News

FIOP's monthly panel discussions have been great ways to network, connect, and share with our fellow I/O people all over the state (and beyond)! If you would like to contribute as a panelist, please contact Dr. Joe Ligato at drjoeligato@gmail.com. For more information on our events, please see our events page! 

Florida Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Inc. (FIOP) is pleased to announce that the following individuals have been selected to serve as new directors taking office on January 1, 2023. These individuals went through an application and vetting process and a board panel interview a couple of weeks ago. The terms of these new directors are staggered between one, two, and three years. Please welcome:

• ·       Carlos Antonio Viera, Ph.D.
• ·       Marla J. Albertie, M.Ed.*
• ·       Christine Banister, Ph.D.
• ·       Jennifer Rasmussen, MSc.
• ·       Jamie Majors, MSW
• ·       Lakshmi Narayanan, Ph.D.
• ·       Shanker Menon, Ph.D.
• ·       Lorie S. Flaris, MSIO
• ·       Jaydrah Escobar, MBA*

Continuing in service and re-appointed were:

• ·       Yvette Abraham, Ph.D.
• ·       Pamela Skyrme, Ph.D.
• ·       Joseph Ligato, Ph.D.
• ·       Christopher R. Barnhart, MBA

In addition to their board terms – the following members have graciously agreed to serve in additional officer capacities:

• ·       Christopher R. Barnhart, MBA – President & Chairman of the Board
• ·       Yvette Abraham, Ph.D. – Vice President & Vice Chair of the Board
• ·       Marla J. Albertie, M.Ed.* – Vice President of Experiential Learning (VPEL)
• ·       Lorie S. Flaris, MSIO – Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
• ·       Joseph Ligato, Ph.D. – Chief Data Scientist
• ·       Chief Financial Officer – In Negotiations

* Indicates the individual is a Ph.D. Candidate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology

This new team will have Board orientation before Thanksgiving, and their term of office begins on January 1, 2023. Congratulations, and welcome! 

The Board of Directors at Florida Industrial and Organizational Psychology (FIOP) will have a special meeting at 4:00pm on Thursday, May 12 via Zoom. The special meeting is going to cover two major launches. 

Firstly is the launch of FIOP's Experiential Learning program. Under a new Vice President of Experiential Learning (VPEL), FIOP interns will conduct various internships from marketing, research, and operations, to community service initiatives with other non profit organizations and institutions. 

Secondly, the launch of the highly anticipated Data Sciences Division. Under the leadership of FIOP's Chief Data Scientist (CDS) the division will encompass the organization's research, writing, publication, and science application functions. Within this proposal includes the provision for an institutional review board (IRB), as well as a long-term plan for a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. 

At this special meeting, Dr. Joseph Ligato will deliver a presentation to the Board for their review and approval.

Florida Industrial and Organizational Psychology has rebranded its domain name to fiop.io in order to better optimize branding, search engine optimization, and to streamline the user experience. 

Any feedback about this change can be set to Dr. Joe Ligato at jligato@fiop.io.

LEESBURG, FL - Yvette Abraham, Ph.D. has been appointed as the Director of Membership for Florida Industrial and Organizational Psychology (FIOP), and was confirmed by the Board of Directors during their February 5th Board Meeting. 

Dr. Abraham's Master's degree is in clinical psychology and her Ph.D. is in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is a Veteran of the United States Army, and she is a founding member of FIOP. 

Dr. Abraham's new role is to oversee membership management, credentialing, and vetting of applicants who wish to join FIOP. Dr. Abraham screens new member applications and manages approvals, rejections, or resolves any missing or incomplete information needed to make an informed approval decision. 

"With FIOP hosting hundreds of contacts, not everyone is indeed a member. Members are special and they do have to meet certain criteria, however, having Dr. Abraham being able to check our member applications and manage them ethically and appropriately is something we are lucky to have" said Chris Barnhart after the Board meeting. 

Dr. Abraham can be reached at credentials@fiop.io. 

FIOP Honors Dr. Ligato & Florida Southern College 

LAKELAND, FL - Florida Industrial and Organizational Psychology (FIOP) honored Dr. Joseph Ligato, and Florida Southern College (FSC) for their efforts in the founding of the organization. Two plaques were presented by FIOP President Chris Barnhart. Dr. Ligato accepted FSC's plaque on their behalf. 

Dr. Ligato was able to work with Florida Southern to secure critical funding for FIOP's initial expenses. 

"Without Dr. Ligato's advocation, and FSC's willingness to believe in us, it would have been very difficult to do the heavy lifting that is required when a new state-wide organization is created" said FIOP President Chris Barnhart from Lakeland, Florida. 

The plaques were approved by the Board of Directors as a gesture of thanks for such a critical action taken at such a critical time. 

Dr. Ligato said that he was honored to received the plaque and graciously accepted FSC's plaque as well. The action of recognizing such matters falls under the "celebrate" pillar of FIOP's Mission to celebrate, advance, and advocate for the field of I/O Psychology." 

In it's first-ever partnership with the University of Central Florida, FIOP Members were invited to attend the guest speaking event of Dr. Dan Putka, the principal scientist at HumRRO on February 25th. 

Dr. Putka's talk was about the novel uses and insights using Natural Language Processing, NLP in job analysis. FIOP is grateful to have been able to partner with UCF for this exclusive opportunity for members only. 

On February 16th, FIOP hosted a virtual guest speaking event with Dr. Emily Burnett, the head of Culture Assessments at Publix Supermarkets. 

During her talk, Dr. Burnett explained how she started as a part-time cake decorator at Publix, and move her way up the ladder as a retail associate. 

Her talk educated the viewers from all over Florida about the long, rich history of Publix as well as the finer points of her work in assessing culture at Publix. FIOP was honored to host Dr. Burnett. Several graduate students from Florida Southern College also attended the talk and asked specific and meaningful questions related to I/O psychology and getting buy in from associates in the workplace when it comes to taking and trusting internal assessments. 

Regina Martin, Ph.D. has been appointed to head the Finance Committee and assumes the role of Treasurer effective soon. Dr. Martin is a founder of FIOP and a member of its inaugural Board of Directors. Dr. Martin, a U.S. Army Veteran has also filled the role of treasurer is many other organizations. She has advised the Officers of the Board since her appointment and will now take on the official role as soon as possible.

Dr. Martin will monitor, audit, and report on all FIOP financial activity as well as monitoring FIOP's financial accounts. Dr. Martin can be reached at treasurer@fiop.io. If you are interested in serving on the finance committee as well as helping with our fundraising activities, please contact Dr. Martin at the email address above. 

"Dr. Martin has been Zoom calls with me in later evening hours, helping get things in order, and we are very fortunate to have her at the table looking after our finances, and helping secure a bright legacy for FIOP" said Board President Chris Barnhart. 

The Board has filed an amendment with the State of Florida to officially appoint Dr. Martin to the role of Treasurer, and she is already active in managing the day-to-day finance operations of the organization.

The Florida Department of State approved the Not-for-Profit Articles of Incorporation of Florida Industrial and Organizational Psychology (FIOP) effective January 1, 2022. FIOP also received it's federal EIN this week. Dr. Doug Waldo said "This is awesome news, and an historic moment in our field!" 

Other congratulations were sent from our friends all over the state. It's a great feeling, and a great step which establishes FIOP as a legal not-for-profit entity. It also allows FIOP to start seeking official partnerships with organizations and institutions around the state. 

I am greatly humbled by our calling which is to "celebrate, advance, and advocate" for the field of I/O Psychology. Congratulations to all of us on this momentous occasion! 

-Chris

Christopher R. Barnhart, MBA

President & Chairman

Florida Industrial and Organizational Psychology