What’s in a Name? Exploring What it Means to Supervise

Description

Abstract

Due to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s recent release of the fifth-edition task list, supervision has become a common topic among Board Certified Behavior Analysts. However, the word “supervise” seems to hold various meanings. From a behavior-analytic perspective, what does it mean to “supervise?” The field of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) offers over 40 years of research directly related to this question. Using information gained from the four decades of research, this series of presentations will walk the audience through a supervisor’s journey in identifying root causes of performance issues and building solutions that result in performance improvement.

About the Speakers

Dr. Heather M. McGee is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Industrial/Organizational Behavior Management program at Western Michigan University (WMU). She received her B.S. (1998), M.A. (2003), and Ph.D. (2004) from WMU. Dr. McGee is co-founder of Performance Blueprints, a performance improvement consulting firm specializing in helping small businesses, non-profits & human service settings by providing a variety of consulting and training services. In her consulting work, Dr. McGee has designed, developed and implemented organizational performance solutions in a variety of industries and settings, including autism service providers, the pharmaceutical industry, education, and health and human services. These solutions have included performance-based instruction, performance management, behavioral systems changes, and lean sigma initiatives. Dr. McGee is the former Executive Director of the Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) Network and serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM) and on the editorial board for Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice. Additionally, Dr. McGee is on the Board of Directors of ALULA™, a management consulting firm, and on the Advisory Board of DataFinch Technologies, a behavior analytic technology firm.

Dr. Jeana Koerber, BCBA-D, is the Executive Director of Autism Services at the Great Lakes Center for Autism Treatment and Research, which she joined in 2014 as the Clinical Director. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Western Michigan University (WMU), a master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from WMU and a Ph.D. degree in Behavior Analysis from WMU. Jeana has worked in a variety of settings with individuals with developmental disabilities providing direct services to individuals and developing management systems for staff providing direct services. Jeana is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Before starting at the Great Lakes Center, Jeana worked at the Kellogg Company in the Sales Learning and Development department. Jeana’s research interests involve staff management techniques, performance management processes in human service settings and verbal behavior approaches to language.

Sally Weigandt, MA, BCBA currently a doctoral student in the Industrial/Organizational Behavior Management Graduate Program at Western Michigan University (WMU). She earned her B.S. in Behavioral Science and Business in 2015 and earned her M.A. in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2017 from WMU. Sally currently works with human service organizations to help them develop and implement performance improvement strategies through the use of Behavioral Systems Analysis. She is especially interested in using a three-levels systems approach to designing sustainable interventions for performance problems. Sally is committed to research-driven approaches to staff assessment, management, and training and aims to disseminate the science of behavior analysis through the use of effective workplace strategies. In addition, Sally is a graduate teaching assistant for both undergraduate and graduate courses in behavior analysis at WMU, having assisted in the development and teaching of courses in personnel training and development, behavioral systems analysis, and advanced topics in organizational behavior management. Sally is also an ongoing guest reviewer for the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management.