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.

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.

MEMBERSHIP (click here for membership form)

For information on becoming a member of COGDOP, please contact:

Treasurer:

A. Rodney Wellens
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