| BENEFITS OF CPA MEMBERSHIP | |
Why Should You Join CPA?
Student Benefits
CPA vs. Other Associations
Section for Students
HOW STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM CPA STUDENT MEMBERSHIP
Students sometimes wonder about the value of membership in a national organization such as the CPA. This is a good question and goes beyond the more obvious benefits of reduced membership and Convention fees, products such as the Graduate Guide, affordable malpractice insurance, pro bono malpractice legal advice and inexpensive journal subscriptions.
Association membership also helps secure the future. The CPA spends much time, energy and resources representing psychology with other organizations, insurance companies and governments. This helps students because increased funding to granting councils, universities, health services and third party insurance affects current realities and the future job market. Promoting the discipline ensures future funding will include psychological research and practice.
Representing the discipline guarantees that psychology is considered when policy developers, corporations and legislators develop new programs that affect science and practice. Proactive involvement in the development of policy yields far greater success for the discipline and the profession than does a reactive role once policy is already established.
Membership is also critical as it creates an opportunity for networking; an important activity early in your career. This allows students to link to each other as well as tap into leaders in the developing job market. Faculty has an important role in promoting and supporting student’ participation in the organization of the discipline and profession. Early and supported participation develops responsible citizens in the discipline, supports the dissemination of knowledge and buttresses support for psychological research and practice.
WHY CPA AND NOT SPECIALIZED ASSOCIATIONS, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OR THE APA?
The American Psychological Association (APA) and international associations are important organizations. They are rich sources of information and resource.
However, these organizations do not represent Canadian psychology nor would it be acceptable or appropriate for them to do so. They do not have standing with governments in Canada, social service systems (health, education, and criminal justice), corporations, granting councils, etc. Canadians determine the undergraduate and graduate psychological education programs offered, the health care system, the elementary and secondary education system, the criminal justice system, independent practice legislation, professional and ethical requirements, research funding and so on appropriate for Canada. The CPA, in partnership with other Canadian organizations of science and practice, does this work.
Specialized associations are also important. They represent the specific interests of a subset of the discipline. Many specialized associations are learned societies and not an association such as the CPA. Their main activities are hosting conventions and publishing journals. However, they do not speak for the discipline or the profession as a whole. CPA is the one organization in Canada within which all the many and wide-ranging subsets of the discipline of psychology find a home and to which government and other organizations of science and practice turn to engage psychology. Among CPA’s key roles organizing national conventions, disseminating knowledge (e.g. three peer-reviewed journals, Psynopsis), and setting standards for training in psychology (i.e. accreditation), CPA is the national advocate for the science and practice of psychology in Canada. Your participation in CPA helps to ensure that our advocacy activity reflects what is important to the discipline and the profession.
WHAT THE STUDENT SECTION HAS TO OFFER!
-Discount on CPA membership rate (almost a quarter of the full member rate!)
-Reduced registration for the convention
-Student Affiliates are entitled to a subscription to Psynopsis, to Canadian Psychology (CP) and to the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science (CJBS) or the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology (CJEP).
-Students Affiliates can enroll in the Section for Students in Psychology at no additional cost. They can also join any of the CPA Sections and the Special Interest Group, at a reduced fee.
-Opportunity to network with students across the country, and through the convention - a national forum to learn about the latest research developments, educational and career opportunities, and an opportunity to network with professionals across Canada
-Opportunity to be involved at an administrative level - working with the executive, serving a student representative on some of the sections, or acting as a campus representative for your institution.
-Acquiring a sense of community with other students in psychology and an identification with the discipline.
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