Of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)

Approved January 2009

Executive Council Meeting

of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)

on the Occasion of its

19th International Congress,

Bremen, Germany

July 27- 31, 2008

Place

Saturday, July 26, 10am to 6pm, Room 49, Research IV, Jacobs University Bremen

Sunday, July 27, 10.15 am to 2pm, Room 49, Research IV, Jacobs University Bremen

EC Members present

Klaus Boehnke, Nandita Chaudhary, Ron Fischer, Márta Fülöp, William Gabrenya, James Georgas, Sharon Glazer, Heidi Keller, Ulrich Kühnen, Andrew Mogaji, Kim Noels, Tania Rocha-Sanchez, David Sam, Shalom Schwartz, Augustinus Supratiknya, Claudio Torres

Guests present at times:

John Adamopoulos (Chair-Elect Communication and Publications Committee), John Berry and Walter Lonner (IACCP Archives), Franziska Deutsch (Secretary General Bremen Congress), Leone Jackson and Deon Meiring (Proposal for International Congress, 2012), Çiğdem Kağitçibaşi (Proposal for Regional Congress, 2011), Victor Karandashev (Proposal for Regional Congress, 2011), Kwok Leung (President-Elect), Bobbie Matthews (Proposal for International Congress, 2010)

Agenda

1. Approval of Minutes from the EC Meeting at the IACCP Regional Congress in México City and of the agenda for this EC meeting.

The minutes of the EC Meeting on the occasion of the IACCP Regional Congress in México City and the agenda of the present meeting are unanimously approved.

2. 2008 Bremen International IACCP Congress—Report

Ulrich Kühnen, Klaus Boehnke, and Franziska Deutsch report that there were about 800+ presentation submissions. Two-person committees reviewed proposals. Rejection rate was about 7-8%.Double symposia were not solicited or permitted. Developed sessions for public interviews with eminent scholars.

Some 699 delegates from 54 countries have registered for the Congress, paid and as-yet unpaid, and the number is expected to rise to 740. Participants will give some 550 oral presentations (Walter J. Lonner Distinguished Lecture, Presidential Address, 10 Keynote Addresses, 9 State-of-the-Art Lectures, one workshop, two information sessions, two lunchtime interviews, one round table, and paper presentations in symposia and paper sessions). Furthermore some 150 posters have been accepted for presentation. Klaus Boehnke ascertains that the congress will break even financially due to the fact that he and his wife, as well as Ulrich Kühnen have been able to acquire support from the congress from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), from the Jacobs Foundation, and from Mercator Foundation, and could rely on generous basic support by Jacobs University. The seed money available from IACCP—but not yet transferred to the congress—may, however, still be needed to reach the full financial balance.

3. Report from the Awards Committee

As chair of the Standing Committee on Awards, Past-President Shalom Schwartz reports that the committee decided to bestow honorary fellowships on former presidents Deborah L. Best and Peter B. Smith, and read out the laudation. Walt Lonner will present to Debbie; Michael Bond will present to Peter. (See attached citations)

4. Report from the Witkin-Okonji Committee

As the local organizer’s representative on the Witkin-Okonji Awards Subcommittee, Ulrich Kühnen reports about deliberations and decisions of the committee. According to revised IACCP policies, individuals who belong to one of three categories were eligible to apply for the award:

(1) Applicants from low-income countries who will make a presentation at the Bremen Congress,

(2) IACCP regional representatives from low-income countries,

(3) Young scholars who lack funding although they come from ore well-to-do countries.

A total 41 individuals applied for the Witkin-Okonji Award before the end of the deadline (March 31st). Due to a grant given by Jacobs Foundation, we were able to spend the total sum of about 16,000 US$ on the Witkin-Okonji Awards. The committee decided that it is not reasonable to grant many applicants with very small amounts of money, because this would still not allow them to attend the conference. Thus, 17 applicants were awarded with a minimum amount of 700 US$ (see the final list below). Additional 6 applicants were put on a waiting list to eventually replace others who did not accept the award. It turned out that this procedure proved rather successful, because only one person who had been granted the award did not indicate acceptance.

The final list of recipients of the Witkin-Okonji Award 2008 includes the following individuals: Maya Benish-Weisman (USA/Israel), Rachana Bhangaokar (India), Nandita Chaudhary (India), Sangeeta Chaudhary (India), Jackson Dame-Oboh (Nigeria), Zornitza Ganeva (Bulgaria), Erhobar Idemudia (South Africa), Anshula Krishna (India), Manasi Kumar (UK/India), Jinky Lu (Phillipines), Andrew Mogaji (Nigeria), Solomon Mumah (Kenya), Parul Rishi (India), Jenny Setiawan (Indonesia), Purnima Singh (India), Augustinus Supratiknya (Indonesia), Bal Krishna Upadhyay (India)

5. Report from the Triandis Award Committee

As Chair of the Triandis Award Subcommittee Deputy Secretary General Nandita Chaudhary delivers her report on the process and outcome of the 2008 selection cycle. (attached) Randall Horton was this year’s recipient and he received up to US$1000 reimbursement for travel, and US$500 honorarium, and 1 year fully sponsored IACCP membership. Sharon indicates that she will establish membership to extend through all of 2009.

In the discussion the Deputy Secretary General adds that the application of Alexander Loch had been received in time, but subsequent messages seem to have got lost in the mail. It was agreed that Dr. Loch will be allowed to apply again in the next round of 2009 – 10 and has been informed accordingly.

Regarding the essay, the need emerged for the incoming Deputy Secretary General to prepare a detailed note regarding the requirements of the essay, the length and content, so that the candidates were prepared for the same, with this information also put on the IACCP website. It was, furthermore, agreed to publicize the Triandis award more (e.g., mass email to members about Triandis Dissertation Award applications) so that IACCP attracts more applications from all over the world.

The EC decides that the awardee should receive a plaque.

6. Report on ARTS 2008

The ARTS in Bremen was offered by Tom Weisner. IACCP contributed $5000 to this ARTS, which was attended by 15-16 people. They were given free room and board on the Jacobs University campus for two nights, plus early bird registration fees.

ARTS was begun by IACCP to hold seminars that focus on important topics that participants typically cannot otherwise attend. The following societies co-operate to develop these seminars: IACCP, IUPsyS, and IAAP.

7. IACCP archives

John Berry joins the meeting to discuss the disposition of the IACCP archives project. Several resources are needed at this point: a place to house the physical files, scanning for digitizing, labor, and funds for shipping. The possibility of using a professional archivist at a university library is discussed. The project needs a budget so that it can move forward. The lack of progress in getting this project off the ground was noted.

The need to provide multiple levels of access to an online version, so that the general public will not be able to see private documents, was noted. The IACCP Archives will be under the direction of the Communications and Publications Committee.

Jim Georgas, John Berry and Walter Lonner have organized a symposium on the history of IACCP during the Bremen Congress. Bill Gabrenya will video tape the session.

The Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology will be placed online through GoogleBooks.

8. Revision of Constitution (Incorporation report, tax status report)

The Chair of the Communications and Publications Committee, Bill Gabrenya, presents the background and current status of the constitution revision project (attached). The EC discussed the problem of the Board of Directors, and suggested that we move forward by designating that the officers will be the Board of Directors.

Issues that were discussed included:

How to dismiss officers

JCCP

Creating a way to dismiss members

Bill presents the current status of IACCP’s tax situation (attached) and its relationship to the incorporation project that was completed in January 2008. For taxes, we need to move to a fiscal year, not a calendar year. The fiscal year will run from June 1 to May 31. FY07 (June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2008) was filed through our accountant in Florida, Tom Flavin, in early July. Previous Treasurer’s reports have been placed online.

9. Prospects of EC operations (communication systems among EC members)

The Chair of the Communications and Publications Committee, Bill Gabrenya, proposes that more communication among EC members is needed to deal with the greater complexity of Association affairs. The biennial EC meeting held at Congresses, supplemented in some years by meetings at regional conferences, are insufficient. He proposed holding winter meetings via electronic communication. It is decided to hold the meeting on February 1, 2009.

10. 2009 regional IACCP congress

Progress on organizing the 2009 regional conference is discussed with the organizer, Andrew Mogaji. The President, Jim Georgas, The President-Elect, Heidi Keller, and the Past-President ,Shalom Schwartz, point out that insufficient progress has been made and the Executive Council has lost confidence in Andrew’s ability to organize the congress at this late date. The officers inform Andrew that the EC has made the decision that the Nigeria conference is officially cancelled.

Heidi offers Cameroon as an alternative. The EC agrees unanimously to proceed with proposal preparation for regional conference in Cameron.

11. 2010 international IACCP congress

The problems encountered in identifying organizers for the 2010 Congress in Australia are discussed. So far, neither a venue nor organizers have been identified. Bobbie Mathews was invited to describe her understanding of the situation. She reports that she was unable to organize a conference in Adelaide. Yoshi Kashima recommended Bernard Guerin, who was initially interested in organizing the congress. However, after a number of attempts to obtain a proposal for the congress from Guerin, he stated his inability to organize the congress. The expense of conducting the conference in a convention center and the unavailability of university dorms during July-August were discussed as problems in his finding a venue for the Congress.

Jim reports his conversation with Michael Kyrios, President of the Organizing Committee of the IAAP congress to be held in Melbourne in 2010 and with Amanda Gordon, President of the Australian Psychological Society during the Berlin IUPsyS Congress. They were very interested in the organization of the IACCP congress in Melbourne and proposed Steve Klimidis, head of the Trancultural Psychiatry Unit at the University of Melbourne as a possible organizer. Michael Kyrios agreed to contact Klimidis and others in order to attempt to make a proposal to organize the congress.

The EC sets the deadline for receiving a proposal to September 2008.

12. 2011 regional IACCP congress

Presentations are made from competing bidders for the 2011 regional conference from Cigdem Kagitcibasi (for Istanbul) and Victor Karandashev (for St. Petersburg). Each delivers impressive presentations. St. Petersburg had a number of potential problems, e.g., extremely high hotel prices, accommodations at the university were not appropriate, lack of local support, the high price of visa applications. The EC unanimously chose the Istanbul venue on the basis of the proven ability of the Istanbul group to organize a conference, together with the availability of accommodations at the university, and low hotel prices. The Turkey conference dates are June 30-July 3, 2011. The European Congress of Psychology begins July 4, 2011.

Cost of accommodations will be about $30/night, including in-room refrigerator, laundry in the hotel, TV, and wiring for phones. The proposed fee is about 280 euro.

13. 2012 international congress: Bid from Stellenbosch

A bid to host the 2012 IACCP Congress in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town, South Africa is made by Deon Meiring (University of Stellenbosch) and Leon Franklin (North-West University). The IUPsyS Congress will take place on July 22 – 27, 2009 in Cape Town. The bid is approved by the EC and IACCP agrees to provide congress organizers $5000 in seed money when they request it. The organizers request in writing a letter formally accepting bid.

14. Treasury Matters

Sharon presents information about the state of the Treasury in the wake of various serious problems with dues collections over the last two years. The complete report is attached.

The current total equity of the association is $138,908.05, $15,202.95 of which is to be dedicated to the Triandis fund. Membership has bounced back to levels achieved prior to the dues collections problems of 2006 and 2007. Currently, the IACCP consists of 922members from 65 countries. Of these members, 644 are in good standing and 278 are probationary members whose dues are in arrears one or two years. An online payment system was initiated in January, 2007. Sage royalties from JCCP were $48,502.41 in April 2007, and $50, 128.39 in April 2008. JCCP has cost about $12,000 and the Bulletin about $6,000.

Bill presents some membership trend data that he culled from the Online Directory dues history database, showing the dip in membership due to Treasurer problems in 2006-7 and the relative decline in USA membership.

15. Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists

IACCP was asked to endorse the Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists that has been in development for several years by an international committee.Janel Gauthier was not able to be present for this discussion. After some discussion of the limitations of the document in regards to prescriptions for the behavior of psychologists in their local national contexts, the EC votes against endorsing it. (Note: the issue was discussed again in the second EC meeting, following a strong response by the committee to this news. See later section.)

16. Report from Elections Committee

Jim announces the results of the 2008 election of officers.

The election was conducted entirely online. Members for whom email addresses were unavailable were sent voting instructions by postal mail, with a request to supply an email address to the Association. Altogether, 270 votes were cast. The number of ballots cast within regions varied widely, ranging from 5 to 114.

The procedure for notifying winners is discussed. It is decided that winners would be notified as soon as the results were known so that new EC members would be able to attend the pre-conference EC meetings. The possibility of holding elections earlier is discussed.

Jim Georgas notes that election of Marta Fulop, Regional Representative from Europe, as Deputy Secretary-General results in no representative for this second position from Europe. Jim proposes that the EC appoint Kostas Mylonas, who came in second to David Sam, for the remainder of Marta’s term as Regional Representative from Europe. The same procedure was followed by the EC after the death of Maria Ros, when David Sam was appointed Regional Representative from Europe in her place. The EC votes that Kostas Mylonas would be the second Regional Representative from Europe.

17. Report from the Communications/Publications Committee; Technology report

Bill presents the report of the CPC (attached overview CPC report)

The Bulletin: Primary concerns include publication frequency, costs of outsourcing production, print vs. online-only distribution. The EC decides that a print version was preferable to online-only, and two issues are needed per year. Bill will investigate costs of outsourcing production. (See attached Bulletin report)

JCCP: Some stats on acceptance rate and impact factor were given. JCCP is now available online by members through the iaccp.org web site. (see also point 19, below)

Jim discussed changes in the royalty arrangements between publishers and the journals of scientific associations that are taking place throughout the publishing world. Publishers are increasingly placing their journals online and charging for downloading journal articles. This new situation has changed the traditional agreements between publishers and scientific associations in which the associations received royalties based entirely on the number of paper journals sold to individuals and institutions. He suggested that IACCP should renegotiate the contract with Sage in order to seek a change in the financial agreement to increase the royalties of JCCP based on this new situation. The relative strengths of IACCP’s bargaining position were discussed. The EC recommended that the CPC reopen negotiations with Sage and discuss changes in the contract regarding increases in royalties of JCCP.

Proceedings books: Since the attached report was prepared, the Spetses organizers presented the table of contents and schedule for the print version of Spetses, which is expected to be out this Fall with subsequent online distribution.

Association Web Site: The need to find a way to combine the main web site and the directory site was discussed (see report for details of this problem). (See attached Internet Services Report)

JCCP Governance Committee: This committee’s work is substantially complete. The new Constitution will include details of JCCP governance by the Communication and Publications Committee.

18. Support for NAOP 2008

The EC voted to provide $1000 for this function to come from IACCP funds that Bhawuk still holds in Hawaii.

19. Discussion of payments to JCCP editor

The appropriateness of the payments to the new editor of JCCP, David Matsumoto, was discussed. EC made a decision in 2006 that the Editor should not been paid. Some concern was raised about the high overall value, the charging of overhead by his private consulting company, and travel support for him and his assistant. It was pointed out that the differences were not great compared to the previous editorial team. The issue was referred to the CPC and a meeting involving the CPC chair (Bill), Heidi Jim with David was suggested. Such a meeting took place, at which David stated that he understood the problem and agreed not to charge IACCP for travel for himself or his assistant in future years with the exception of his own travel to the next Congress.