The success of the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology spurred the growth of similar, regional meetings, such as the Mid-America Conference for Teachers of Psychology (Evansville, IN) and the Southeast Conference on the Teaching of Psychology (Kennesaw, GA). The popularity of these regional conferences, combined with the extensive travel requirements to attend them, prompted the development of the Southwest Regional Conference for Teachers of Psychology (SWRCToP). The original discussions concerning SWCToP took place at the 1990 meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association. (Remember, these events took place before the use of email was widespread.)

Because the interest in starting a regional conference in the Southwest came from teaching faculty in Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, a central location that featured easy access by both highway and airlines was sought. The Dallas-Fort Worth area was a logical choice. John Hall offered to host an organizational meeting at Texas Wesleyan University (Fort Worth, TX).

Fourteen faculty from Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas attended this organizational meeting in early December, 1990. These organizers decided to adopt the basic, two-day (i.e., Friday-Saturday) format used by the Mid-America and Southeastern conferences. On Friday the program typically consisted of an opening keynote address followed by lunch and then concurrent hour-long sessions, a poster and computer software session. Appropriate breaks for refreshments and socializing helped keep the Friday activities lively. Friday’s events concluded with cocktails, an evening banquet, and an after-dinner keynote presentation. Following breakfast, Saturday’s program typically included a roundtable discussion on a topic of general interest, additional concurrent sessions, and a general session that highlighted effective teaching demonstrations. All sessions, except the Friday night cocktail hour, banquet, and after-dinner address, were held on the Texas Wesleyan campus. The SWRCToP conference typically began at 10:00PM on Friday and ended after lunch on Saturday. In order to avoid conflicting with the Mid-America (held in early October) the organizers chose to hold SWRCToP in early November.

The first SWRCToP conference was held November 1-2, 1991. The planning and development of the inaugural conference established a division of responsibilities that would remain in effect for the subsequent 8 years: John Hall assumed responsibility for all local arrangements, Steve Davis maintained the conference mailing list and mailed the yearly conference brochure, Randy Smith prepared and had the conference brochure printed, Steve Davis and Randy Smith planned the program. From the outset these organizers made a concerted effort to include teachers of psychology from all levels (i.e., high school, graduate teaching assistants, two-year colleges, four-year colleges, research universities).

Nearly seventy psychology teachers from Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas attended the first SWRCToP Conference. This number would grow steadily to nearly 100 in subsequent years. Without question, attendees at the conferences held at Texas Wesleyan heard keynote addresses by a cadre of the very best teachers that psychology had to offer. Among this group were Charles L. Brewer (Furman University; Greenville, SC), Ludy T. Benjamin (Texas A&M University; College Station, TX), Marke E. Ware (Creighton University; Omaha, NE), Michael R. Best (Southern Methodist University; Dallas, TX), Gordon K. Hodge (University of New Mexico; Albuquerque, NM), Bill Hill (Kennesaw State University; Kennesaw, GA), Ron Comer (Princeton University; Princeton, NJ0, Joe Palladino (University of Southern Indiana; Evansville, IN), and Lester Sdorow (Allentown College; Allentown, PA).

Unfortunately, conflicts with other professional society meetings resulted in an unexpectedly low SWRCToP registration in 2000. This low registration figure, in combination with diminished support from book publishers, forced the conference organizers to cancel the event. In 2001 John Hall became interim dean at Texas Wesleyan, and Steve Davis retired from Emporia State. Randy Smith became departmental chair at Kennesaw State University (Georgia) in 2003. These new professional roles resulted in a change in both organizers and venue for the SWRCToP. In 2001 and 2002 the conference was, largely through the efforts of Heidi Ziemer, Shawn Davis, and Liz Walden, organized and hosted by the University of Houston – Downtown (UHD). In 2001, the conference followed much the same format as in previous years, with the meeting starting on Friday morning, including a banquet with a renowned speaker (Dr. Carol Tavris) on Friday night, and continuing for a half day on Saturday with a lunch to conclude the conference. One fairly major programmatic change was a decrease in the number of workshops / sessions led by graduate students. Overall, the new location led to some revitalization of the conference due to many new attendees from the Houston region.

However, some previously regular attendees found the increased travel distance a deterrent for attendance. In 2002, the conference schedule was changed fairly dramatically in an attempt to further increase attendance. There were no sessions on Friday, and the conference kick-off was the banquet on Friday night with Dr. Steve Davis as the keynote speaker. On Saturday, the conference continued for a full day, with a mixture of general and concurrent sessions. UHD’s PSI CHI organization played a major support role behind the scenes, as well as standing in the rain to redirect attendees when the main entrance street was found to be flooded. Overall, UHD proved to be a pleasant location for the meetings, and attendees also enjoyed the variety of nearby activities in the downtown area.

In 2003 the conference venue moved from the University of Houston-Downtown to Texas Lutheran University (Seguin, TX). Under the direction of Scott Bailey, the SWRCToP has grown and prospered at Texas Lutheran.

Now known as the Southwest Teachers of Psychology Conference, SWTOP moved to the University of Houston-Clear Lake for November 2006 and 2007. In 2006, the conference, almost doubled in size. There were psychology teachers from Oklahoma, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, California, Alabama, and all over Texas. One of the goals for the conference was to bring faculty together from universities, high schools, and community colleges. Although SWTOP has traditionally focused on university faculty teaching, the 2006 meeting had the highest number of community college and high school faculty in attendance to date. Feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive for both SWTOP regulars and first-time attendees. In fact, over 90% of those completing evaluation forms indicated they would attend this conference again. The majority also reported they would encourage colleagues to attend.