APAGS Advocacy Coordinating Team (ACT)

Mission Statement

We empower students to bring their voices to bear on the important issues affecting our discipline and the public health through education, training and advocacy.

About ACT

  • The Advocacy Coordinating Team (ACT) is a network of graduate students who engage in legislative advocacy and awareness raising on behalf of the science and profession of psychology, in the interest of individuals studying, researching and practicing psychology, and on behalf of individuals who are recipients of psychological services.

  • ACT is comprised of a chair and six regional advocacy coordinators (RACs) who make up the APAGS ACT subcommittee, along with over 50 state advocacy coordinators (SACs), and over 150 campus representatives (CRs) in North America. The chair, RACs and SACs generally serve two-year terms, while campus reps serve one-year terms.

  • ACT trains and mobilizes campus representatives to inform their peers about timely issues in psychology, promote the importance of advocacy as a necessary skill and liaise between APAGS leadership and graduate students across North America.

  • ACT relies on multiple feedback loops to improve its responsiveness to matters that concern graduate students and provide opportunities for advocates to shape the future of psychology.

Roster of Students and Campuses in the ACT Network

More than 200 students from across the country are members of the Advocacy Coordinating Team. The full directory (PDF, 505KB) is updated quarterly.

Become a Campus Representative

Are you interested in serving as a campus representative? ACT invites all graduate students to influence the future of psychology (PDF, 489KB) through this advocacy network. If you are an APAGS member and represent a school not already in our network, please sign up as a new campus representative.

Resources for Advocates

Members

  • 2014 Chair: Sabrina Esbitt, MA (2013-15)
    Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, N.Y.
  • Teri M. Belkin, MS (2013-15)
    Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Ind.
  • Billy Holcombe, MA (2013-14)
    Howard University, D.C.
  • Pooja Khariwal, MA (2013-15)
    Spalding University, Ky.
  • Amanda Mitchell, MEd (2013-15)
    University of Louisville, Ky.
  • Amanda Oerther, MA (2012-14)
    Spalding University, Ky.
  • Jeritt Ross Tucker, MS (2013-15)
    Iowa State University, Iowa