Appeal of Decision to Eliminate the Industrial/Organizational Psychology MA Program We appeal the recommendation to close the Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology master’s program in the Department of Psychology. We believe a consideration of the facts and criteria used to evaluate programs during the Graduate Program Review (GPR) process fails to justify the decision to eliminate this well-established, highly competitive, productive program. Further, we believe that the program is a financial asset to the university and falls directly in line with the administration’s stated strategic objectives. Both the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the administrative review team assigned an overall rating of 4 (“Superior Program/Enhance and Develop”) to our program during the GPR. These ratings, together with the full-text reports, indicate that our program met or exceeded all of the published GPR review criteria. Although Provost Delene indicated publicly that too much emphasis was placed on the overall ratings, we believe the discrepancy between these ratings and the Provost’s recommendation suggests that the administration used different criteria than those given to the Dean, the review team, and the faculty when making their recommendations. Unfortunately, it is still not entirely clear to us what those additional criteria were and how our program was evaluated in relation to them. The documentation we received from the Provost’s office on June 9 provided little additional evidence of the rationale for closing the I/O Psychology program (and it contained errors regarding our enrollment). It is difficult to make a focused appeal without knowing the precise reasoning behind the decision, and we are disappointed that the administration has not treated such an important decision-making process with the degree of transparency, documentation, and professionalism it deserves. With that caveat, this appeal will focus on five central points, each of which are elaborated upon in the sections that follow:
GPR Evaluation Criteria Criterion 1: External Demand The I/O Psychology program is widely recognized as the premier behaviorally oriented I/O psychology program in the U.S. and is the first choice of students seeking training in the application of evidence-based interventions to improve human performance in business and industry. The program receives an average of 27 applications per year and admits an average of 6 students. These numbers are comparable to other I/O Master’s programs nationwide with a median of 30 applications per year and a median of 8 enrollments. Nationally, the number of I/O Psychology MA programs has been growing at a rate of 30%, with applications increasing 40%. See below for evidence (under Criterion 4) and at the end of this letter for excerpts of letters from people around the country that lend credence to our claims of national reputation and status.
Criterion 2: Quality of Student and Program Outcomes The average GRE (V+Q) scores for our I/O Psychology students over the past two years is 1106, with an average undergraduate GPA of 3.72. These averages are higher than the national median GRE and GPA scores for MA psychology programs (1050 and 3.4, respectively). Since 2000 the program has awarded 18 master’s degrees with 0% attrition and program faculty have graduated 11 Ph.D.s (degrees awarded through the Behavior Analysis program but with emphasis in I/O psychology; students advised by I/O faculty). Over that time, there was an average of 3.5 I/O faculty who could advise students each year, so on average, each faculty advisor produced 8.2 graduates (masters and doctoral combined) since 2000. Of I/O master’s student graduates, about 50% entered the doctoral program in behavior analysis at WMU. All of the I/O graduates who applied to doctoral programs (either at WMU or elsewhere) were accepted. A recent survey of program alumni revealed that 100% of respondents are employed in occupations relevant to their degrees and their mean rating of the overall quality of the program was 4.67 (on a 5-point scale with 5 as the top rating). Criterion 3: Quality of Program Administration and Planning The program is administered through the Psychology Department, which publishes a comprehensive Graduate Training Handbook that includes details on the I/O Program requirements and administration. This handbook and administrative structure have been widely distributed to other graduate programs at WMU as a model of program administration. Courses are offered on a yearly or every other year basis to maximize the efficiency of the program. I/O faculty members also teach courses in the undergraduate psychology program. The program also conducts a formal graduate student review process every year and recently hired a faculty member (Dr. Fox) specializing in web-based training technologies in response to market demand. These data reflect the careful administration and planning of an efficient, adaptive, and successful graduate program. Criterion 4: Compelling Program Factor Although formal rankings of I/O programs with a behavioral emphasis are not available, numerous testimonials from students and colleagues at other universities affirm the status of WMU’s I/O Psychology program as the premier program in I/O psychology with a behavioral science emphasis. WMU is the first choice of students seeking such training. The program has become the control center for the field of organizational behavior management. The Organizational Behavior Management Network, the field’s main professional organization, is housed in the Psychology Department and staffed by our students and faculty. Faculty have also assumed a leadership role in the flagship journal of the field, the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (recently ranked 3 rd among all applied psychology journals in terms of impact factor), with all five faculty members serving as editors or members of the editorial board. Many universities offer I/O psychology programs that emphasize the design and evaluation of personnel selection and appraisal instruments often to the exclusion of performance management and systems analysis interventions that can be applied to improve business and industry outcomes. In contrast, WMU’s I/O Psychology program focuses on evidence-based interventions to improve human and systems performance. The demand for students trained in the evidence-based I/O interventions that characterize this program is extremely high. The program has distinguished itself with its applied and conceptual research efforts, its leadership in organizational behavior management, and its impact on business and industry in the state of Michigan (see below, at the end of this letter, a list of sample organizations with whom we have worked in recent years). Although relatively small in size, it is widely recognized as the best program of its nature in the United States.
Criterion 5: Size, Scope, and Program Productivity Since the program’s inception, over 200 MA degrees and 38 doctoral degrees have been awarded to students supervised by I/O Psychology faculty. Currently, the I/O Psychology faculty is comprised of four full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty and one full-time term faculty member. The 3 faculty members eligible to advise students currently mentor 9 MA I/O students and 8 PhD students with an I/O emphasis in the Behavior Analysis program. From 2000 to 2005, I/O Psychology faculty authored 116 publications (80 with student co-authors) and made 139 professional presentations (135 with student co-presenters). In 2004-05, 50% of our MA students had publications (N=6) and 83% gave presentations (N=13). These data indicate high professional productivity and regular faculty collaboration with both graduate and undergraduate students. It should also be noted that if the I/O program is closed, not only will our MA students seek training elsewhere but students seeking doctoral training in I/O (through the Behavior Analysis Program) will also seek training elsewhere. Criterion 6: Impact, Justification, and Essentiality of the Program In the past 5 years, faculty and students in the program have consulted and collaborated with well over 80 local and international organizations to improve occupational safety, training systems, organizational culture, and operational efficiency. Last year 100% of our MA students were engaged in applied work with local business organizations. Economic development is an important goal for the State of Michigan and for WMU. Successful businesses must have well-trained workers who are both capable of and motivated to perform their jobs safely and with high quality work. Thus, evidence-based strategies to train workers and to encourage optimal worker performance are essential to the economic vitality of successful businesses and corporations. With its focus on conducting and disseminating research on training, performance management and safety, the I/O program has contributed significantly to the economic vitality of businesses and corporations in Michigan and nationwide. Loss of the I/O Psychology program will result in a marked decrease in WMU’s involvement and visibility in the local and national business community (as noted in letters from Consumers Energy, Bronson Hospital, and Chevron among others). Criterion 7: Opportunity Analysis for Interdisciplinary or New Program Opportunities The I/O Psychology program is actively involved in the community and would like to continue and extend existing long-term relationships with local businesses such as Pfizer, Consumers Energy, and Bronson Hospital. We would like to increase our research involvement with these organizations and develop on-going internship programs with them. These expanded liaisons would contribute to the research and academic training mission of the I/O Psychology program and WMU, provide additional funding opportunities for students, and also contribute to the economic development of Michigan-based organizations. Toward that end: (a) Bronson Hospital has recently hired two of our graduates full-time, initiated an undergraduate intern program with us, has recently served as a thesis site, and is a proposed site for two more theses; (b) Pfizer’s manager of Training and Organizational Development is an adjunct faculty member and one of our former Ph.D. students has been hired full-time; (c) Consumers Energy has partnered with us on major projects for over ten years and has just recently expressed a desire to hire one of our students full-time; and (d) several of our I/O students have contributed to grant-funded efforts to apply simulation technology to improve communication within health care teams and reduce medical errors.
I/O Psychology and WMU’s Strategic Objectives In addition to the above criteria specified in the original GPR missive, President Bailey has indicated that appeals should be considered in light of newly specified factors identified as “strategic decision constructs” and “strategic academic priorities.” We believe the I/O Psychology Program is well-aligned with such objectives, as described below. Affirm our mission as a national research university As indicated in the section above, the I/O Psychology faculty members and students are highly productive scholars and have established the program as a nationally recognized center for research on evidence-based performance improvement strategies, behavioral safety, instructional design and training systems, and organizational behavior management. The elimination of the I/O Psychology graduate program would severely impair the scholarly productivity of program faculty and diminish WMU’s prominence in this important and growing area of psychology. Advance existing quality in health and human services It has been estimated that the annual direct cost to U.S. employers from injuries to their workers exceeds $200 billion, and indirect costs are typically 3-5 times direct costs. Behavioral science technology is widely recognized as a primary approach in reducing work-related injury. As a local recent example, a safety project conducted by I/O Psychology students in WMU Dining Services resulted in a 50% decrease in injuries (and $20,000 in related costs) after one year of application. A similar safety process driven by one of our I/O Psychology faculty members at several Hercules, Inc. (a multi-billion dollar world-wide chemical company) international plants resulted in a 50% reduction of injuries at the corporate level. In Bronson Hospital, an intervention developed by an I/O Psychology faculty and student collaboration increased the safe passing of surgical instruments during surgery from 38% to over 75% of the time. This work significantly reduced surgical injuries and costs. Approximately 8 other projects related to safety and operational efficiency have been conducted at Bronson and directed by I/O Psychology faculty over the past 3 years. A project conducted by one of our I/O Psychology students last year for Pfizer won the Pfizer Global Management 2004 Year-End Award for Environmental, Health, & Safety. There are many more examples such as these, but clearly, our students and faculty are doing exemplary work that is making a difference in the area of health and human services. Study emerging national and state educational priorities and drive enrollment into programs with the capacity to advance high quality At the national level, the demand for I/O psychology programs is increasing. Since 1992, the number of I/O psychology MA programs has grown by 30%, the number of I/O psychology doctoral programs has increased by 23%, and the number of applications to I/O psychology MA programs has grown by 40%. Among programs training behavioral I/O psychologists (such as ours), two new programs are slated to open this year (Florida Institute of Technology and SE Louisiana State University). Our I/O Psychology program typically receives more than four times the number of qualified applicants than it can accept. Although we cannot accept all qualified applicants to the program, as our data indicate we admit and graduate a number of highly trained specialists each year in line with university-wide and national figures. Select programs as strategic priorities and as investment centers Given the high demand of our I/O Psychology program and its graduates, and the popularity of the psychology undergraduate major, the university would be well-served by maintaining and even expanding the I/O Psychology MA program as an investment center. It makes sense to invest additional resources into programs that are already established, productive, and nationally recognized to allow those programs to grow and flourish rather than to invest in start up for new programs that might take decades to reach the level of efficiency and productivity currently evidenced by the I/O Psychology program. WMU stands to gain both substantively vis-à-vis its mission and financially by using Psychology as an investment center due to the substantial return on investment obtained from graduate assistantships for the program (see Economic Analysis section below). Drive enrollment into programs with the capacity to advance high quality The I/O Psychology program provides high-quality education and training at both the undergraduate and graduate level and is in high demand. Independent evidence clearly and strongly asserts this, as do the outcomes reported for our program. Enrollment at the undergraduate level is already extensive and stable, despite declining overall enrollment for the university. Additionally, graduate enrollments in the Psychology Department have remained stable in the face of similar university-wide declines. The I/O Psychology program has achieved these quality ends efficiently with limited resources and faculty. The program has competitive graduation rates, time-to-completion of education, and productivity. Although it not a requirement of our program (we could continue as before with no change in funding), we could readily enroll additional high-quality students with only a minor increase in resources. There should be an intimate relationship between undergraduate and graduate education The Psychology Department is home to a high-demand undergraduate program that averages over 800 majors. Currently undergraduate students interested in careers in I/O psychology can take courses in Industrial/Organizational Behavior, Behavior-Based Safety, Instructional Design, and a practicum in I/O psychology. These courses are taught by I/O Psychology faculty and graduate students that not only have past experience in these areas, but are actively working in, contributing to, and conducting research in these areas. In addition, without the I/O Psychology master’s program, the number of opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in sophisticated organizational research and to conduct related honors theses (activities critical to becoming prepared for graduate study in I/O psychology and for making oneself competitive in the highly competitive admissions process) will be significantly reduced. I/O Psychology Program Size and Enrollment The enrollment numbers for I/O Psychology (and Clinical Psychology) reported in the documentation provided by the Provost’s office were completely inaccurate. We do not know if the Provost and President had accurate enrollment figures before making their decision or not, but we feel it is important to clarify the facts regarding the size of our program. Most of the numbers in the packet report only 1 MA student enrolled in our program – a number that is incorrect by any standard. In 2005-06, for example, I/O Psychology faculty advised 9 MA students and 8 PhD students (in the Behavior Analysis program with an emphasis in I/O Psychology). In 2006-07, we will be advising 12 MA students and 7 PhD students. Over the past 6 years the program has graduated an average of 3 MA students per year (and program faculty have graduated an average of nearly 2 PhD students per year from the Behavior Analysis program). When examining the student-faculty ratio for I/O Psychology, it is important to recognize that not all of our five current faculty members have always been eligible to advise students. Dr. Fox is completing his first full year (and will be admitting 3 MA students for 2006-07) and Dr. McGee is a temporary faculty member (replacing Dr. Alavosius, on LOA) who cannot direct graduate students. Each eligible I/O Psychology faculty member advises an approximate average of 5 graduate students, a number that in is line with that of other programs at WMU. Complete enrollment figures for 3 years are reported in the table below. The table reports the total number of students enrolled during each academic year, not the number of new students admitted or cohorts. I/O Faculty Advisors refers to the number of I/O Psychology faculty eligible to advise graduate students (not including Dr. McGee, who is on a one year term appointment).
Number of Eligible I/O Faculty Advisors and Students Advised by I/O Faculty
Economic Analysis of the I/O Psychology Program During the course of the GPR process, the I/O Psychology program received ratings of 5 (self/chair), 4 (dean), and 4 (review team). The program was never cited as deficient in any of the standards delineated above and clearly excelled in many areas. While clear justification for the closure of the I/O Psychology program has not been provided, the public statement by both President Bailey and former Provost Delene that the Clinical Psychology program was “too expensive” suggests economic issues may have also factored into the decision to close other programs. Unfortunately, neither a detailed economic analysis nor a direct mention of the cost effectiveness of our program could be found in the documentation provided by the Provost’s office. Based on the possibility that misinformation or incorrect assumptions about the cost effectiveness of I/O Psychology may have contributed to the decision to close the program, we have conducted the following (conservative) economic analysis to the best of our ability. The analysis was compiled using data that are publicly available from university sources. We contend that our program is not excessively expensive in any conventional sense of the term, especially when considering net return on investment. Instead, we suggest that independent of the value or our program’s contribution to the university’s mission as a student-centered research institution, the I/O Psychology program is a great financial investment for the university. The program is an integral part of a department that produces $7.2 million (not including grants and contracts) for the university on expenses of $3.1 million. Based on typical enrollment figures, the faculty and graduate student teachers in the I/O Psychology program alone generate $997,002 in annual revenue on expenses of $674,369. This indicates that the program is profitable, with a net annual return to the university of approximately $322,634. Annual revenues were calculated from:
Annual expenses were calculated from:
In addition to the loss of profit generated by the I/O Psychology program, closing the program would likely have several other negative financial implications for WMU. Graduate enrollment in I/O Psychology would obviously be eliminated. But undergraduate enrollment in psychology, which has remained stable despite university-wide decreases in enrollment, could also very well begin to decline. Most psychology majors plan to attend graduate school and therefore seek research and practical experience to be a competitive applicant. This fact is corroborated by the fact that our faculty are often contacted by psychology majors at Kalamazoo College (which has no graduate programs) desiring research and practical experience. By eliminating graduate programs in psychology, WMU would be substantially reducing the quality of undergraduate training in psychology and likely begin to erode one of the largest undergraduate majors on campus. This would not bode well for the university’s desire to bolster undergraduate enrollment: Displaced students may choose to study in other departments, but they may choose to study at other universities, as well. The funds produced by grants, contracts, internships, and other placements with organizations in the community would also be reduced. This could be a significant long-term opportunity cost for WMU, since two of the I/O Psychology faculty have been receiving training in grant writing and submitting grants for research dollars (e.g., Dr. Fox submitted a grant this year for more than $200,000 and Dr. Austin is a primary consultant on a $1.2 million Federal grant and worked with the PI of that grant this Fall in developing a similarly large project to be submitted in October, 2006). I/O Psychology faculty have generated approximately $200,000 in contracts with local and national organizations in the past 5 years. Finally, the reputation and prominence of WMU may be diminished through a reduction in the significant professional work of the faculty. One I/O Psychology faculty member (Dr. Austin), for example, is Co-editor for one of the highest-ranking journals in applied psychology and Executive Director of the leading organization for behaviorally trained I/O psychologists, and another is a founder and member of the board of directors for an international organization devoted to behavioral science. This level of achievement is unlikely to be matched by faculty without a graduate program, and the corresponding loss of reputation and prominence for WMU and the Psychology Department is unlikely to help recruitment efforts at any level.
I/O Psychology and Behavior Analysis In the documentation provided by the Provost’s office, a comment was recorded that suggests that I/O Psychology was initially slated for merger with another program. Unfortunately, that other program is not specified. In the documentation provided for Clinical Psychology, it is suggested that their program is merely a “variant track” of the Behavior Analysis Program (an inaccurate statement addressed in the Clinical Psychology appeal). Thus, we feel it is important to address the potential concern that I/O Psychology is simply a track within the Behavior Analysis program. Although some graduates of the I/O Psychology program go on to study in WMU’s Behavior Analysis doctoral program, many others go on to work in business and industry, for non-profit organizations, and as consultants. I/O Psychology students get training that is conceptually linked to behavior analysis, but the courses offered to the students are different from Behavior Analysis and focused on organizational and systems applications. Graduates of the I/O Psychology program typically work in very different settings than graduates of the Behavior Analysis program (who often work in human service settings serving individuals with developmental disabilities), and our training is focused on preparing them for the specific duties, responsibilities, and challenges they will face. They would not receive adequate training of this nature from the Behavior Analysis program alone, and most of our students would likely not attend graduate school at WMU if they did not have the opportunity to specialize in I/O Psychology. In addition, having affiliation with an I/O Psychology program is a marketable title for both students and faculty that allows us to attract high-quality students and establish important contacts in the business community. Therefore, while the I/O Psychology and Behavior Analysis programs share certain core courses and a conceptual basis (i.e., the emphasis on learning principles and evidence-based solutions to human behavior problems), they are completely separate and distinct graduate programs with different missions. Some confusion is undoubtedly generated by the fact that I/O Psychology faculty are also members of the Behavior Analysis faculty. In this capacity, I/O Psychology faculty advise doctoral students in Behavior Analysis who wish to specialize in I/O psychology. These students complete their MA in the I/O Psychology program where they take courses specific to organizational settings and applications. As doctoral students, they gain further research and practical experience in I/O Psychology by working in the labs and practicum sites of I/O Psychology faculty. This arrangement has served us well for a number of years, but we recognize that maintaining a separate doctoral program in I/O Psychology may have reduced confusion about the distinction between the two programs. Doing so would require more resources than we have, so we have created the current highly effective solution using the resources available to us. Nevertheless, we do not believe the dual role of I/O Psychology faculty provides any justification whatsoever for eliminating the distinct and valuable I/O Psychology MA program. It should also be recognized that I/O Psychology faculty teach a number of “service courses” to other undergraduate and graduate programs, including Behavior Analysis, Business Management, Communications, and Counselor Education & Counseling Psychology. Closing the I/O Psychology program may cause these other programs to suffer, as well.
Conclusion In conclusion, we can find no academic, strategic, or financial reasons to close the I/O Psychology program. It is a program that is in high demand and produces enough tuition revenue from classes taught by faculty and graduate students to more than pay for itself. Its graduates go on to highly successful careers and its faculty is highly productive and widely recognized in their field. The elimination of the I/O Psychology program will likely result in lost revenue, prestige, enrollment, and scholarly productivity for WMU. It would also have a negative impact on the quality of both undergraduate and graduate training in psychology. We appreciate the opportunity to appeal this decision and your willingness to undertake this arduous task. We hope that you will appreciate the facts presented in this document and uphold our appeal of a decision that is clearly not in the best interests of this university or its students. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
Partial List of Recent Organizational Clients of I/O Faculty and Students
PARTIAL LIST OF LETTERS RECEIVED IN SUPPORT OF THE I/O PROGRAM W. Kent Anger, Ph.D. – Sr. Research Scientist and Assoc. Dir., CROET- OR Health & Science Univ. Carl Merle Johnson, Ph.D. – Professor, Central Michigan University Shannon Loewy, B.A. – Graduate Student, WMU I/O Psychology Program Maria Malott, Ph.D. – Executive Director, Association for Behavior Analysis, International “…I can attest to the strong scholarly work produced by their Professors and the very high quality of graduates emerging from these programs. As an organizational behavior management consultant who worked for 15 years for companies including General Motors Corporation, Meijer, Inc., Kellogg, and Pharmacia & UpJohn, I (and these companies) frequently hired graduates from these [I/O and Clinical] programs because with the confidence that their training assured their competence and scientific abilities.” Douglas C. Mead – Consumers Energy, Kalamazoo, MI “The WMU doctorate program for clinical psychology and the master's program for industrial psychology continue to be a tremendous benefit to many of us in the business community. I want to express our sincere appreciation for the quality of the work and the accomplishments of the graduate students from your Advanced Systems Analysis Class who have helped us optimize many of our work Processes at Consumers Energy.” Caio Miguel, Ph.D., BCBA – Program Specialist, New England Center for Children Matthew Miller, Ph.D., Training and Organizational Development, Pfizer Kevin J. Munson, Ph.D., Manager, Training and Organizational Development, Pfizer Richard O’Brien, Ph.D. – Professor, Hofstra University, NYC “The Master’s Program in I/O Psychology at Western Michigan is the flagship program in the field of Organizational Behavior Management. Among psychologists, Western Michigan University is known all over the country for this program. We have a master’s degree program in I/O Psychology at Hofstra. It is a good program. I tell my best students to choose the Western Michigan program over the one at Hofstra.” Allan Quiat – Process Change Manager, Chevron Corporation “I have relied…heavily on the good work that comes out of the basic and applied research in Organizational Behavior Management at WMU. In addition, each year the school places…remarkable graduate level [people] into both the work force and into academia. WMU’s advanced degree Psychology programs are clear “value adds” to my work; but more than that, the graduates of the WMU Psychology programs clearly help advance the science…Elimination of these graduate programs in Psychology would do a significant disservice to many constituencies.” Gerald Shook, Ph.D., BCBA – CEO, Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Tallahassee, FL “ Our projections show the considerable market for [behavioral] certificants will continue to expand, and the approved university programs will continue to grow...I must admit I find it puzzling that my Alma Mater appears to be choosing the down escalator when so many well-respected universities are expending substantial resources to ride up.” Julie Smith, Ph.D. – Co-Founder and Senior Partner, CLG (behavioral science consulting) Partial list of Letters Received From Graduates of the I/O Program Alicia M. Alvero, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, City University of New York Bradley G. Frieswyk - B.S. (1993); M.A. (1994) “I just returned from the annual conference of the International Association for Behavior Analysis…I saw graduates of the IO program who hold crucial roles in school districts and business organizations, including Pfizer. I also found that WMU grads are not just doing applied work in these fields, many are heading departments and research at other major universities...work in critical fields, faculty positions at major universities, and regular presentations to international audiences; I am unsure how this does not meet the definition of ‘nationally recognized’.” Gordon Henry, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Indiana University “Eliminating these programs is a grave mistake from a business standpoint for Western Michigan University. The whole point of succeeding in any organizational endeavor is to differentiate oneself from one's competitors in some way. These programs have done exactly that. There are no other group of psychology programs, I feel, anywhere in the world that have done more, and hold still more promise, to help WMU and the world in which it resides. Everybody who is anybody in behavior analysis has some influence from Western Michigan's psychology department as a student, faculty member, advisee, conference presentation attendee, or reader of journal articles.” Doug LaFleur, Ph.D. - Chief Operating Officer, MedAxiom (h ealthcare consulting) “The skills I learned at WMU in the I/O program offered me more practical knowledge to diagnose and create solutions for my business ventures than any skills I obtained in my undergraduate or and M.B.A. degree…What the I/O program offers to WMU is a world class, niche program that teaches students how to create meaningful, business results…It isn’t often that a mid sized university can offer a world class program, and this competitive advantage for WMU should be considered a jewel that should be protected. WMU is known world wide as the undisputed leader in applied behavior analysis programs, and taking pieces of this apart without sound financial and strategic reasoning should not be tolerated.” Jeanne M. La Mere, Ph.D. – Director, Curriculum Development, Thompson Learning “The fact that this [I/O] program is so well suited for preparing students for careers in the growing field of distance education makes the loss of the program even more tragic…In the current economic environment, where many professions are on the decline, it would be a shame to eliminate a graduate program that prepares students for careers that are in high demand. Angela Lebbon, B.A. – Graduate Student, WMU I/O Psychology Program Timothy Nolan, Ph.D. – Consultant, CLG (behavioral science consulting) Joe Sasson, Ph.D. – Vice President, Knowledge Management, MedAxiom Sigurdur Sigurdsson, Ph.D. – Asst. Professor, University of MD, Balt. County Karolyn A. Smalley, M.A. – Vice President, MedAxiom Consulting, MedAxiom “As the manager of Human Resource Development for a west Michigan Company with $7 billion in sales, I hired 9 full-time people who graduated with an Industrial / Organizational Psychology degree to help improve organizational performance. Another 8 graduates completed contract work with the organization.” Tracy Thurkow, Ph.D. – COO, CLG (behavioral science consulting) Leslie Wilk-Braksick, Ph.D. – CEO and Co-Founder, CLG (behavioral science consulting)
|
