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Provisional Membership

APPIC Provisional Membership Category for Internship Programs

Updated August 5, 2019
Revised August 5, 2020


In August 2019, following an affirmative vote by APPIC Membership to modify the APPIC Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation, the APPIC Board of Directors voted to establish a new category of APPIC Membership called Provisional Membership. Information below provides the rationale for this change, a description of Provisional Membership, information about the process of obtaining Provisional Membership, and associated changes to non-member access to the APPIC Match and Post-Match Vacancy Service.

Rationale for Implementation of a Provisional Membership Category


APPIC is committed to high quality standards in psychology training and has an interest in maintaining the opportunity for new, high-quality internship programs to develop.

The imbalance between the number of available internship positions and the number of applicants seeking those positions has shifted dramatically in recent years such that positions now outnumber applicants. While this is generally positive for the field, especially for internship applicants, as a consequence of this change it is increasingly challenging for new/developing, non-APPIC member internship programs to recruit interns. Having a cohort of at least two interns on site and in training is an APPIC membership criterion for internship programs (i.e., criterion #9), as well as an accreditation standard for APA and CPA. These circumstances create a “Catch-22” for new/non-member programs, whereby they cannot apply for APPIC membership without two interns on site, and they are less likely to successfully secure two interns if they cannot demonstrate to applicants some level of recognition of their program’s quality (i.e., attainment of APPIC membership). The establishment of the Provisional Membership category is intended to help address this situation by allowing programs to attain this time-limited status and recognition if they meet all APPIC membership criteria other than having two interns currently on site.

Implementation of Provisional Membership also allows increased quality assurance of internship programs participating in the APPIC Match. Historically, non-member programs have been allowed to participate in the Match for up to two years without applying for APPIC membership. While there were listed criteria for using the Match as a non-member, those criteria were less rigorous than APPIC membership criteria (e.g., no requirement of due process or grievance procedure policies), and there was no review of the program by APPIC. Rather, the Training Director of a non-member internship program simply attested that the program met the criteria specified as required for the program to have two-year non-member access to the Match. Once fully implemented, Provisional Membership will replace the mechanism that allows non-APPIC member internship programs to have time-limited (i.e., two-year) access to the Match, ultimately ensuring that all internship programs participating in the APPIC Match have undergone APPIC review. Additional information about discontinuation of non-member participation in the APPIC Match is provided below.

Description of Provisional Membership Status


  • Provisional Membership is a time-limited APPIC membership status intended for new and/or developing internship programs and non-member internship programs that wish to become APPIC members and have fewer than two interns on site.

  • Provisional Membership for an internship program may be granted by affirmative Board vote after a program applies for Provisional Membership, is reviewed, and deemed to meet all APPIC internship membership criteria other than having a cohort of at least two interns on site and in training (criterion #9). APPIC’s Full Membership criteria for internship programs are available at https://www.appic.org/Joining-APPIC/Internship-Membership-Criteria. The criteria for Provisional Membership are the same as for Full Membership, with the exception that Provisional Member programs do not have to meet criterion #9.

  • Provisional Member programs enjoy all of the rights and benefits of Full Membership with the following exceptions:

    • Provisional Member programs do not have voting rights (e.g., for APPIC bylaws changes or board member elections).

    • Training directors/training faculty of Provisional Member programs are not eligible for election to the APPIC Board of Directors unless the individual is otherwise affiliated with another APPIC-member training program (i.e., an APPIC-member Postdoctoral Fellowship) and therefore eligible through that mechanism.

    • Provisional Member programs are not eligible to renew membership at the Provisional Member status after three consecutive Match cycles (see below).
  • Internship programs may maintain Provisional Membership status for a maximum of three consecutive Match selection cycles (including the APPIC Match and/or PMVS). A site that becomes a Provisional Member after December 1 in any selection cycle will not have that cycle count toward their eligibility. As with all APPIC members, sites that become Provisional Members must use the APPIC Match for recruitment of interns and abide by all relevant policies for Match participation.

  • Students who are placed at an internship site while the site is a Provisional Member will, upon completion, be deemed as having graduated from an APPIC-member program, even if the internship loses its membership status prior to the student's internship completion date.

Process for Obtaining Provisional Membership


  • To become a Provisional Member of APPIC, a program will utilize the established application process for APPIC Membership. This includes submission of an eMembership application with a $300 application fee and APPIC review. Technology updates to eMembership are expected to be available in early 2020, with the first Provisional Membership application cycle deadline being April 1, 2020.

  • Additional details about applying for APPIC Membership including application deadlines and general processes may be found here: https://www.appic.org/Joining-APPIC/Membership

  • If the APPIC Internship Membership Committee review establishes that a Provisional Membership applicant program is in compliance with all APPIC internship membership criteria other than having a cohort of at least two interns on site and in training (criterion # 9), the Committee will advance the program to the APPIC Board for a vote for Provisional Membership status.

Progression from Provisional Membership to Full Membership


  • A Provisional Member internship program is eligible to request transition to Full Membership once the program has at least two interns on site and in training (i.e., meets all APPIC Membership criteria, including criterion #9).

  • Once a Provisional Member program has a cohort of at least two interns on site and in training, the program should promptly notify the APPIC Central Office and request transition to Full Membership. Programs will be asked to submit an attestation specifying that the program currently meets all APPIC internship membership criteria (i.e., including those previously reviewed and now also criterion #9, minimum of two interns on site and in training). The effective date of Full Membership will be the earliest date upon which the site had at least two interns on site and in training and met all membership criteria.

  • Once a program progresses to Full Membership, the program will annually renew its APPIC membership as described in the established APPIC Member Renewal Reviews process found here: https://www.appic.org/Joining-APPIC/Membership.

  • As per usual processes, internship programs that are not accredited by the APA or CPA are required to undergo review by the APPIC Member Renewal Committee every 3 years or as requested by APPIC as needed. For unaccredited Provisional Member programs, the time frame for the three-year review will be determined by the date of Provisional Membership; the time frame of this review cycle does not “reset” if the program progresses to Full Membership. As per existing policy, internship programs accredited by the APA or CPA are not required to undergo three-year review to renew membership.

Discontinuation of Non-Member Access to the APPIC Match & Post Match Vacancy Service


  • The mechanism for non-APPIC member programs to use the Match and Post-Match Vacancy Service will be eliminated after the 2020 Match. Beginning with the 2021 Match, no new non-member programs will be granted eligibility to access the Match; instead, new non-member programs will be required to attain Provisional or Full Membership in order to recruit via the APPIC Match and Post-Match Vacancy Service.

  • Transitioning from a non-member to a Provisional Member program can offer significant benefits to the program, including improved visibility to prospective applicants due to representation in the APPIC Directory Online.

  • If a program previously accessing the Match as a non-member attains Provisional Membership, previous years of non-member participation do not count towards the 3-year Match cycle limit for Provisional Membership. Provisional Members are eligible for three Match cycles regardless of previous participation as a non-member.

  • Non-member programs planning to utilize the 2020 APPIC Match should carefully review the current Non-Member Match Policies, which can be found here: https://www.appic.org/internships/Match/About-The-APPIC-Match/Non-APPIC-Internships . These policies specify eligibility requirements for non-member access to the 2020 Match and provide important details concerning how implementation of Provisional Membership will affect non-member access to the Match beginning with the 2021 Match.

  • Non-member program that register for the 2020 APPIC Match will be contacted and encouraged to pursue the appropriate form of APPIC membership. These programs will be strongly encouraged to apply by April 2020, rather than waiting until the fall deadline, to minimize risk of delay in their ability to register for the 2021 Match.


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