Ashley Maynard appointed to APA Commission on Accreditation

Ashley Maynard appointed to American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation.

Ashley Maynard, professor and chair of the Psychology Department at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa), has been appointed to a three-year term on the 32-member American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation (CoA). Maynard was nominated by colleagues from the national Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology to represent the breadth of knowledge in the discipline of psychology.

“Ashley’s impressive leadership as chair of the Psychology Department, and her knowledge and experience in her field will make her a valuable asset to the CoA. Her expertise will greatly enhance the efforts of the commission as it works to ensure that accredited doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral residency programs in professional psychology continue to provide a balanced approach between the needs of the academic institutions, practitioners, and the public,” said Denise Eby Konan, dean of the UH Mānoa College of Social Sciences.

“It is an honor to help guide the direction of the commission in terms of degree and other requirements of accredited programs. I also look forward to gaining increased perspective and understanding of what peer institutions are doing and translating that knowledge into tangible ways that will improve efficiencies, outreach and services provided by our program here at UH Mānoa,” added Maynard.

The American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation (CoA) is the national accrediting authority for professional education and training in psychology. It evaluates, reviews and accredits doctoral, internship and postdoctoral residency programs in professional psychology in accordance with published criteria.

Maynard received her PhD in Psychology in 1999 from the University of California, Los Angeles and did two years of postdoctoral study in Anthropology and Cultural Psychology in the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences (now called the Semel Institute) at UCLA. Her primary research interest has been the impacts of cultural change at the macro-level, such as economic and sociodemographic shifts, on socialization and cognition in childhood.  She also studies the development of teaching in childhood and sibling interactions, and has worked with her students in Mexico, Costa Rica, Switzerland, and Hawaiʻi. 

She has won national awards for her research, including the James McKeen Cattell Award from the New York Academy of Sciences and the APA Division 7 (Developmental Psychology) Dissertation Award.  In addition to publishing many articles on culture and human development in peer-reviewed journals, she has developed two film series for Pearson Education as their International Psychology Video Series Editor and Subject Matter Expert in Culture and Human Development.  She is currently writing her fourth book and revising the second (to appear in 2016).

Established in 1920, the Department of Psychology integrates the study of human and animal behavior from an evolutionary and biological perspective in relation to human social behavior. Students are exposed to scientific methods that contribute to an understanding of behavior in diverse social and environmental situations and providing them with a better self-understanding and appreciation of the diversity of experience.

The College of Social Sciences (CSS) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is engaged in a broad range of research endeavors that address fundamental questions about human behavior and the workings of local, national and international political, social, economic and cultural institutions. Its vibrant student-centered academic climate supports outstanding scholarship through internships, and active and service learning approaches to teaching that prepare students for the life-long pursuit of knowledge.