMASTER: Lisa Kidder
VOLUNTEER/SOCIAL: Samm Wunderlich
FUNDRAISING: Nicole Greer
PUBLICITY: Chelsea Miles
SGA: **Maria Schmeider
AWARDS WRITER: Allie Richards

Congrats to the new E-board! 

I want to thank all of you for your participation and involvement in Psi Chi. It clearly is an honor and privilege
to be involved in a group that takes Psychology and general involvement with campus seriously! For those of you who did
not know, our meetings for this semester are completed. Sad, I know. But don't fret--We will see everyone next semester!! 

If you have any questions or concerns for the remainder of the semester don't hesitate to contact me or any other member of
e-board. 

Have a great remainder of the semester! Not much longer!

From Previous Meetings This Semester:

Minutes From November 5th

Here are a few quick announcements before I get into the meeting.

1) Don't forget the banquet date has changed to Saturday, December 5, at 1pm. It is still $8 a person. Pledges are free.
If you meet the incentive though you can get one person free.

2) TSHIRTS ARE IN!! If you have not paid Samm they are $8. Please contact her in order to pay/pick up your shirt. After
next week the t-shirts will be in the Sloan office. Samm's email is wunde1sr@cmich.edu.

3) Due to scheduling conflicts and trying to fit everything in this semester, there is a meeting NEXT TUESDAY, NOV 17 AT 7PM
IN SLOAN 100! This meeting is elections for Spring 2010 E-board! If you are interested in getting more involved in the
group, this is the way to do it! We have a lot of fun, and it really is not a time consuming job, if that's what is worrying
you! Please please please consider running for a position-- boost that resume!

Ok and here is what was covered during the meeting. Last night we had a graduate panel of 2 graduate students and 1 professor. 

1) Miya Barnett- She is a 1st year clinical student here and transferred from Oregon. She took a few years off after
graduating to go work and build up her vita and then started applying, looking for schools and a professor that did exactly
what she wanted to do, which is work with preschoolers who are exhibiting problems. She currently works with PCIT, which is
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Her recommendations for getting into grad school are to DO RESEARCH and GET EXPERIENCE
NOW!! It looks great on a resume/vita to show that you are able to do what you are going to be doing as a grad student.
She also recommends to know exactly the way the program you are applying to works for application process as far as what
you need to send to them and what the interview process is like. So it is important to research your school and the profs there.

2) Jake Brogren- He is a 1st year School Psych student in the Ph.D program. He also agrees that it is important to get
research experience as an undergrad. Grad schools want to see that you are involved in something other than just taking
classes, since that's what all students are doing. Find a way to make yourself stand out. Also, make sure to look at faculty
research interests to figure out who you think you would work best with in grad school. If you don't like the research
interests of any faculty, that school probably isn't the best fit for you. In regards to personal statements, Jake said that
you should make a few drafts of it, and have lots of people review it before you send it in! Also, make connections with
professors! It's the best way to get solid letters of recommendations. You don't want a letter that says "this
student was in my class and got an A." 

Also, for anyone who is going to be in Mt Pleasant for the entire summer and is looking for research experience, here's
your chance. From June 14-Aug 14, M-TH 9am-12noon there is a study that will be going on. It is working with elementary
kids who are assigned to either the control or experimental group. You will be helping these kids learn how to read. You
can also take this as an independent study and get credit for it. This will look great on a a vita and you can get a great
letter of rec out of it! If you are interested, contact Paula Louchart at louch1pa@cmich.edu and ask to be a research
assistant in her summer study.

3) Dr. Quirk- He was interesting to listen to because he had the opposite perspective of a student since he's on the other
side of the application process. He gets the privilege of choosing who gets into the clinical program here. Here is what
he says is important:
1) Academic Potential: when applications first come in, they rank the students based on their GPA and GRE scores. Once they
make the cut of approximately the top 40 students based on that they go to personality attributes. 
2) Personal: this is where they look at your letters of rec and your personal statement. He recommends to get to know
faculty here!! They want at least 3 letters and they should come from psych faculty. If you want to add a letter from an
employer, that is okay but it should be your 3rd or 4th letter. It is imperative to have research and clinical
experience if you want to get into the Ph.D program. 

For personal statements--don't say something like "you want to help people" and don't get too personal! Don't share that you
have a certain psychological problem or that a relative did either. Have people read your statement! Your personal
statement should tell a brief story of why you want to go into this particular field and convey something about your
personality. Try to convey an awareness of the faculty/program in your letter too. In your letter you should tailor to the
program by indicating what profs you are most interested in working with if you do get into the program.
3)Letters of reference: get Ph.D academic psych profs to write your letters. These profs should know something about you and
be able to comment on your personality and attributes
4) If you do get invited for an interview, Dr. Quirk says to talk the talk! Everyone is assessing you, faculty, staff, and
students, so be outgoing and on your best behavior!
5) if all else fails: retake GRE, take grad classes, do more research, volunteer, consider a masters program, or get a job!


For you guys who will be applying next year or after that, you should start at least THINKING about
these things now! It doesn't hurt to get ahead and have a plan!

Don't forget to come next week November 17th for Elections! Join E-board!

Minutes from October 27th

As you know, it was rather short, we just had a few quick announcements:

1) If you are interested in going to Tendercare to volunteer, email Samm at wunde1sr to let her know!

2) Tshirts will be in soonish and it's $8! You need to pay soon, either give your money to Samm, or take it to the Sloan
office and have them put it in the Psi Chi mailbox

3) We want to start fundraising for Relay for Life, which isn't until March, but it doesn't hurt to start thinking ahead!

4) Induction Banquet: Nov 22 at 1pm. Dress is business casual and $8 a person. Don't forget the incentive. 4 meetings + 1
volunteer event and you can go for free. If you are an inductee you are free anyway, but you can get a guest for free.

5) Nov 10 will be a grad panel/vita workshop. This meeting will be very beneficial for those of you planning to go on to
graduate school following undergrad. I know that I need the information and it won't hurt to start hearing this early for
those of you who are sophomores and juniors.

6) Because of the date for the induction banquet, and it running close to Thanksgiving, we had to add a general meeting
on what would normally be a week off. So instead of 2 weeks following the grad panel, the next week will also be a general
meeting, Nov 17. This meeting will be Elections! It is imperative that you come vote for people to be on Eboard and
possibly run yourself! We will be talking about this more as it gets a little closer but please consider running for a
position. It is a great experience to get more involved with Psi Chi and Psychology in general. Also, you can put it on
your resume! It looks good to be involved!!

So our next meeting is November 10th, grad panel! Hope to see you all there! Enjoy the 10th (shock!) week of class!

Minutes from October 13th

We went over a lot of things tonight so here they are:

1) T-shirts! If you would like a t-shirt, and have not already signed up for one, please contact Samm at wunde1sr@cmich.edu to let her know your name, and size! Also, bring $8 to the next meeting, or drop it off in the Sloan office!

2) Volunteering: Anyone interested in going to the Animal shelter?? They usually prefer small groups but you can go at pretty much anytime. Again, if interested email Samm at the email address above

3) BIG BOY: tomorrow night is our fundraiser at Big Boy! It's from 5-9, all you have to do is go eat some food and bring in the flyer I sent you or the certificate you received at the meeting to give 20% of your purchase back to Psi Chi!

4)The MPA conference, which is forever away (end of the school year) is in Chicago, and we're looking for people interested in signing up to go. If so, email Lindsay at pietr1lk@cmich.edu

5)Induction Banquet is potentially set for November 22. This is to welcome all new pledges to the group. If you are a pledge, you are free. You can bring as many guests as you want, but they're about $7-8 a person. However, there is an incentive!! If you attend 4 meetings and 1 volunteer event, you are free..or 1 of your guests are if you're a pledge!

6) Technically applications were due today, but we are extending the deadline for one week, they are now due October 20. Make sure you attach an unofficial transcript and $65 and you may turn these into the Sloan office.

7) If you want to go to Uncle Johns Cider Mill on October 24 at 1pm (Saturday) email Samm again at wunde1sr@cmich.edu!

8) Today was Class Hash were we all just sat around and discussed classes and teachers. It was beneficial for me at least, and I hope it was for everyone else. This will be the last time I'll be scheduling classes here, crazy!

9) The next meeting is October 27 in Sloan 100 at 7pm and we'll be making caramel apples for Halloween!

Minutes from September 29th

1. Tshirts! We are now taking orders for t-shirts. They are going to be black with bright blue writing for $8! If you want one, you must sign up asap before it's too late! Email Samm with your name, and size! Wunde1sr@cmich.edu

2. Volunteer/Social Opportunities: A. Soup Kitchen- OCT 9. There are 2 time slots with 3 spots each. The first time slot is 8-11a, and the second one was 1045-2. There is 2 openings left in the first time slot, and 1 for the 2nd. If you are at all interested, again, email Samm at wunde1sr@cmich.edu

 B. Chalking- Every Sunday evening a small group goes around campus chalking about upcoming meetings and events. If this sounds appealing to you please feel free to help out! We need all the help we can get so email Allie at richa2ae@cmich.edu

C. Trip to Uncle John's Cider Mill- Oct 24th! If you don't know what this is, it's a place about 40 minutes south of here on S-127 where you get to drink apple cider, eat donuts, and pick pumpkins! It's a lot of fun and you all should attend. Depending how many people are interested, we obviously would car pool. If you think you want to go, by the way it's on a Saturday..then email Samm at wunde1sr@cmich.edu

3. Fundraising Opportunities: A. COLDSTONE!! This is TOMORROW! Wednesday, September 30 from 7-10pm! It's not that hard! Do you like ice cream, amazing ice cream?? Yes, you do. So tomorrow head on over to Coldstone,
bring your friends, mention Psi Chi, and we get part of the sales! Help out your lovely RSO!!! I expect to see you all at least show up to eat ice cream!!

 B. BIG BOY- On October 14 from 5-9pm we are doing another fundraiser! For this all you have to do is go out to dinner, and bring your friends! Again, help raise money for Psi Chi!!

4. E-Board Vacancies! We have 2 positions currently open. Are you looking to get more involved with Psi Chi?? Here's the opportunity for you to do so! The first position is the SGA Representative. For this, you attend weekly Monday meetings in Dow along with the SGA reps from every other club on campus! Just report back to us about information going on around campus, as well as attend weekly Psi Chi meetings! The 2nd position available is the awards writer! Each year we apply for regional or even national awards by sending in a paper dealing what Psi Chi has been up to! The paper is not due until January so you would have plenty of time. If either of these sound appealing, either let myself, or Brad know and we can go from there. Carmi1ba@cmich.edu

5. MPA Conference- Every year a group of Psi Chi members head down to Chicago for the MPA conference in the beginning of May. It will most likely be financially covered so you won't have to pay much of your own money but it's a good way to see other projects people have going on and make great contacts! Does this sound interesting to you? Email Ashley at
 inde1an@cmich.edu

6. Tonight we played Psychology themed Jeopardy and while I didn't get to show off my lovely Power Point skills, it worked anyway. Yayyy!

7. On an additional note, I received an email from Dr. Van horn about an alumni working at the Census Bureau. His name is Matt and said that he would be happy to talk to anyone interested in federal statistics, survey methodology, human computer interaction, etc that's interested in jobs with government. mattjans@isr.umich.edu

8. Next meeting: October 13! This meeting will be class hash! For those of you who have come before, you know that it is beneficial to figuring out what psych classes are the best, and who the best professors are to take them with! Registration for spring classes is coming up already (crazy, I know) so this will be a great meeting for you! See you in 2 weeks, on October 13 at 7pm in Sloan 100!!!
 

Minutes From September 15th:

1) Applications: They are due October 13 along with $65 and an unofficial transcript which you can get from Warriner. If you weren't at the first meeting and need an application, they should be on the website: www.chsbs.cmich.edu/psichi

2) Our lovely volunteer chair, Samm, also attends SGA meetings and wanted to relay some information back to our group regarding the new tailgating rules. Since the majority of people were upset with the new guidelines, hopefully this will ease your concern. There is going to be a bigger area for tailgating only. They are trying to create a more friendly and safer environment by spacing it out. They won't necessarily "count" the amount of alcohol you bring in, but if it suspiciously looks like too much, then that's when they will check you. Technically the limit is 6 beers. Also, they will have a DJ on one end, and a band on the other, in order to decrease the amount of people bringing their own speaker system. Also, there will be food venders and a countdown to kickoff clock! I suppose we will all see how it goes this Saturday!

3) Icebreaker: by using starbursts/chocolates, we went around the room introducing ourselves and saying something about us so we can get to know each other better, yayy!

4) We are trying to get rid of some merchandise by selling previous semester t-shirts for $5, window clings for $1, and water bottles for $3. If you are interested, come to meetings, and bring your money!! We are trying to do some fundraising here!

5) Volunteer Opportunities: a few ideas were discussed and we were just trying to gage how many people are interested in the various places. Once we get people who want to go, we'll settle on a date and time based on when people are available. The options are: tendercare (it's a nursing home), the soup kitchen, and the animal shelter. If any of these appeal to you and you were unable to sign up at the meeting tonight, let me or Samm (wunde1sr@cmich.edu) know!

6) As many of you may recall from last semester, we do an induction banquet incentive. So for all new pledges, they automatically get to attend the induction banquet for free. However, if they want to bring a guest it's typically around $8. This is where the incentive comes in! If you attend 4 meeting and 1 volunteer opportunity, you can bring 1 guest for FREE!! This also applies to members but the free guest would be yourself!

7) GRE study group! Many of you said you were interested in meeting on the weeks between meetings just to get together and go over GRE material! So we will start this next week, September 22 at 730 in Sloan 100. If you have any studying materials, feel free to bring them. We are all going to work together to understand what we're doing!

8) Fundraising Opportunities: Our first opportunity will be Wednesday, September 30 at Coldstone from 7-10pm. We will be raising money for Psi Chi. For those of you who could not attend the meeting tonight and would like to sign up either to help scoop ice cream, or just to promote the event, email Andrew Franks at frank1as@cmich.edu. If you don't want to be behind the counter, or even help promote the event by passing out flyers, you can still show up and bring some friends and help raise money for our group!

9) Finally: t-shirts! We're getting an early start on them this semester and talked about various colors that we're interested in. It was decided that a black t-shirt with some sort of bright blue writing would be the best, keeping it gender neutral. The front will have our greek letters on it and below will say "PSI CHI." While it isn't 100% certain yet, we will have a drawing on the back with a caption saying "My favorite thing to do is people watch-- Does that make me a creeper or a Psychology student?" Hehe..get it? Yay. So we will have a final price and a final t-shirt sign up most likely by next meeting.