UBC’s Psi Chi receives model chapter award

The Department of Psychology is proud to congratulate the UBC Chapter of Psi Chi for receiving a 2016-2017 Model Chapter Award. This award recognizes UBC’s Psi Chi chapter as among the highest performing chapters internationally, in particular noting the chapter’s success in member recruitment, undergraduate awards, and community outreach.
Psi Chi, the International Honour Society in Psychology, was founded in 1929 to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship, and to advance the science of psychology. Psi Chi is the largest student psychological organization with over 700,000 members.
Dr. Michael Souza, a former faculty member in the department of psychology, was the driving force behind establishing UBC’s Psi Chi chapter in 2011. Souza was compelled to create a UBC chapter out of a belief that achieving a high standard of academic excellence should be recognized and celebrated. The UBC Psi Chi chapter provides a special mode of recognition for students with distinguished academic careers at UBC in Psychology or a closely related discipline such as Cognitive Systems.
Souza believes that great leadership allows you to cultivate and create great opportunities. “The chapter has been fortunate to have strong and consistent student leadership from its inception, allowing solid maintenance of basic club affairs–but also expansion in other important areas such as community service, and professional development,” said Souza. “As an advisor, there’s nothing more gratifying that watching your mentees grow and then support the growth of those they work with. Great stuff!”
UBC’s Psi Chi chapter is the second chapter to be founded in Canada, after the University of Victoria. Since its inception, the chapter’s growth has surpassed many of the other chapters in the U.S. and around the world.
“We are one of the fastest growing chapters in the Western region,” said Kyle Danielson, faculty advisor for 2016-2017. “This award not only recognizes our recruitment efforts, but also the significant work that our chapter has done in the community, including with science outreach visits to various high schools in the Vancouver area.”
“Moreover, this award recognizes the outstanding contributions of our three student officers from 2016-2017. As a team, Brandon Woo, Natalie Wong, and Yousef Shahin went above and beyond in their commitment to our Psi Chi chapter. This award is certainly to their credit!”
Please join us in congratulating UBC’s Psi Chi chapter on the well-earned honour!