Committee on Policy & Communications
The SRCD Committee on Policy and Communications, established in 1977, is responsible for ongoing consultation to SRCD regarding its activities in the following areas: Supporting implementation of SRCD's strategic plan; influencing policies regarding funding for research on child development; linking research with policies that affect children and families; enhancing the effective dissemination of developmental science; and encouraging the development of leaders in the use of research in policy and practice. The committee works through direct participation in activities and through close consultation with the SRCD Office of Policy and Communications.
Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee
The Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee is responsible for the development and oversight of activities pertaining to the participation of minority scholars in the Society for Research in Child Development and for promoting developmental research on ethnic minority children and adolescents. In order to carry out this responsibility the committee's activities are focused on the following three areas.
- The development of an academic pipeline with the purpose of increasing the number of ethnic minority scholars conducting research in the field of child development (broadly defined). As part of this charge, the committee oversees the Frances Degen Horowitz Millennium Scholars Program (FDHMSP), assists with reviewing FDHMSP applications, and encourages ERI members to participate in FDHMSP activities.
- To examine the current state of research in the field and to promote opportunities that result in increased levels of research focused on the development of ethnic minority children and adolescents. To provide guidance and recommendations to the Society concerning the inclusion of such research through the Society's publications, biennial meetings, and other external outlets.
- To serve as a liaison to other groups and organizations concerned with research on ethnic minority children and adolescents i.e., the Asian Caucus, the Black Caucus, the Latino Caucus and the International Committee).
Equity and Justice Committee
Equity and justice are goals for healthy child development and are increasingly a focus of research in developmental science. The need for addressing issues of equity and justice has become especially apparent as the world becomes increasingly global, and as children are living in ever more heterogeneous communities. Reflecting the importance of the topic for scientific inquiry, the SRCD Committee on Equity and Justice has as its mission to: 1) promote the importance and legitimacy of national, international, and interdisciplinary scientific scholarship on topics related to equity and justice in childhood and adolescence; 2) enhance efforts to build coherence and to foster conceptual advances within and across the varied approaches to research on equity and justice; and 3) foster the dissemination and implementation of findings that bear on programs and policies related to equity and justice at both national and international levels.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee is responsible for reviewing all financial statements of the Society and recommending an annual budget to the Governing Council. Finance Committee is also charged with recommending membership dues levels to the Governing Council. Periodically the committee prepares requests for proposal for both audit and investment management services. The committee meets at least annually either by conference call or in person.
History Committee
The Committee on the History of Child Development promotes the documentation and dissemination of international and interdisciplinary research on child development. Further, it supports historical inquiry into the field's intellectual, scientific, clinical, and institutional development. An important component of the latter goal is to research and record the organization's history. Therefore the Committee created the Oral History Project (OHP) fifteen years ago to document the careers of distinguished members and honorees through oral histories. The Committee maintains an archive (at the SRCD Executive Offices) accessible to researchers and SRCD members. The CHCD also sponsors symposia that reflect diverse perspectives and foster the free exchange of ideas among SRCD members and members of affiliated organizations and professional societies.
Interdisciplinary Committee
The committee takes its charge from the statement of the multidisciplinary task force:
SRCD will reflect the fact that an understanding of development requires the perspectives and methods of multiple disciplines. SRCD encompasses psychology, human development, sociology, family studies, biology, education, pediatrics, psychiatry, social work, public health, economics, anthropology, and other disciplines that are relevant for an understanding of development. It embraces the rich diversity of quantitative and qualitative methods associated with these specializations. As the scientific world leans increasingly towards division and compartmentalization, SRCD's role in encouraging a multidisciplinary perspective for understanding human development becomes increasingly important. SRCD will increase its efforts to provide a forum in which scientists of various disciplines can share research and interdisciplinary scientific methods and to promote a receptive climate for truly transdisciplinary research that will advance understanding of the complexities of child and adolescent development.
International Committee
The International Affairs Committee was established in 1990 by the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD). The Committee's mission is to advocate an international perspective on research and theory in child development within the Society by encouraging and facilitating international collaborations in research, education, and translation/application. A central goal is to broaden international representation in the membership and publications of the Society and to promote formal (e.g., workshops; conferences) and informal international exchanges of knowledge about child development research, policy, and translation.
Program Committee
The program committee is responsible for the Society's biennial meetings, held in the spring of odd-numbered years. It chooses presenters for the invited portion of the meeting and guides the submission process, from issuing the call to reviewing and selecting the accepted symposia, posters, and discussion sessions.
Publications Committee
The general charge for the Committee on Publications is to review existing publications, to evaluate proposals for major modifications in publications and for establishing new publications, and to make appropriate recommendations to Governing Council including recommendations concerning new editors as terms of editors expire.
Student & Early Career Council
The Student and Early Career Council was established in 2001.
One of the primary goals of SECC is to increase student and early career participation in SRCD at multiple levels including through membership, attendance at the biennial meeting, and participation in SRCD as student/early career representatives. To facilitate this we will provide resources and opportunities to student and early career members of SRCD relevant to their professional development through 1) expanded programming at the biennial meetings, 2) creation of a student and early career focused section of the website, and 3) focused communication with student and early career members through the newsletter and email blasts. Through these avenues we will pursue issues relevant to the student and early career membership, as well as increase the k knowledge of student and early career members regarding important SRCD strategic goals and governance. Finally, we will serve as an internal information-sharing venue for the Student and Early Career SRCD committee representatives to coordinate activities across the different committees.
Teaching Committee
To support and enhance quality teaching of Developmental Science in Higher Education.