Applied Behavior Analysis at the University of South Florida: Commitment to Excellence

The master’s degree in applied behavior analysis at the University of South Florida (USF) originated in 2006. Behavior analysts in the Department of Child and Family Studies wrote and got approval for a master’s degree program and hired Ray Miltenberger as the director. Starting with two full-time and two part-time faculty, the program flourished over the next 20 years. Eventually the program hired new faculty and currently has 6 full time faculty members. The ABA program also grew and started a doctoral program in 2013, an undergraduate minor in 2014, and an online master’s degree program in 2016. The ABA program hired more faculty to run these programs and now sits at 10 full-time faculty members. The strength of the ABA program at USF is the passion and commitment of its faculty who strive for excellence in educating students at all levels and contributing to knowledge through research. I am happy to accept this award for our program on behalf of all my colleagues who work tirelessly for our students and for the field.