Dr. Ray Miltenberger Listed among Noteworthy Research Contributors to the Field of Applied Behavior Analysis
USF and USF Professor Ray Miltenberger were highlighted in a recent report published in the Behavior Analysis in Practice (BAP) journal, which evaluated research productivity of several graduate programs that provide Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB)-approved course sequences in behavior analysis. The article, Research Rankings of Behavior Analytic Graduate Training Programs and Their Faculty, provides top 10 lists of training programs and individual faculty members and concluded by discussing the importance of research in an increasingly practice-driven marketplace. Dr. Ray Miltenberger was among individuals listed who have made noteworthy research contributions to the field.In particular, the USF Applied Behavior Analysis program and Dr. Miltenberger were recognized for research contributions in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Faculty members in the ABA program at USF have published 63 articles in this flagship Journal, with 44 of the articles published by Dr. Miltenberger. (Photo l to r: graduate student Rocky Hayes, Dr. Ray Miltenberger, graduate students Lindsey Slattery and Diego Valbuena at recent USF ABA research day.)
This is a significant finding for the University and the ABA graduate program. In the United States, a number of organizations are responsible for ranking university research activity. These organizations include the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Association of American Universities. The Carnegie Foundation’s Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, for example, assesses accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States and ranks them as RU/VH (Research Universities, very high research activity), RU/H (Research Universities, high research activity), and DRU (Doctoral/Research Universities). USF is one of the nation’s top 73 RU/VH designated the Carnegie Foundation.
Further, one of the USF’s goals is to become a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an invitation-only association, comprised of 62 leading public and private research universities in the United States and Canada. Membership in AAU is based on the quality of a university’s academic research and scholarship. Since one measure of the prestige of an American university is based on its scholarly output, the emphasis on measuring the value of a journal has led to a dependence on bibliometrics.
The term bibliometrics is defined as the study of the dynamics of how the literature produced by disciplines is used by scientists, researchers, practitioners, and academicians. Combined with scientometrics and informetrics, it is possible to track interrelationships among disciplines, emergence of new disciplines, notable scholars, and scholarly and organizational productivity. The Behavior Analysis in Practice (BAP) study clearly shows the national impact that the USF ABA program and Dr. Miltenberger have made in the field. It is this kind of national acknowledgement that helps build the reputations of the program, the College, and the University.
For more about the ABA program and its director, see the ABA website or contact Dr. Miltenberger. For a closer look at the Carnegie Classifications, see http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/. To read the article, see the website (may require a subscription).
Established in 2008, the College of Behavioral & Community Sciences serves more than 2,600 students with six undergraduate, nine masters, and five doctoral programs housed in seven academic departments/schools. The College is the home of the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, one of the largest behavioral health research and training institutes in the country, as well as 19 specialized Research Centers and Institutes.
Serving nearly 48,000 students, the University of South Florida is one of the largest public universities in the nation, and among the top 50 universities, public or private, for federal research expenditures. It is one of only four Florida public universities classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in the top tier of research universities, a distinction attained by only 2.3 percent of all universities.