Frequently Asked Questions about APPIC's
Stipend Requirement for Interns and Postdoctoral Fellows:1. Why does
APPIC require a stipend be paid to all interns and postdoctoral fellows? The
APPIC Board discussed this issue for a number of years before taking action. The
Board wanted to strike a balance between maintaining the number of quality programs
available for training while at the same time avoiding an undue burden on trainees
by adding to their debtload. The APPIC Board was concerned with the number of
new internships developing that did not pay a stipend and wanted a policy that
reaffirmed the value of psychology trainees. A vote of the membership was required
to change the APPIC membership criteria. In addition, APAGS endorsed this requirement
and provided great support for the change. 2. What is APPIC expecting
of programs? Since the membership criteria change in 2006, APPIC no
longer accepts NEW member programs unless they provide a stipend to trainees that
is consistent with regional standards, equal among all trainees, and stated clearly
in advance (through promotional materials, the APPIC Directory, etc.). 3.
What does APPIC mean by "consistent with regional standards"? APPIC
expects that new programs who submit application materials for membership will
provide data about how their stipend compares to other APPIC member programs in
their region. For example, if the average for stipends paid by internships in
Minnesota is $20,000, then most programs should be within this range. The Board
understands the need to compare on the basis of geography, as the cost of living
in New York City is significantly different from a program in Center City, Minnesota.
4. Given the example in #3, what standard is being used to determine
what is really "consistent with regional standards"? Is $19,500 okay?
Is $18,000? What about $17,500? The answer to each of these questions
is YES. However, any program with a stipend significantly below other training
programs in the region will be asked to submit materials again in one year and
will be evaluated for what steps have been taken to increase their stipend. 5.
A "grandparenting provision" was part of the change in membership criteria.
What does this mean? A grandparenting provision was added so that current
member programs had a period of three years (from 2006 when the membership criteria
change went into effect) to take steps toward obtaining funding or increasing
their stipend to meet regional standards. 6. How is this monitored?
For new programs submitting application materials for the first time, they
must have funding for a stipend. If they have a stipend but one that is relatively
low compared to other programs in the region, they will be asked to re-submit
materials in one year regarding action they have taken to increase the stipend
in order to maintain membership. Current member programs that were already APPIC
members in 2006 (at the time of the change in membership criteria) must submit
materials every three years for renewal of membership. At the time of review,
the APPIC Review Committee will insure that the stipend is appropriate. If the
stipend is not appropriate, the Committee will ask for additional materials in
one year or deny membership because they do not meet criteria. Any time that APPIC
learns about a low stipend, the Board will take the opportunity to review materials
and challenge the program to work toward greater funding in order to insure continued
APPIC membership. APPIC will require that renewal members provide APPIC with documentation
of reasonable efforts to secure funding and describe plans to obtain future funding
in order to meet this criterion. 7. What if programs must end their
training program because of this stipend criterion? APPIC understands
the financial difficulties facing many programs across the country and is hesitant
to lose quality member programs. However, we believe that the field benefits from
raising the bar in this area. APPIC offers a number of member benefits to help
programs whenever possible, by connecting them to Mentors
who can guide them with other possible funding streams; in addition, we work closely
with national policy making and advocacy groups to increase national funding for
Psychology Training (i.e., Graduate Psychology Education or GPE grants). We are
hopeful that the stipend requirement will enhance the training field and raise
the standards to be commensurate with other professions (e.g., medical interns
and residents all earn stipends while completing their training). A number of
programs have been successful with increasing their stipend following the change
in membership criteria; anecdotally, a number of training directors have thanked
APPIC for giving their administration the impetus needed to make a change that
had not occurred despite years of effort by the training faculty. 8.
What about different stipends amongst an intern cohort such as a consortium where
different agencies come together under an umbrella organization to offer internship
training but have different funding available for stipends? How discrepant can
they be? Programs have always been asked to provide full disclosure
about this inequity in all promotional materials so that applicants know in advance
the differences between programs within a consortium program. APPIC expects all
of the stipends to be fair and reasonable compared to regional standards. These
programs will be challenged to create equity across interns and to resubmit materials
to document progress and steps taken if there is inequity.
Sharon Berry,
PhD
9-07
Updated 1-08
10 January 2008 | 
