Board of Ordained Ministry

Upper New York Conference, The United Methodist Church

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

Allow Six Months to Complete this Process Prior to Your Interview with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry

The psychological assessment provides the dCOM with indicators of probable psychological fitness and psychological readiness for ministry. At the candidacy level, the purpose of the psychological assessment is to determine gross psychopathology as well as issues for further growth and development, particularly in the areas of emotional intelligence and leadership style.

Note: The cost as of October, 2013, for the assessment is $600.

The candidate will pay $300 of this amount and the B. O. M. will pay the remaining $300.

The psychological testing process can take up to six months

and must be completed before review for the next step of candidacy.

How a Candidate is Assessed -- This requires that both mentor and candidate are entered into the Online Candidacy Application System (OCAS) by the District Superintendent first.

  1. When candidate/mentor/dCOM determine that he/she is ready for testing, both mentor and candidate do the following:
  1. Download the application for Psychological Assessment form found on the B. O. M. link of the conference website: .
  2. Complete this form, sign it, and send it with the candidate’s portion of the fee, $300.
  1. Make the check out to “Upper New York Conference” with your name in the memo.
  2. Send check with the completed application to the psychological assessment officer for the B. O. M. Currently, the address is:

Rev. Pam Mikel Hayes, 264 N. Grand St., Cobleskill, New York 12043

AND ALSO AT THE SAME TIME:

  1. Log onto O.C.A.S. to request a test packet. This packet does not come from the UNY conference. It is generated from G. B. H. E. M. in Nashville via OCAS request to be sent to the mentor to administer to the candidate.

Scoring and interpretation are currently done in two steps:

1. The computer portion of the exam is scored in Nashville, Tennessee, (where the completed test is sent). The results along with remaining test material are sent to

Clergy Assessment Services (C.A.S.) in Arlington, Illinois.

2. All materials, including completed reference forms must be received at C.A.S. before a report is written and sent to a local clinical interviewer, a Ministerial Assessment Specialist (MAS) in New York State.

The candidate is advised to contact their references promptly to insure that they have completed their task and sent the form. Their tardiness will delay your report.

  1. C. A. S. sends a letter to the candidate when the report is ready for review with one of the local clinical psychologists (MAS).
  2. The report then is sent to the B. O. M. psychological assessment officer and is considered property of the annual conference. A copy is made and sent to the District Office. This information is confidential and may only be used for the work of the dCOM and MAY NOT BE COPIED under any circumstances.
  3. Candidates may access the dCOM copy of the report, but it must remain in the district office.
  4. The report is kept in the candidate’s personnel file at the district office until the candidate is moved on through commissioning, is discontinued, or withdraws. A copy is returned to the Registrar and upon commissioning, a copy goes to the district office and if discontinued or withdrawn, a copy will be sent to the episcopal office.

The completed evaluation with the attached follow up interview is valid for 5 years from the date of the final interview with the local MAS.

Subsequent Psychological Assessments:

In the event the candidate needs to take a subsequent test (eg. the former test is more than 5 years) please note that the test packet is requested through the O.C.A.S. System and it is paid for on-line in the current amount of $20.00. Please do not send a check to the psychological assessment officer. Testing materials are generated from G. B. H. E. M. in Nashville, Tennessee.

However, a new application must be downloaded from B. O. M. webpage of the website. After completing the application, send it along with the evaluation fee of $300 to the address on the form.