Connecting Research, Policy, and Practice in Colleges and Universities: An Internal Researcher/Practitioner Model

Abstract

Behavior analysis often operates at the level of individual behavior depending on reinforcement contingencies. Here, a behavior analytic perspective addresses the challenge of connecting research to organizations’ policy and practice in order to improve performance regarding the organizations’ strategic objectives. In colleges and universities, three potentially overlapping approaches are plausible: (a) applying published scholarly research literature, (b) contracting external vendors of predictive analytics, and (c) integrating internal researchers/practitioners. This article discusses a model that emphasizes the third approach—internal researcher/practitioners—and that focuses on fundamental concepts related to contingencies (consequences) and rule-governed behavior. The model's use is illustrated in a case study: Florida International University, a large, public, metropolitan, Research I university, located in Miami, Florida. The application of the model appears to relate to significant and rapid improvement in the university's targeted performance metrics (e.g., student success as measured by variables such as students’ retention and on-time graduation).