Board of Psychology outreach committee approves minutes, hears updates on social media, website and outreach

The California Board of Psychology’s Outreach and Communications Committee on Sept. 19 approved minutes from its Sept. 27, 2024 meeting and received informational updates on continuing professional development (CPD) crediting, the board’s strategic plan, social-media practices, website view statistics and outreach activity planning.

Chair Dr. Shikanda Rogers called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. and led the committee through routine business, including a motion to adopt the minutes from Sept. 27, 2024. The committee approved the minutes; Rogers and another committee member voted yes and one member abstained.

The items presented were informational. John Burke, board staff, summarized the board’s 2024–28 strategic plan and said a fuller update will be presented to the full Board at its Nov. 4 meeting. Burke said one planned stakeholder meeting involving the board and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing was postponed from 2025 to 2026 because the Board of Behavioral Sciences and other related boards are undergoing sunset review processes.

Mister Polk, board staff, told attendees that those who attended the full Sept. 19 meeting may record 1 hour of CPD under category 1, attendance at a California Board of Psychology meeting. Polk instructed remote callers who used the U.S. toll number and access code to email bopce@dca.ca.gov with their name, license number and phone number; attendees joining via the Webex link have attendance automatically recorded.

Communications staff provided details on social media and website posting practices. Ms. Whitney said the board added a LinkedIn account last year and that webinars and informational recordings have accumulated views: the board’s continuing-professional-development webinar from January 2024 has about 1,300 views and an informational-fees webinar from March 2024 has about 477 views. Whitney said the board discovered a change in its recording-conversion process that had left some past meetings unposted to the website. “There’s been a process change, where our meetings weren't being converted and uploaded to our website, and we realized that when we gathering materials for this meeting,” Whitney said. She said the board has put a procedure in place to post future meetings and that uploads typically appear within about two weeks.

Committee members asked staff to increase visibility of posted meetings. Dr. Kosuga urged that when webcast recordings are available, the board should share direct links on social media and the listserv so licensees can access the specific meeting rather than the board’s full meeting index.

A website-statistics report covering Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, 2025 showed the top pages by views included the licensee register, licensure applicant pages and the continuing professional development page. The committee was told the third quarter figures did not include September.

The communications update also noted ongoing outreach activity: board staff attended the California Psychological Association annual meeting in September, staffed a booth and discussed outreach opportunities; preliminary conversations are underway with the Board of Behavioral Sciences and the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians about collaborative outreach on career pathways; and the board is continuing an outreach campaign tied to the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards’ (ASPPB) joint task analysis for the integrated EPPP exam. Burke said California licensees accounted for roughly 26% of responses to the ASPPB joint task analysis as of the prior week and that the board will send reminder emails and post to social media ahead of the survey deadline, Sept. 29.

Newsletter staff said the board is gathering articles for a fall journal expected to be distributed in December. Staff solicited questions and said no action was required on the informational items.

Public commenters made brief remarks about downloading meeting materials and the availability of agendas and recordings. James Willis described difficulty downloading an agenda and suggested posting agendas on the meeting page so remote participants can save them before the meeting. Veronica Thomas thanked the committee for remote access to the meeting.

The committee adjourned at 9:49 a.m.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Adopt and approve Outreach and Communications Committee meeting minutes from Sept. 27, 2024. Mover: Doctor Kasuga. Second: Mister Scott. Vote: Rogers — yes; Kotsuka — yes; Resante — abstain. Motion passes.