Newsletter
Volume 31| 2008 | Number 2
ABAI Education Board
By Dr.Charles Merbitz
This year was a transition year for the Education Board, as 2007 was the sixth and final year of the leadership of Pamela Osnes, Ph.D., BCBA. Under her capable leadership, the Education Board established a number of subcommittees and projects. However, in 2007–2008, several important responsibilities of the Education Board underwent significant change. One change was that Agency-Based Behavior Analysis Training (ABBAT) was removed from the Education Board’s responsibilities. Other changes are noted below, in the summaries of the reports of the Council of Directors of Graduate Training Programs, the Accreditation Board, and the student subcommittees. Finally, in Fall, 2008, Charles Merbitz assumed responsibility for Coordinating Education Board activities. Several teleconferences with Committee Chairs were conducted, with a focus on the issue of assisting the Accreditation Board in making ABAI accreditation more attractive and ultimately more rigorous, as the depth and breath of graduate curricula and training are key to the survival of the discipline. While a goal of the BACB is to provide approval of training sequences addressing what is needed to provide competent service delivery, it would seem to be the purview of ABAI to accredit programs that advance the science and its theoretical foundations.
Council of Directors of Graduate Training Programs in Behavior Analysis
At its annual meeting in May, 2007, members of the Council of Directors of Graduate Training Programs in Behavior Analysis voted to disband that body. As noted by Dr. Jennifer Austin (University of Houston, Clear Lake), “During the annual meeting, representatives of member programs discussed the mission of the COD and its role in ABAI. Many felt that there was considerable overlap between the COD’s objectives and those of groups both within and outside ABAI. For instance, student volunteers of ABAI’s Education Board (of which the COD is a part) have undertaken such endeavors as updating the Graduate Training Directory and syllabus bank. Further, the Accreditation Board (also a part of the Education Board) has assumed the task of setting standards for graduate education and evaluating the extent to which programs meet those standards, as has the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB). These entities influence graduate training to a degree that leaves little room for alternative input.” Dr. Austin also noted that, “Interest in the group has declined steadily over the past few years, both in membership and attendance at annual meetings. For these reasons, our membership voted to disband the group with the understanding that interested parties still could contribute to Education Board objectives.” However, she felt that there would be renewed interest in the COD if the ABAI Executive Council identifies new issues for the COD to undertake and thus revises its mission.
Accreditation Board
The Accreditation Board, John Borrero (University of the Pacific), Chair, was very active in 2007–2008. Currently fourteen schools are ABAI accredited, of whom four will see accreditation lapse in 2008; currently all four are in various stages of reaccreditation. Two additional schools have applied for accreditation, and eight site visits are scheduled or pending. As can be seen, with this volume of activity it is challenging for the current four members of the Accreditation Board to even schedule visits. Consequently, the Board plans to formalize the process of site visitor qualification and participation. The Board wishes to solicit a larger group of ABAI members to take part in visits, and appoint these members for three years. Each year, another group can be recruited, so that a rotating cadre of site visitors is available, and the burden of visits can be shared. Going forward, it is hoped that the names of this expanded group can be published in the ABAI Newsletter in recognition of their work. The Board has identified forty ABAI members to solicit for this group and recruitment efforts can start in the summer of 2008, pending Council approval.
The Board also has made progress on pursuit of national accreditation. The Board has identified two prerequisites for this effort. First, the Board seeks to move forward with the development of a formal training program for site visitors and formal standards of assessment. Since the American Psychological Association (APA) has already established a model for accreditation and published the relevant training and procedures, the Board members feel that adoption of a model based on the APA’s is feasible, with the support and input of Council.
The Board also has identified another issue. Considering that there are well over 100 course sequences approved by the BACB, as compared to the 14 ABAI accredited programs, it appears that there are insufficient incentives for programs to pursue ABAI accreditation. Board members have discussed this issue with colleagues and as a next step, have designed a survey to seek more data on the barriers to accreditation.
The Board also considered the issue of accrediting undergraduate programs. Dr. Borrero reports that, “All members of the ABAI Accreditation Board view the development of guidelines for the accreditation of undergraduate programs as essential. We are also aware that this is a priority for the Executive Council. However, given the concerns regarding the current guidelines for accrediting graduate programs (please see above), the Board considers any attempts to accredit undergraduate programs premature. Once an agreed upon set of standards for the accreditation of graduate programs (Master’s and doctoral, separately) is developed, an extension to undergraduate programs can be enacted. At present however, the Accreditation Board simply does not consider the accreditation of undergraduate programs as prudent given the absence of a formal process of assessment.”
Student Subcommittees
Four other activities of the Education Board slowed during the transition of Board Coordinators. These were the student subcommittees: Employment Placement & Internship Site Identification, Gwen Dwiggins, Chair (Ohio State University), the Syllabi Bank (including Distance Learning), Amanda Guld, Chair (The Ohio State University), the Student Vita/ START project, Joel Vidovic, Chair (Behavior Analysts Inc., CA), the ABAI Student Member Retention project, Gwen Dwiggins, Chair (The Ohio State University) and the Graduate Training Directory, Judah Axe, Chair (The Ohio State University). To transition the activities of the Education Board, graduate students from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology have been recruited to replace the Ohio State students. New student members are Lori Aguirre, Oswaldo Ochoa, Steven Rhodes, Fawna Stockwell, Ann Sturtz, Kerin Weingarten, and Erika Wilhelm. They have begun the process of transitioning the subcommittee work. Initial priorities are the Syllabi Bank and the Graduate Training Directory, followed by the ABAI Student Member Retention, Employment Placement & Internship Site Identification and the Student Vita/ START projects. Contacts with the Ohio State students were initiated and subcommittees were formed to review the goals and develop goals and activities for 2008-2009. However, no work on these has been completed, so the goals will be continued and passed along to the new groups.
Goals for 2008-2009
Continue Syllabi Collection Efforts
As the graduate training directory (GTD) is updated, recruitment efforts should pursue recruitment from all universities and faculty listed in the GTD. Also, a category should be added to reflect syllabi submitted from distance learning programs.
Identify Methods to Track and Increase Number of Student Vita in START
(Student Vita/START Subcommittee, Joel Vidovic [Behavior Analysts, Inc., CA], Chair). In 2005– 2006, the Education Board determined an accurate measurement system to track student vita postings on the START Network thereby accomplishing the first portion of its goal. With the development of an accurate measurement system, the Education Board felt that it was prepared to work on the second portion of their goal and began to assess the effectiveness of an intervention designedto increase the number of student vita that are posted in the START Network in 2006–2007. A mass e-mail was sent to all student members, which was followed by an increase in student postings. For 2008–2009, a goal will be to replicate this intervention, first by initiating a monthly count of student postings, and second by issuing another e-mail appeal.
Update Graduate Training Directory
(Graduate Training Directory Subcommittee, Judah Axe [OSU], 2007 Chair). In 2006–2007, a number of recommendations for improving the GTD were made. The GPA and GRE search functions, which were problematic in 2007, now seem to work perfectly. The GTD also now has search functions for programs that offer a Master’s degree and ones that offer a doctoral degree. No search function is yet available for traineeships and internships. Also, the layout of programs was modified to enhance usability and clarity, as was recommended last year. Thanks to the ABAI database staff for making these changes.
The GTD sub-committee of the Education Board will prompt programs to update their profiles on the GTD with an annual deadline of October 1 so that prospective students can be informed about graduate programs before application deadlines in December and January. However, it is recommended that the ABAI office contact ABAI accredited graduate programs about updating their entries on the GTD by the ABAI conference each year as this is a requirement for maintaining accreditation.
We will resume sending questionnaires to student members of ABAI as well as professors asking about their experiences with the GTD and their recommendations for improvement. We will identify graduate programs that are eligible for the GTD and recruit them to participate.