The I/O Faculty at Florida Tech is very active in scholarly work. Each faculty member maintains a strong team based program of research. Our program faculty has roughly 25 papers a year accepted at the SIOP conference. In addition our faculty publishes on average two publications a year per person. Our faculty members have also written several scholarly books, contributed chapters to edited books, and serve on editorial boards of refereed journals. In the last 3 years we have had over 80 papers and presentations at SIOP and 40 journal publications and book chapters.
Many students are also involved with research here in the I/O program. Much of the research is conducted in teams. Each research team has between 5-10 members that range from 1st to 5th year. We encourage students to present at conferences and publish, and we encourage faculty to publish with their students
There is no rule here stating that you have to work with the faculty member that you were initially assigned to. We encourage students to switch to an advisor that they are comfortable with, and also share interests with. Once you have found an advisor you can still work with multiple faculty members across different projects. Many of our students are on 2 research teams.
Yes the students here at Florida Tech definitely make the conference rounds. We have very high attendance rates for both the IOOB and SIOP conferences. In addition we have had students present papers at APA, Academy of Management, and the South Western Management Association.
The I/O professors at Florida Tech have a great deal of consulting experience. These consultations include expert legal testimony, statistical analyses for court cases, development of employment and certification exams, development of personality measures and large scale organizational surveys, team building, leadership training, and 360 degree performance appraisal systems.
Students can get as much hands on experience as they want. This usually is in the form of a practicum in outside organizations. During the practicum students receive over 300 hours of training in I/O related skills. Once the practicum is over, many students elect to stay employed with the organization until they finish school to get more experience. In addition, students can gain hands on experience through the Center for Professional Service, our campus based consulting firm. These consulting projects are staffed by students, and supervised by the I/O faculty.
Our goal is to maintain a balance between applied and academic perspectives. All of our faculty consult and conduct research. That allows the faculty to provide real world examples and data in and outside of the classroom. We adhere to the scientist practitioner model of training, and our curriculum emphasizes commitment to balanced training.
Either the practicum or thesis is required at the Master’s level. Participation outside of class in applied or research activities is not required, but is highly encouraged.