Information
WHAT IS COGDOP?
The Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP) is a society constituted of Chairs and Heads of Departments of Psychology or other equivalent administrative units which are authorized to offer graduate degrees in psychology in institutions accredited by their regional accrediting association.
Membership is held by the department, not by the individual.
WHENCE COGDOP?
COGDOP began as an informal group which met in conjunction with APA in the mid 1960s. After the first meetings in 1963 and 1964, the initial bylaws were adopted in 1964. The first formal meeting was held in 1965. COGDOP is now a major resource for departmental administrators.
COGDOP is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) corporation registered in the State of Florida; member departments pay a $100 annual membership fee to help defrey the costs associated with meeting the goals stated below. Board members receive no compensation for their time and effort.
WHY COGDOP?
- Promotes the field of psychology
- Provides a forum for discussion of education, training, and research
- Provides a support group for chairs
- Provides information on day-to-day issues of managing a graduate department
- Communicates views of psychology departments to others
COGDOP AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF GRADUATE EDUCATION
COGDOP has recently addressed issues and initiatives that could affect graduate education, especially in psychology. In this role, COGDOP
- identifies new national developments
- alerts membership to policies
- represents membership's opinions
- influences external forces so as to protect the integrity of the graduate education process
- interacts with and recommends to
national societies
government agencies
foundations - manages an awards program for graduate research
ANNUAL MEETING
COGDOP's annual meeting is invaluable for dealing with problems and issues associated with managing a graduate department. Typically, there are
Workshops like these:
- budgets
- diversity
- workload
- recruiting
- faculty evaluation
- faculty redirection
Special sessions like these:
- annual research address
- address by representative of government or higher education
- briefings by national organizations
- address on timely topics
COGDOP ELECTRONIC FORUM
To facilitate rapid (and lively) exchange of information, COGDOP maintains an e-mail forum. Members use this forum to ask other chairs about such topics as
- starting salaries for new Ph.D.s
- startup amounts and source budgets
- handling confidential letters
- releasing tenured faculty
- designing a new building
- availabilty of multimedia courseware
Responses to these queries often arrive within minutes.
Only chairs of departments that are members of COGDOP may subscribe.
Contact Rod Wellens, Treasurer
(rwellens@miami.edu)
for information about subscribing.
GRADUATE RESEARCH AWARDS
In 1995, COGDOP and the American Psychological Foundation developed an annual award program for graduate student research. Announcements are sent to department chairs holding membership in COGDOP in early spring, with June 1 application deadlines.
For information on becoming a member of COGDOP, please contact:
B. Ann Bettencourt (Membership/Database)
Department of Psychological Science
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
Voice (573) 882-8065
FAX (573) 882-7710
BettencourtA@missouri.edu
A. Rodney Wellens (Treasurer/Payments)
Department of Psychology
University of Miami
P.O. Box 248185
Coral Gables , FL 33124-0751
Voice (305) 284-2814
FAX (305) 284-8469
rwellens@miami.edu