History of UBC Chapter

The story behind our chapter

There were two driving forces that motivated the creation of our chapter:

1) To create a special mode of recognition for students with distinguished academic careers at UBC in Psychology or a closely related discipline (e.g., Cognitive Systems, Integrated Science). Psi Chi only accepts students with a GPA in the top 35% of our university. We believe that achieving this high standard of excellence should be recognized and celebrated.

(2) To complement the extracurricular opportunities and awards already available at the departmental, faculty and university levels. More specifically, 100% of the funds we generate from membership dues are designated to fund undergraduate awards and undergraduate-driven initiatives.

 

2011-12. In Summer 2011, Dr. Michael Souza began work on the charter membership application for UBC Psychology. We submitted our application on July 25, 2011, we were granted official chapter status by the Central Office on September 30, 2011, and we were chartered on November 23, 2011. This made UBC Psi Chi the second chapter of Psi Chi in Canada (UVic Psi Chi was the first in 2003). The charter members elected Kaitlyn Goldsmith as the Founding President, and Ashley Whillans joined on shortly thereafter as the Founding Vice-President. In December 2011, Jenn Ferris joined on as the Founding Director of Membership. At our 1st Annual Induction Ceremony (17 March 2012), we inducted 84 new members and gave out $2150 in awards between the SSA, G/W, DURA and four EUTAs.

2012-13. Jenn Ferris was chosen as President and she appointed Navio Kwok as Vice President and Breanna Morrow as Director of Membership. At our 2nd Annual Induction Ceremony (09 March 2013), we inducted 66 new members and gave out $2050 in awards between the SSA, G/W, DURA and three EUTAs.

2013-14. Christina van den Brink was chosen as President and she appointed Naiomi Neufeld as Vice President and Pegah Mortazavi as Director of Membership. The Psi Chi Central Office raised their dues from $45 to $55. Consequently, lifetime membership through our chapter increased from $80 to $90. At our 3rd Annual Induction Ceremony (05 April 2014), we inducted 60 new members and gave out $1800 in awards between the SSA, G/W, DURA and two EUTAs.

2014-15. Rachel Wong was chosen as President and she appointed Robin Richardson as Vice President and Heather Herriot as Director of Membership. Because of the unfavorable USD/CAD exchange rate, membership dues have increased from $90 to $95. At our 4th Annual Induction Ceremony (14 Mar 2015), we inducted 57 new members and gave out $2050 in awards between the SSA, G/W, DURA, and three EUTAs.

2015-16. Robin Richardson was chosen as President and she restructured the executive team to consist of Anica Villamayor (Vice President-Internal) and Agnes Choi (Vice President-External). Due to an incredibly unfavorable USD/CAD exchange rate, lifetime membership has increased by $5 to $100 CAD. At our 5th Annual Induction Ceremony (12 Mar 2016), we inducted 68 new members and gave out $1700 in awards between the G/W, DURA, and three EUTAs.

2016-17. Brandon Woo was chosen as President and he appointed Natalie Wong as Vice President-Internal and Yousef Shahin as Vice President-External. The lifetime membership dues remained the same as 2015-2016. At our 6th Annual Induction Ceremony (11 Mar 2017), we inducted 77 new members and gave out $2200 in awards between the SSA, G/W, DURA, and six EUTAs.