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William P. Erchul, PhD, ABPP

Professor of Psychology

Department of Psychology
Poe Hall 628A
Box 7650
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7650
Phone: 919-515-1709
FAX: 919-515-1716
email: William_Erchul@ncsu.edu

Biographical Sketch

Dr. William P. Erchul is a Professor of Psychology at NC State University and the current Director of the department's APA-accredited/NASP-approved school psychology training program (a position he also held from 1987 to 2004). He received his BA in Psychology and Communication Arts from the College of Letters and Science Honors Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his PhD in Educational Psychology with a specialization in School Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked for the Human Interaction Research Institute in Los Angeles and has been a consultant to various North Carolina school systems, public agencies, and private businesses. Dr. Erchul is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of School Psychology, a recipient of APA's Lightner Witmer Award (given in recognition of early career research contributions to the field of School Psychology), a recipient of the North Carolina School Psychology Association's Excellence in Staff Development Award, an elected member of the Society for the Study of School Psychology, and has been recognized at the college level as an outstanding faculty researcher at NC State. He has been President of the American Academy of School Psychology; President of the North Carolina Inter-University Council on School Psychology; Vice-President of Publications, Communications, and Convention Affairs of APA’s Division of School Psychology; and Executive Producer of The Conversation Series for the Division of School Psychology. He will serve as President of the Society for the Study of School Psychology in 2013. Dr. Erchul is a licensed health service provider psychologist and is board certified in school psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, from which he received a distinguished service award in 2011. Dr. Erchul’s primary research program centers on interpersonal processes and outcomes associated with psychological consultation. He has produced over 100 journal articles, book chapters, and other scholarly works, as well as three books: Consultation in Community, School, and Organizational Practice; School Consultation: Conceptual and Empirical Bases of Practice (3rd edition 2010); and the Handbook of Research in School Consultation (2nd edition in preparation). Dr. Erchul has been associate editor of the APA journal School Psychology Quarterly and guest editor of special issues of theSchool Psychology Review and theJournal of Educational and Psychological Consultation. He also serves/has served on the editorial review boards of six scholarly journals.

Education

  • BA (1979) University of Wisconsin-Madison (Psychology, Communication Arts)
  • PhD (1984) University of Texas at Austin (Educational Psychology, School Psychology)

Professional Credentials

  • Licensed Psychologist, State of North Carolina
  • Certified Health Service Provider Psychologist (HSP-P), State of North Carolina
  • Licensed School Psychologist Level III, State of North Carolina
  • Board Certified in School Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP)

Current Teaching

  • PSY 470 - Abnormal Psychology
  • PSY 721 - Area Seminar in School Psychology
  • PSY 727 - Psychological Consultation
  • PSY 820 - History and Systems of Psychology: Implications for Schools Psychologists
  • PSY 851 - Predoctoral Internship in Psychology

Current Research Interests

Broadly defined, Dr. Erchul's major research interest is psychological consultation. Consultation within school psychology typically involves the delivery of psychoeducational services to child and adolescent clients through a staff member such as a classroom teacher. For example, a school psychologist may consult with a teacher about solving problems that involve a student or group of students. The successful practice of psychological consultation in schools has clear implications for preventing academic failure, promoting mental health, and providing a support system to staff members. Consultation is integral to contemporary methods of service delivery in schools, such as those found in problem-solving teams and response to intervention.

Dr. Erchul primarily has examined interpersonal dynamics and participant outcomes associated with the practice of behavioral consultation, conjoint behavioral consultation, mental health consultation, and prereferral intervention teams in schools. One strand of this research involves the coding of audiotapes and transcripts of dyadic and small group interviews in order to link verbal process/interaction measures to various outcome measures. Another strand has used a survey methodology to study the interpersonal dynamics of school consultation with respect to social influence as revealed through social power bases/influence strategies. This approach allows a glimpse into how one participant may influence another participant during consultation.

Selected Publications in past 10 years

  • Erchul, W. P., Grissom, P. F., Getty, K. C., & Bennett, M. S. (in press). Researching interpersonal influence within school consultation: Social power base and relational communication perspectives. In W. P Erchul & S. M. Sheridan (Eds.), Handbook of research in school consultation: Empirical foundations for the field(2nd ed.)  New York: RoutledgeTaylor & Francis Group.
  • Bennett, M. S., Erchul, W. P., Young, H. L., & Bartel, C. M. (2012). Exploring relational communication patterns in prereferral intervention teams. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 22, 187-207.
  • Erchul, W. P. (2011). School consultation and response to intervention: A tale of two literatures. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 21, 191-208.
  • Easton, J. E., & Erchul, W. P. (2011). Teacher acceptability of treatment plan implementation monitoring and feedback methods. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 21, 56-77.
  • Erchul, W. P. (2011). Consulting with school staff. In A. S. Davis (Ed.), Handbook of pediatric neuropsychology (pp. 1111-1119). New York: Springer.
  • Erchul, W. P., & Martens, B. K. (2010). School consultation: Conceptual and empirical bases of practice (3rd ed.). New York: Springer.
  • Erchul, W. P. (2009). Gerald Caplan: A tribute to the originator of mental health consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 19, 95-105.
  • Erchul, W. P., & Schulte, A. C. (2009). Behavioral consultation. In A. Akin-Little, S. G. Little, M. Bray, & T. Kehle (Eds.), Behavioral interventions in schools: Evidence-based positive strategies (pp. 13-25). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Erchul, W. P., DuPaul, G. J., Bennett, M. S., Grissom, P. F., Jitendra, A. K., Tresco, K. E., Volpe, R. J., Vile Junod, R. E., Flammer-Rivera, L. M., & Mannella, M. C. (2009). A follow-up study of relational processes and consultation outcomes for students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. School Psychology Review, 38, 28-37.
  • Getty, K. C., & Erchul, W. P. (2009). The influence of gender on the likelihood of using soft social power strategies in school consultation. Psychology in the Schools, 46, 447-458.
  • Erchul, W. P. (2008). Foreword. In Theory and cases in school-based consultation: A resource for school psychologists, school counselors, special educators, and other mental health professionalsbyL. Crothers, T. Hughes, & K. Morine (pp. ix – xi). New York: Routledge.
  • Wilson, K. E., Erchul, W. P., & Raven, B. H. (2008). The likelihood of use of social power strategies by school psychologists when consulting with teachers. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 18, 101-123.
  • Erchul, W. P., & Sheridan, S. M. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of research in school consultation: Empirical foundations for the field. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates/Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Erchul, W. P.,DuPaul, G. J., Grissom, P. F., Vile Junod, R., Jitendra, A. K., Mannella, M., Tresco, K., Flammer, L., & Volpe, R. J. (2007). Relationships among relational communication processes and consultation outcomes for students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.School Psychology Review, 36, 111-129.
  • Erchul, W. P., Raven, B. H., & Wilson, K. E. (2004). The relationship between gender of consultant and social power perceptions within school consultation. School Psychology Review, 33, 582-590.
  • Sheridan, S. M., Erchul, W. P., Brown, M. S., Dowd, S. E., Warnes, E. D., Marti, D. C., Schemm, A. V., & Eagle, J. W. (2004). Perceptions of helpfulness in conjoint behavioral consultation: Congruence and agreement between teachers and parents. School Psychology Quarterly, 19, 121-140.
  • Grissom, P. F., Erchul, W. P., & Sheridan, S. M. (2003). Relationships among relational communication processes and perceptions of outcomes in conjoint behavioral consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 14, 157-180.
  • Erchul, W. P., & Martens, B. K. (2002). School consultation: Conceptual and empirical bases of practice (2nd ed.). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
  • Zins, J. E., & Erchul, W. P. (2002). Best practices in school consultation. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology-IV (pp. 625-643). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists.