Newsletter
Volume 28 | 2005 | Number 2
2006 Fellows Nominations Sought
ABA has established an honorary membership designation of Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis, which was first initiated in 2004. ABA is currently accepting nominations for 2006 Fellows. The purpose of the ABA Fellows designation is to recognize the most outstanding contributors to behavior analysis in one of the primary areas of (a) research/scholarship, (b) professional practice, or (c) teaching/administration/ service. Potential members will be nominated by their peers, and nominations will be accepted for Full members of ABA who have a documented record of sustained and excellent contributions in one of these three primary areas. An aggregate of contributions across the three areas, although perhaps impressive and demonstrating competence in behavior analysis, does not make an individual eligible.
Nominations Procedure
Nominators should contact a nominee and ascertain first that (a) the individual consents to being nominated as a Fellow and (b) the nominee would agree to serve on the Fellows Committee if requested. If the individual does not so consent, no further action should be taken. If the individual does consent, steps two and three should be taken.
Second, the nominator should request the nominee send a curriculum vitae to the nominator. Third, the nominee should suggest to the nominator the names of two referees to be used in the review process, at least one of whom is a Fellow.
When the nominator receives all the information (consent, vita), the nominator should transmit it to the ABA office. The nominator would include the material described above, as well as his/her own nominating letter, of the form that is currently used. Thus, the material sent to the ABA office would be (a) consent, (b) vita, and (c) nominating letter. The ABA Office will then transmit the material to the Fellows Committee for its review. As much as possible, the material and its transmission would be done in electronic form.
Nominations should be made in one of the three categories, with detailed consideration for the relevant criteria. Letters may be e-mailed to ABA at mail@abainternational.org (Subject: Fellow Nomination) or mailed to: ABA; Attn: Fellow Nominations; 550 West Centre Ave., Suite 1; Portage MI 49024. Please include your name and contact information. Your nomination will be kept confidential, but the review committee may need to contact you for further information.
Research/Scholarship Criteria for Nomination
The criteria that apply to the designation of ABA Fellow on the basis of Research/Scholarship are as follows:
- Sustained record of impressive and outstanding work, with a documented impact on others, in domains of experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, or conceptual analysis of behavior.
- Contributions in publications generally available to the profession or otherwise widely communicated (such as through participation in the programs and meetings of professional groups and associations).
- The peer review process determines whether work is disseminated.
- The citation of nominee’s work by others is material and convincing.
- Documentation that the nominee has enriched the field on a scale well beyond that of being simply a competent researcher/scholar.
Workshop activity is not automatically evidence of research/scholarship in the sense of this criterion, but can be used as evidence of sustained contribution. Evidence of steady and continuing competence in itself is not likely to meet the criterion of outstanding contribution. As well, the following accomplishments, even when taken together, do not generally provide convincing evidence of the impact of a nominee’s work and are insufficient evidence to warrant fellow status. They may represent the noteworthy behavior analyst, but not necessarily the outstanding one, unless it can be demonstrated that these accomplishments contributed to a long-term impact on scholarly activity in behavior analysis: published convention abstracts; published convention proceedings; work in preparation; book chapters in a collection that is edited or co-edited by the nominee; publications which by their title suggest that the nominee has generated a number of publications from a single collection of data and a long list of multiple-authored publications where the nominee is the primary author less than 50% of the time without explanation of the nominee’s role.
Professional Practice Criteria for Nomination
The criteria that apply to the designation of ABA Fellow on the basis of Professional Practice are as follows:
- A broad history and sustained record of professional practice or delivery of behavior-analytic professional services with documented impact at the local, state, regional, national, or international levels
- Documentation of how the nominee’s therapy or practice represents an innovative and effective application with, for example, a difficult disorder or an atypical client/patient population
- Documentation of how the nominee’s business or consulting activities represent an innovative and effective application with broad and significant impact on business or commercial practices
- Documentation that the nominee has enriched the field on a scale well beyond that of being simply a competent practitioner
Teaching, Administration, or Professional Criteria for Nomination
Teaching
The criteria that apply to the designation of ABA Fellow on the basis of Teaching are as follows:
- Evidence of outstanding teaching contributions such as consistently excellent student ratings or preparation of a widely used textbook or development of significant educational material.
- A broad history and sustained record of demonstrably excellent curricular/programmatic innovations.
- Documentation that the nominee has enriched the field on a scale well beyond that of being a competent teacher.
- A broad history and sustained record of teaching with a clear and positive impact on students and the instructional process.
Administrative Service
The criteria that apply to the designation of ABA Fellow on the basis of Administrative Service are as follows:
- A broad history and sustained record of demonstrably excellent administrative service in one’s own behavior-analytic organization (includes private sector, public sector, and academic).
- A broad history and sustained record of demonstrably excellent performance as administrative official or comparably influential person in behavior analytic professional organization or society at local, state, regional, national, or international level.
- A broad history and sustained record of demonstrably excellent performance in positions of increasing difficulty or responsibility in one’s own behavior-analytic organization.
- A broad history and sustained record of demonstrably excellent performance as administrator of behavior-analytic programs involving considerable technical responsibility, effective supervision of professional personnel, or installation of programs in an organization.
- Documentation that the nominee has enriched the field on a scale well beyond that of being a competent administrator/supervisor.
Professional Service to the Discipline
The criteria that apply to the designation of ABA Fellow on the basis of Professional Service to the discipline are as follows:
- Founding editor of high quality journal.
- A record of sustained and demonstrably excellent service as editor/referee.
- A record of sustained and demonstrably excellent communication with those in related fields that enhances the status of behavior analysis.
- A record of sustained and demonstrably excellent participation in study sections or other scholarly reviewing activities relevant to behavior analysis.
- Evidence that the nominee has contributed to the promotion of the status of behavior analysis on the social-political scene, especially efforts that enhance the image of behavior analysis.
- A record of sustained and demonstrably excellent influence on the discipline of behavior analysis outside one’s own setting.
- A record of sustained and demonstrably excellent service as leader of credentialing body.
- Documentation that the nominee has enriched the field on a scale well beyond that of being a competent referee, site visitor, editor, or the like.
- A record of sustained and demonstrably excellent administration of the professional activities of the discipline.
Professional Service at Local, State, Regional, National, or International Levels
The criteria that apply to the designation of ABA Fellow on the basis of Professional service at local, state, regional, national, or international levels are as follows:
- A record of sustained and demonstrably excellent public relations and media participation marked by energy, imagination, scholarship, and persistence.
- Evidence of impact upon the behavior-analytic component of larger local, state, regional, national, or international organizations.
- Consultation with courts, legislatures, or criminal justice programs.
- Documentation that the nominee has enriched the field of behavior analysis on a scale well beyond that of being a competent member of the larger community.
- A broad history and sustained record of demonstrably excellent professional service with documented impact at the local, state, regional, national, or international levels.
- Recipient of an award by either a behavior-analytic or other psychological professional organization or society at local, state, regional, national, or international level.
The following attainments, even when taken together, do not generally provide convincing evidence of the impact of a nominee’s service and are insufficient evidence to warrant fellow status. They may represent the noteworthy behavior analyst, but not necessarily the outstanding one, unless it can be demonstrated that these attainments contributed to a long-term impact on the development and progress of the science or practice of behavior analysis at the local, state, regional, national, or international level: a term of service as department chair in an academic institution; a term of service as director of clinical training in an academic institution; a term of service as associate or consulting editor of a journal of a learned society; or a term of service as administrative officer (including president) of either a behavior-analytic or other psychological professional organization or society, at local, state, regional, national, or international level.