Pictured (from left to right):

Current faculty with several new faces! Dr. Keaton Fletcher, Dr. Kim French,

Dr. Danielle Gardner, Dr. Josh Prasad,

Dr. Bryan Dik,

Dr. Alyssa Gibbons, and Dr. Gwen Fisher.

As you read on, you will see that some of our advanced students recently presented doctoral candidacy portfolios. Now in lieu of an empirical comprehensive project that students complete after their master’s thesis and before the doctoral dissertation, students reflect on their graduate training experiences, compose a document summarizing their development, and present to the CSU I-O psychology program. The competencies emphasized in this process include research skills, data management and analysis, communication with multiple audiences, ethics, DEIJ (diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice), leadership, collaboration, and self-awareness. We are also excited to have connected with The Aldridge Group, a consulting firm now based in Fort Collins. Last summer, many of our students obtained internships at organizations including The Aldridge Group, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Amtrak, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. If you are looking to hire an intern or know of other internship or post-graduate work opportunities, let us know!

As we look ahead to the annual Society for I-O Psychology (SIOP) conference this spring in Chicago (April 17-20), please save the date for a CSU get-together on Thursday evening, April 18. Details about our CSU gathering and lots of exciting sessions and presentations involving CSU I-O faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students will be forthcoming this spring. In the meantime, please read on!

Meet Dr. Bryan Dik

Bryan Dik Personal Introduction

“I grew up mostly in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with my parents and two younger sisters. Not far from that is Grand Rapids, where I earned a B.A. in psychology (minor in religion and theology) from Calvin University. I didn’t have a clear sense of what to do after graduating but I was a good student and enjoyed most parts of academic life, so I applied to grad programs. Why not, right? Somehow I landed at the University of Minnesota, where I studied under Dr. Jo-Ida Hansen. She is a prominent counseling/vocational psychologist who directed the Center for Interest Measurement Research and led two revisions of the Strong Interest Inventory. Most of my research as a graduate student was on vocational interests, although I ran my first study on work as a calling—a collaboration with Mike Steger, interestingly—the year before I finished.

I was fortunate to join the faculty at CSU in 2005, charged with teaching the vocational psychology course within the counseling program and training students to facilitate career assessment and counseling. Early on, I launched a program of research on meaningful work and especially work as a calling. Soon many others became interested in these topics—mostly within organizational behavior, it turns out. Recognizing that the “blue ocean” for that work lies within management, org. behavior, and I- O, and also recognizing that workplace well-being fits squarely within occupational health psychology, I found myself gravitating toward I-O. I’m not the first vocational psychologist to align with an I-O program; it has happened at Michigan State and Illinois, for example. So when the opportunity emerged to join, it was an easy decision because it is a natural fit.

I am married to my wife Amy, a social worker by training who is currently the director of youth ministry at our church. We have four boys: Eli (age 19, a sophomore at CSU), Silas (17), Abram (15), and Jasper (12).”

“What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of work?”

“Although it sounds ridiculous, with a family of six I do a lot of laundry, which helps me justify watching really good TV—you know, while I fold. I am a fairly obsessive sports fan, and love mowing the lawn (seriously, ask me about it). I have some latent artistic interests I hope to develop further one day; when in college I considered an art major, and I spent two years as chief writer for a now-defunct music magazine. Most of our energy goes toward keeping up with our boys, currently. I also serve on the leadership board (i.e., council) at our family’s church.”

“What are your research interests and some of your previous research projects?”

“Although most of my research has targeted calling and meaningful work, I’m looking to expand that into some adjacent topics. Some recent projects include international collaborations that systematically review various aspects of the positive psychology literature. I also helped review and critique the most recent generation of research on workplace spirituality in a paper forthcoming in Annual Review of Org Psychology and Org Behavior. The intersection of faith and work is a lifelong interest of mine and I have plans to dig into this topic a bit deeper, building on some of the future directions we highlight in that review. And I’ve been testing career development interventions on-and-off for a long time.”

“Anything else you would like alumni, faculty, and current students to know?”

“Some of you ask about the PathwayU story, so I can share that briefly. I began collaborating with Dr. Kurt Kraiger, then part of the I-O faculty at CSU, in 2009. We obtained a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and used it to develop and test (via a randomized controlled trial) an online career assessment system with students in the community college system in Colorado. That project evolved into jobZology, a company that Kurt and I co-founded along with two entrepreneurs, Travis Hevelone and Eric Leftwich, in 2012.

After lots of pivots involving leadership consulting, the development of a hiring tool we called TalentAim, and a pretty cool employee engagement dashboard, we decided to narrow our focus back where we started—the online career assessment system. We tore it down and rebuilt it at least twice, rebranded it PathwayU, and started selling site licenses to colleges and universities. By summer 2023 PathwayU was used in 165 schools across the country, prompting a San Francisco company called PeopleGrove to acquire jobZology. Although the four founders are still involved, we’ve turned over the keys. Yet PathwayU has entered an exciting stage with a company eager to invest in elevating it to the next level. It took 11 years to accomplish what we originally set out to complete in 1-3, but we learned so much along the way—including that persistence pays off.”

Meet the new 2023 Cohort!

Kesea Nutter

Kesea Nutter, M.S. (she/her) is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Industrial- Organizational Psychology program. Kesea is from Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her B.S. in Psychology from Xavier University and her M.S. in Industrial- Organizational Psychology from Northern Kentucky University. Kesea’s current research interest are diversity, equity, and inclusion in talent management, reducing bias in machine learning, and advanced statistical techniques. In her free time, Kesea enjoys exploring Fort Collins many kid friendly activities with her toddler, Khloe, as well as reading, traveling, and going to concerts.

Danielle West

Danielle West is a first-year Ph.D. student in CSU’s Industrial-Organizational Psychology program. She is from Gainesville, Florida, and got her Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida. Her current research interests include diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, with specific focuses on employee experiences and well-being, as well as work-family balance and topics related to recovery. During her free time, Danielle enjoys reading, watching sitcoms, and trying (probably unsuccessfully) to bake.

I-O Program Work Updates

PhD Earned:

Javier Ospina

“What Motivates Healthcare Workers? Using Latent Profile Analysis to Understand Healthcare Workers’ Motives and their Relationships with Work Outcomes”

Jacqueline Wong

“Reflections on Turnover Amidst Turmoil: A Qualitative Exploration of the ‘Great Resignation’”

Doctoral Candidacy Portfolio Presentations:

Julia Beckel

Annika Benson  Chloe Goldman  Roz Stoa

Comprehensive Exams Passed:

Annika Benson  Chloe Goldman  Roz Stoa

Brittany Lynner

Special Awards:

Hannah Finch

College of Natural Sciences Teaching & Mentoring Award

Pictured above (from upper left):

Dr. Javier Ospina, Dr, Jacqueline Wong, Kesea Nutter, Annika Benson, Chloe Goldman, Roz Stoa, and Brittany Lynner, who each recently either defended their dissertation, thesis or passed the program’s comprehensive exam. Congratulations!

Theses Defended:

Kesea Nutter

“The Impact of Employee Identity Safety Cues on Applicant Attraction when Comparing Multiple Organizations”

Rachel Perpich

“Perceptions of Supportive Organizational Practices and Well-being among LGBQ+ Employees.”

IOPAC Community Service

Pictured below (from left to right):

Ryan Lizerbram, Shelby Davis, Hannah Finch, Brittany Lynner, Danielle West, Kesea Nutter, and Chloe Goldman.

This fall, members of the Industrial- Organizational Psychology Association of Colorado (IOPAC), the CSU I-O psychology graduate student organization, went out into the greater Fort Collins community to help out our neighbors in need. Members of IOPAC volunteered at the Food Bank of Larimer County through Ram$ for Change, a program dedicated to offering service opportunities for CSU student organizations.

I-O Lab Updates

The Prasad Lab (pictured from left to right):

Annika Benson, Dr. Josh Prasad, Kelsie

Colley, Hannah Finch, and Brittany Lynner

during their axe-throwing lab social!

Fisher Lab

Members of the Fisher Lab include I-O grad students Becca Clancy, Chloe Goldman, James Kunz, Roz Stoa, Rachel Perpich, Brittany Lynner and Ryan Lizerbram, CSU alumni Nick Kelley and Ashli Casey, and undergraduate students Olivia Detry, Tony Ramirez, Emmalee Diederichs, and Morgan Wright. Our research investigates a variety of topics and measurement issues in occupational health psychology. Our group conducted a study to investigate job demands, job resources, job crafting behaviors, and burnout among occupational therapists. Results from this study and a scale validation study about perceived organizational support for work life balance were recently presented at the Work, Stress and Health conference. There are a variety of student-led projects underway, including a longitudinal study of loneliness and belonging among graduate students, email incivility, the science/practice gap in HR and OHP knowledge, creativity and flow at work in relation to worker well-being, and organizational perceptions among LQBQ+ workers. As Gwen’s two-year term as SOHP President comes to an end, she is excited to have more time available for research!

Researching Identity & Stigma in Employment (RISE) Lab

The RISE lab continues to move forward research centered around identity, marginalization, and stigmatization at work. Current research projects focus on identity disclosure complexities, employee authenticity and autonomy, and identity management and expression. We’ve recently welcomed a new graduate member to the team (Danielle West), in addition to two wonderful undergraduate assistants (Joselle Gyamfi and Jade Loerzel). Multiple graduate members within our lab recently presented research at the Work, Stress and Health conference, and every graduate student submitted proposed sessions for the upcoming SIOP conference in April, so we’re excited to continue communicating our work broadly!

Prasad Lab

The Prasad Lab includes Kelsie Colley, Hannah Finch, Annika Benson, Brittany Lynner, and we welcomed Kesea Nutter as our newest graduate student member. Brittany Lynner defended her thesis examining the experience of burnout among academic affairs professionals and how their relationship with their supervisor may help. Annika Benson also recently attained doctoral candidate status by passing the comprehensive exam process. It has been a productive year for the lab with accomplishments including Hannah winning a College of Natural Sciences Teaching and Mentoring Award, Brittany and Annika participating in the P&G IO Business Challenge, and Kelsie presenting at Zoomtopia. Our research continues to focus on promoting neurodiversity through evaluating online asynchronous video interviews, authenticity at work, and applications of machine learning in talent management. We also continue to support the NSF-funded Rocky Mountain Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM, where Josh serves as a co-Principal Investigator.

Alumni Spotlights & JKL Scholarship

Dr. Jaclyn Menendez

Jaclyn (pictured right) is the Chief I/O Psychologist for Pinsight, a talent assessment company specializing in virtual assessment centers. In this role, Jaclyn leads the research and product development of Pinsight’s selection and development tools. Pinsight is headquartered in Denver and Jaclyn works remotely from Fort Collins. In her spare time, she enjoys rock climbing, cycling, craft beer, and serving as a board member on the city’s Disability Advisory Board.

Dr. Kyla Holcombe

Kyla (pictured left) is a Senior Consultant on the People Insights Team at BetterUp, where she works with enterprise organizations to achieve their goals through evidence-based coaching and behavior change strategies. In this role, she collaborates with field teams to build partnerships, helps inform product development, and speaks on topics including leadership development, employee experience, well-being, and inclusion and belonging. Kyla works remotely from her home in West Denver, where she lives with her two kids, two fur-babies, and band-directing husband. Kyla loves getting outdoors, crushing a Peloton ride, and any excuse for party-planning.

Dr. Lauren Wallace

Lauren (pictured right) is a People Analytics Manager at Google, focused on Performance Management. She leads a team of researchers focused on evolving the performance management process to support ongoing career development and progression. Lauren lives in Denver and works from Google’s office in Boulder, CO. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, pottery, and serving on Denver Kids’ Young Professionals Council.

JKL Work-Life Balance Scholarship

“The JKL scholarship was created to encourage graduate students to invest in their own well-being and the well-being of each other. We know from the research, as well as our lived experiences, that well-being is foundational to being the best versions of ourselves. We were lucky to have a fantastic support system, but even then, it’s not always easy to ask for help or remember to take time for yourself outside of school. We are so grateful for the journey we experienced together in the program, and we wanted to keep that feeling alive for future cohorts. We hope this fund makes the journey a little bit easier (and a little extra fun!).”

Congratulations to Kinjal Chheda, our 2023 JKL Work-Life Balance Scholarship Recipient!

If you would like to make a donation to support CSU I-O psychology events or scholarships, please contact the Program Coordinator at gwen.fisher@colostate.edu.