Dr. Vincent Alfonso, dean of the School of Education, was recently elected to the American Psychology Association (APA) Board of Educational Affairs. With previous experience as a psychology faculty member and as director of psychology programs at Fordham University, Alfonso has a long-standing passion for psychology. Board members voluntarily serve to represent various aspects of psychology by discussing topics that influence the nation and globe. Alfonso will serve his term until 2017.

The Bulletin talked to Dr. Alfonso about his past year at Gonzaga, his new role on the APA board and his hopes for the future.

Gonzaga Bulletin: What inspired you to become an educator and/or mentor to candidates who want to be teachers?

Vincent Alfonso: You know, I think it’s just sort of who I am. I don’t know how else to explain it. Education has been important to me, my own education has been important to me, and I think helping others is just an extension of that. Education, to me, is the way to decrease poverty, decrease the gap among ethnic groups in terms of achievement [and] it is the way of freeing people. It’s a calling.

GB: Where did you first find that calling?

VA: Probably in high school – having different leadership positions and continuing that in college. Then when I landed my first job in the academy, that was probably where if I was on the fence, tipped the way.

GB: What accomplishments during your time here at Gonzaga are you most proud of?

VA: Opening the doors of the Rosauer Center, which is our building, for people to come in freely and for our folks to go out freely and work with the community. Really, getting the word out to the Spokane and general region that the School of Education is alive and well, has a lot to offer and is able and willing to work with different groups of people and share our expertise, but also learn from the community as to what their needs are.

GB: What is your role on the APA board?

VA: The Board of Educational Affairs is one of four boards in the APA and I am one of 12 members on the board. The board manages, handles and discusses all educational issues and concerns – specifically to psychology, but sometimes beyond psychology depending on if we’re asked by other organizations. It handles everything from high school psychology and what the content is to how to teach high school psychology, all the way to graduate careers and graduate programs of psychology in the United States. And because it is the largest psychology association in the United States, the rest of the world does look to U.S. psychology for guidance and as an example. The APA has many levels of understanding with various other countries’ psychology organizations. It’s a pretty powerful group and has a very strong lobbying aspect.

GB: Why did you want to be on the APA board?

VA: Probably my role as a psychology faculty member at Fordham and being a former director of psychology programs at Fordham, and then coming here and practicing psychology still and being dean of the School of Education, which has counselor education programs. It is my passion, it is who I am and, in terms of an organization in a country that has the greatest influence on psychology as a profession, this board really manages what happens in psychology as a discipline. It is a good place to be. The APA is the pulse of psychology and the [Board of Educational Affairs] is the arm that really works most closely with educational issues.

GB: Where do you see psychology going in the future?

VA: There is the psychology of everything. As health care unfolds in the country, that is something to keep an eye on. Socialization and how [it’s] changing the world today is a big area of study. The changing delivery of mental health services is a big area that can be explored and studied. There are many questions that need to be answered still, and there are multiple opportunities for what people want to do.

GB: How might your new position affect your role at Gonzaga?

VA: My hope is that being on the inside track of psychology in the country will not only help the School of Education, but the college as well. Having firsthand information, being able to take information from GU and bring it to the table in Washington, D.C., [will be beneficial considering] there hasn’t been a member from GU to sit on an APA board, and even if there have been it is good to have somebody else because it’s good for public relations for the university. It will also give psychology students a better understanding of psychology in the country and how it works in terms of education. There’s a lot of possibility of opening doors down the road for students in programs. Tenacity pays off. Perseverance pays off. I hope that I can be a positive influence on the board, such that we can make some good decisions for education and psychology in the United States.