Ten years ago this year, the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) began a partnership with Liaison International that it continues to expand upon to this day. On paper, the partnership began in 2007, but in reality APPIC’s relationship with Liaison began even before then.
In 2002, APPIC was ahead of its time, seeking an innovative way to enhance the process through which psychology students and professionals apply to internships and postdoctoral training. “In the early 2000s, APPIC coordinated placements for about 500 or 600 internships,” shared Jeff Baker, Ph.D., ABPP, executive director of APPIC. “The admissions process included digital and print submissions. Multiple pieces — the standard application, transcripts, letters of reference and other supplemental materials like demonstrations of the ability to administer psychological tests — were sent over in separate emails or mailed in separate envelopes. This was manageable for the first five or six applications, but on average, each internship receives around 200 to 300 applications each year. That adds up quickly.”
By then, George Haddad’s 1990-founded technology company was steadily working towards offering a comprehensive way to streamline admissions. “At the time, Liaison could take on our print components. We could reroute applicant mail to Liaison, having their processing team take over our administrative work so that we could reallocate the time that had been spent sorting and organizing materials. This was a valuable offer, but we were set on moving completely online.”
Flash forward a few years and Liaison was ready to deliver. George came back to APPIC with what his team had developed. “He showed us what we had asked for, we requested a few tweaks and in 2007, we implemented Liaison’s Centralized Application Service (CAS™).” Each year since, APPIC and Liaison have collaborated to refine the solution, with Liaison bringing best practices that it has learned from over two decades of working with other health associations to the table as well. Now, APPIC leverages Liaison’s technology and services to process applications for joining the association, applications for internships and applications for postdoctoral programs.
Stable technology, combined with the flexibility to innovate, were major inspirations for APPIC’s choosing Liaison, but what led the association to continue its relationship with the company is its people. “We’re driven by George Haddad’s involvement, his understanding of the company’s solutions. Our board trusts him to help us move forward with initiatives. What’s more, every person at Liaison who we’ve worked with — Deb Erdner [Liaison’s vice president of CAS operations], Sibu Thomas [director of software development], Joni Yaris [customer solutions manager], Tomas Young [business analyst] and the countless other hands-on developers and customer service representatives — helps to solidify a feeling of excitement about what our partnership has brought and will continue to bring to the psychology field. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Liaison for many years to come.”