A political action role for APGA

APGA needs to consider what its appropriate political role will be. In this article the author suggests that APGA adopt the role of declaring its professional position when professional concerns will be influenced by political decisions. The mechanism he describes for implementing such a role allows each member of APGA to participate in the political actions of the organization.     

Manpower trends: counseling or political solutions?

A review of manpower trends and political developments reveals that governmental decisions threaten to reduce job and training opportunities. Career counselors must be prepared to help clients cope with reduced opportunities. In this article the author describes several alternatives for helping clients in this situation. He maintains that political action by APGA should be one of the alternatives—perhaps the most appropriate one—if APGA is to continue its established tradition of supporting social development.     

Recent Court Decisions: A Quiz For APGA Members

Counselors must keep up with changing laws and court rulings. This article presents a short quiz for APGA members to test their current legal knowledge.     

Touchstones to Power

In this article the author offers an analogy to stress the benefits derived from interorganizational relationships formed within an association of organizations. Concomitantly, he comments on the consequences of abstention from such affiliations. The organizations in question are, of course, NECA and APGA.     

An Interview with Retired and Emeritus Counselors

The authors mailed a questionnaire to all APGA members identified as holding retired or emeritus status in order to gather information about their backgrounds and present living conditions. This article explores some of the respondents' life dreams, career patterns, family interactions, and the stresses and joys of their lives.     

APGA: cherish or perish?

APGA is believed to be in such a serious crisis that extensive reorganization and revitalization is required. While members share a fundamental concern for promoting positive human development, their diverse functions, settings, and backgrounds have created frustration and divisiveness. In this article I have outlined an approach to reorganization that speaks to both the common and the unique concerns of those involved in human development services. I have written this article at the editor's invitation. Its content is highly influenced by my experience as a member of APGA's Commission on Purposes, Functions, and Operations, but in no way should it be construed as a report of the Commission. Although I have borrowed extensively from the insight and wisdom of the other Commission members, the article's shortcomings are exclusively mine     

APGA Members in Retirement and Their Advice to the Rest of Us

Retired and emeritus members of APGA answered a survey on their lives in retirement, their recommendations to APGA concerning activities for retired members, their suggestions for training programs in geriatric counseling, and their advice to younger counselors on planning for retirement. The results indicate most retired counselors are financially comfortable and continue to lead happy and productive lives in retirement. In their recommendations the counselors emphasized the need to remain active and stressed the importance of planning well in advance of actual retirement. They had many specific suggestions for APGA programming.     

Limiting confidential information in counseling

Historically, confidentiality has been viewed on all educational levels as implicit both in counseling relationships and in the maintenance and use of student records; yet recently, a decision of a Superior Court judge in the state of Maine (the Bates College case) made it obvious that at least college admissions records which show school counselor recommendations are not necessarily legally confidential. With expressed needs for privileged communication in education continuing to manifest themselves through the consideration and passage of legislation, this article reconsiders prevailing legal and ethical limits to confidentiality, with particular reference to the APGA Ethical Standards of 1961.     

Two Empirical Inquiries Into the Role of The Personnel and Guidance Journal As a Professional Publication

A survey of the APGA membership was undertaken in the fall of 1977 to determine interest and content-process priorities of readers of the Personnel and Guidance Journal. The survey was sent to a stratified random sample of members reflecting appropriate distribution by division membership and geographic area of residence. The list of members was obtained from the APGA central office. The result of the data analyses suggests that the Personnel and Guidance Journal has generally served the diverse interests of the membership well. Some differences in emphasis and content preferences were identified between divisions.     

Effects of Serving as APGA President

The 23 living past American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) presidents were queried concerning their involvement in professional organizations and the impact of the APGA presidency on their lives and careers. Results are discussed in terms of implications for members and future leaders.     

APGA Members' Measured Client and Organizational Commitments and Professional Orientation

The purpose of this study was to explore the issue of which of the counselor's commitments—the client or the employing institution—was given priority when they conflict. Members from four APGA divisions were examined for differences in commitments, and relationships of certain demographics and experiential variables to commitment were determined.     

The School Counselor As Consultant: A Historical Review

This article contains a historical review of the school counselor in the role of consultant. Published articles that have appeared in four APGA journals during the past 21 years provided the basis for the review. General trends in each journal and a developmental history of the consultation movement are presented. The conclusion was that a serious gap exists between the theory and practice of consultation in schools. Specific needs must be addressed for the school counselor as consultant model to be fully realized.     

The Association for Human Development: a revitalized APGA

The American Personnel and Guidance Association faces a time of challenge as it moves increasingly to a world of change and innovation. Unfortunately, the divisional structure and emphasis of the Association as presently conceived builds for divisiveness, and little organizational unity is evident. However, all members in APGA are concerned with human development, maximizing individual potential, and helping individuals profit from developmental tasks involved in living. The Association for Human Development is suggested as a new name for APGA. Conceptual models for the divisions of the Association are suggested which imply the unity of the developmental process.     

Proposed Draft of Revised APGA Ethical Standards

The following is a rough draft of the proposed revision of the APGA Ethical Standards; it is not the final copy. Permission to print the draft in this issue of JEC was granted by Dr. George Gazda, chairman of the committee that is working on the revision. Your reaction to this revision and any other comments or suggestions are invited by Dr. Gazda, 212 Baldwin Hall, Athens, Georgia 30601.     

Who Becomes a Journal Editor? A Composite Picture of APGA Journal Editors

The author surveyed 34 present and former APGA journal editors. As a group, journal editors have many similarities and are deeply involved professionally in APGA.     

Etcetera

Publishers interested in having their materials reviewed here are requested to send two copies to Dr. Daniel Sinick, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20006. Items reviewed in this column are not available from APGA.     

The case for guidance: testimony before Congress

The author, as a member of APGA's Federal Relations Committee, recently presented testimony on counseling and, guidance services before the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Labor, Health, Education and Welfare and Related Agencies. This testimony, on behalf of APGA and ASCA, concerned fiscal year 1973 appropriations for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title III (ESEA, III)—Counseling, Guidance and Testing. This article is drawn from the author's testimony and is directed toward reporting some of the positive outcomes of counseling and guidance, the dilemma of cutbacks in services, and the need for substantial expansion of fiscal and. personal support for counseling and guidance.