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CSPP Alumni Newsletter

Dear CSPP Alumni,

Many exciting things are happening at CSPP! First of all, you will notice the format of this newsletter is different, as this Fall we have a recently redesigned logo and a new website. In addition, we have once again been named by Diverse Magazine as a “Top Producer” of degrees awarded to underrepresented groups in higher education. We also have a new jobs blog, which lists job opportunities throughout the behavioral science disciplines in the United States. Below you will also find information on a new Rorschach Performance Assessment System training, our Dean’s Scholarship Recognition Receptions, the possibility of a New York CSPP alumni mixer, lots of alumni resources, several ways to get involved, and our always-popular class notes section. We wish you a wonderful holiday season!

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Affirming our Commitment to Diversity 

ACE: At Home in the World Initiative 

We are pleased to have been selected as one of eight universities in the nation to participate in the American Council on Education’s "At Home in the World Initiative,” a project that will showcase institutions working to bridge both cultural and international boundaries in innovative ways. 

Diverse Magazine Ranks CSPP #1 

Each year the magazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education compiles Federal IPEDS data and publishes its list of "Top Producers” of degrees awarded to various minority groups. For the fourth consecutive year, Alliant has been recognized as a leader in diversity in several fields. Among the highlights, Alliant is ranked: 

• #1 in psychology doctorates awarded to African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans
• #3 in business doctorates awarded to Asian Americans
• #6 in doctorates across all disciplines awarded to Hispanics
• #12 in doctorates across all disciplines awarded to all minority groups 

Altogether, Alliant is listed among the leaders in 20 different categories by Diverse magazine (click here for the full list). We are extremely proud of this record. It confirms our deep commitment to multicultural and international education, one of the core pillars of our institutional mission. 

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Introduction to the Rorschach Performance Assessment System

More than 90 years since its introduction, the Rorschach remains one of the most powerful methods for studying personality in action, but it is time to bring it into the 21st century. This two-day workshop is designed to prepare participants to start using the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) in applied settings. 

R-PAS is a new, evidence-focused Rorschach system based on the latest available research. R-PAS emphasizes those aspects of test performance that have the strongest empirical foundation, the most transparent connections with underlying psychological processes, the greatest utility as rated by experienced Rorschach users, and the most reliable normative comparisons. This approach is based on an appreciation of the Rorschach task providing a sample of behavior that allows one to base personality inferences on performance.

Los Angeles, December 2-3, 2011
San Francisco, January 13-14, 2012
8:30am-4:30pm
13 CE credit hours

For complete information, or to register (and remember CSPP alumni receive a discount!), click here. 

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CSPP Dean’s Scholarship Recognition Receptions 

In the months of September and October, the CSPP Dean’s Office hosted receptions at each of the California campuses to recognize and celebrate this year’s CSPP student scholarship recipients.  This year, approximately 375 CSPP students received over $1.5 million in scholarship support. Click here for complete information.

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 New York: Interested in Getting Together with CSPP Alumni in New York City?

Calling all NY and NJ-based CSPP alumni!  Are you an Alliant/CSPP/USIU alum living in or around the New York Metropolitan area?  Would you like to get together, network and mingle with fellow CSPP alumni? We are currently gauging the level of interest in a possible Alumni Mixer in NYC in 2012.  If you are interested in learning more about this potential event and/or joining the planning committee, please email csppalumni@alliant.edu with your contact information.  If there is sufficient interest, the committee would like to begin planning soon.  

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Connect with Current and Prospective CSPP Students

Low-Fee Psychotherapy

Many of our clinical psychology programs require students to fulfill a personal psychotherapy requirement.  And, as you know, money is usually a scarce resource for students.  If you would be willing to be listed in our directory of psychologists who can provide low-fee psychotherapy for students, please complete this form.

Talk to Prospective Students

Also, CSPP is entering into our busiest recruitment season of the year, and we are always looking for additional alumni who would be willing to speak with prospective students.  If you would be willing to speak to prospective students, please email CSPPAlumni@alliant.edu with your name, campus, program and year of graduation and the best phone number to reach you. 

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Class Notes

• Dr. George Cuesta (CSPP-Alameda, class of '94, Clinical PhD) shares:  "I left BurkeRehabilitation Hospital after 11 years employment and started work with the Veterans Administration Vet Centers in May 2010.  I loved working at Burke, and am loving my current work helping veterans.  Lucas and I continue to be loyal companions after nearly 27 years."

• Dr. Scott Browning (CSPP-Alameda, class of '87, Clinical PhD)  is a professor in the doctoral clinical psychology program at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. His area of specialty is stepfamily therapy, and he recently co-authored a new book, Stepfamily Therapy: A 10 Step Clinical Approach (APA Books, 2011).

• Dr. Komal Ramchandani (CSPP-SF, class of 2010, Clinical PsyD) recently passed the EPPP and just moved back to the Caribbean and will be teaching as a Visiting Professor at American University of the Caribbean.

• Diana Hernandez, MA (CSPP-Fresno, class of '02, Org. Behavior) has been admitted to The George Washington University School of Education and Human Development Ed.D. program in Higher Education Administration. Previously, she was the Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Fresno campus from 2000 - 2003.  Thereafter, she was the Associate Dean of Admissions then Dean of Admissions at Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center in San Francisco.  Prior to moving to the east coast, Diana was an Enrollment Management Consultant at Notre Dame de Namur University and the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University.       

• Dr. Amy J. Ahlfeld (CSPP-SD, class of '09, Clinical PsyD) has been elected President of the Sacramento Valley Psychological Association  (SVPA). She will begin her term as SVPA President in January 2012. She is looking forward to offering CSPP alums in the Sacramento area a wide array of networking, mentoring, advocacy, and professional development activities. If you are in the Sacramento Valley area and interested in SVPA or connecting with Amy, click on the SVPA link above. 

• Dr. Elaine Rodino (CSPP-LA, class of '78, Clinical PhD) is now the current President of the Central Pennsylvania Psychological Association.  Dr. Rodino is also a past President of Los Angeles County Psychological Association (LACPA),  APA Divisions 42 (Independent Practice) & 46 (Media Psychology), and last year was awarded the Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Media Psychology Award. 

• • Dr. John W. (Bill) Visher shares, “I graduated in 1979 and completed my licensing in California in 1982. I have centered my practice in the San Francisco Peninsula and Monterey Bay areas.  I have often worked in non-profit agencies serving families and youth, but for the past 15 years, it has been full-time practice here in Santa Cruz county…after 30 years, I still love clinical work with people of all ages and walks of life and think I’m getting fairly good at it.”

• • Dr. Brian Underhill (CSPP-LA, class of ’99, Organizational Psychology PhD) was our keynote speaker November 7 in the San Francisco Professional Practice Colloquium Series. His topic: “How Corporations Source and Screen Coaches: War Stories from the Trenches.”  Dr. Underhill is the Founder of CoachSource, the world’s largest executive coaching provider internationally.

If you know of any other CSPP alumni (including yourself) who have been in the news recently or has personal milestones to share with the CSPP alumni community, please let us know about it.  Just e-mail CSPPAlumni@alliant.edu and it's possible that s/he (or you!) may be featured in an upcoming CSPP alumni eNewsletter. 

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CSPP Alumni Resources

• CSPP Alumni on LinkedIn
• CSPP Alumni Blog
• CSPP Dean's Blog
• Job Opportunities Blog
• CSPP Alumni Benefits
• Free 6-month subscription to Psychology Today's online Therapy Directory (a $180 value)  
• Continuing Education Workshop Calendar - CSPP alumni receive a 10% discount (code: alum). CSPP Alumni who are also CPA members receive a 20% discount (code: alumcpa) upon check-out!