To
Prospective Applicants:
I work with
graduate students pursuing a behavior-analytic education at Auburn
University in two capacities. First, I am a faculty member in the
one-year professional (non-thesis) master’s program in Applied
Behavior Analysis and Developmental Disabilities. This
program is an excellent option for students who want to earn a terminal
master’s degree and then work as an applied behavior analyst in
human-service settings. I teach four courses and provide clinical
supervision in the master’s program.
Second, I
advise students in the Experimental
Psychology doctoral program. In this capacity, I closely
mentor graduate students through their study of behavior analysis as it
pertains to developmental disabilities. Although the Experimental
program is not a behavior analysis program per se, its curriculum is flexible
enough to accommodate substantial training in behavior analysis
(including 8+ courses in behavior analysis and 2 in developmental
disabilities).
My mentorship
style is the “junior colleague model” – I provide graduate students
with extensive support as they acquire clinical skills, learn to design
and conduct their own research, and gain college teaching
experience. Over time, this support is gradually faded until
students are working fairly independently. My goal is to create a
culture of graduate students (the “lab”) who mentor and support each
other. Although I set a high standard for my students with
respect to the quantity and quality of their work, I provide sufficient
support to ensure they succeed in their efforts. Historically, my
doctoral students have co-authored about 6 journal articles from their
time in my lab. My former doctoral students (at
Western Michigan University and University of Nevada-Reno) now work as
faculty members or clinical directors of human-service programs.
I predict that my Auburn students will follow similar paths.
Please note
that you do not need to have a master’s degree to apply to our doctoral
program. If you know that you eventually want to earn a
doctorate, I recommend applying directly to the doctoral program.
If you plan to apply to our Experimental Psychology doctoral program
and want me to consider you as a potential student, please indicate
this in your statement of intent.
One final note
... our psychology department has a first-rate intensive college teacher
training program that is available to all of our doctoral
students. This is a unique option for students who wish to pursue
careers in the academy.
Feel free to
contact any of my current or former students for
honest information on what it’s like to be one of my students.
And of course, please contact me at any time for additional
information.
Regards,
Jim
Carr
Back
to Dr. Carr's web site
carr@auburn.edu
web page last updated: September, 2008
