I News - University of Nebraska at Omaha

Spring
2011
Table of Contents
Industry Trends:
Corporate Wellness
P.3
Procter & Gamble Visit
P.3
2010 Graduates P.3
SIOP-UNO News P.4
Alumni Dinner: SIOP
2011 P.4
Join Us on Linked-In
P.4
Letter from Dr. Lisa
Scherer P.5
Alumni Dinner: SIOP
2010 P.6
Student Awards P. 6
Alumni Spotlight P.7
Student Spotlight P.8
New Students P.9
SIOP 2011 Posters
and Symposiums P. 11
Alumni News P.12
Department
Publications, Posters,
and Presentations
P.13
I-O News Fall 2010
I News
The official newsletter of the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Program at the
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Letter from the Program Director
Greetings from the Industrial-
Organizational Psychology
department at UNO! I hope this letter
finds you some place warm and in
good spirits. For those of you who do
not know me, I am Dr. Roni Reiter-
Palmon, and I have been the I/O
program director at UNO for 10
years. I earned my Ph.D. at George
Mason University. My research
interests include: Creativity and
innovation in organizations at the
individual and team level, leadership,
and personality. I have been very
busy with research in these areas,
including a large project looking at
team processes and team creativity.
My thesis and dissertation students
have been studying issues such as the
effect of problem construction
processes, situational ambiguity and
tolerance for ambiguity, and
regulatory focus on creative problem
solving. In addition, I have been busy
reviewing for multiple journals. I am
on the editorial board of The
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity,
and the Arts (the APA journal
Featured Articles
Procter & Gamble Visit P.3
Alumni Spotlight P.7
Student Spotlight P.8
Department Publications P.11
devoted to creativity), Journal of
Organizational Behavior, Leadership
Quarterly, and the Journal of
Leadership and Organizational
Studies. I am also an Associate Editor
for Journal of Creative Behavior. I
am always happy to talk about my
research (just ask my research
group….), so if you want more
information, just let me know.
Family
When I’m not holding the fort
down at UNO, I enjoy traveling and
spending time with my husband,
Ophir, daughter, Shir, and son,
Tomer. Shir just started her freshman
year at the University of Nebraska,
Lincoln, majoring in Psychology.
Tomer thinks he is in college, but has
a ways to go as he is in 7 th grade this
year. Ophir is still busy with his
photography work, although he is
doing more artwork these days (see
www.avpol.com or
www.ophirpalmon.com to see his
work).
Continued on next page.
Director’s Letter Cont.
Department and I/O area happenings
I am happy to report that after
years of effort, the Ph.D. in
Psychology is now administered at
UNO. That means no more trips to
UNL or having to remind the
administration in the graduate office
at UNL that we exist. This also
means that we can publicize the fact
that we have a Ph.D. program, and
prospective students no longer are
confused by this 2 university degree.
Students and faculty in our program
have been busy with conference
submissions, especially to SIOP, as it
is in Chicago this year. You can read
all about on page 4. Speaking of
SIOP, just a reminder that as always
we will have a fabulous get together
for alumni, students, professors, and
friends during the convention. More
information about this as we near the
conference date.
I also want to update you about a
new entity on campus “The Center
for Collaboration Science”, where I
am the Director of Research. The
Center includes faculty from multiple
disciplines(Management, Info.
Science, Communication, Public
Administration) and focuses on
research, both basic and applied, in
the area of teamwork and
collaboration. We have worked with
many businesses and government
agencies in areas such as facilitation
and improvement of team work. We
also host a half-day conference on
research, experiences, and projects
related to collaborative activities
every spring,, with the next scheduled
date being Fri.
March 4, 2011. If you want more
information, want to be on our
mailing list (for speakers), or are
interested in the conference, please email
me.
For those of you that are not on
LinkedIn or that are not connected to
us, please note that we have a
LinkedIn group just for you. This
group includes faculty, current
students, and alumni, and is designed
to serve as a networking tool. In
addition, you can post job openings,
although you can continue to send
those to me as well.
In this newsletter, which we now
hope to put out once a year, we have
highlighted some of our student
experiences, both research and
applied. We also have provided
updates from our alumni about their
personal and professional life so you
all can keep up. Please continue to
update us about your life – we love
hearing from you!
To keep in touch, please call (402-
554-4810) or e-mail (rreiterpalmon@unomaha.edu).
Feel free to
connect with me or any of the other
I-O Psych faculty on LinkedIn as
well. I hope to see you all in Chicago!
Best wishes,
Roni
Editor’s Corner
This newsletter was developed for
you, the reader, and we want it to be
fun, interesting, and resourceful.
Hence, your feedback is invaluable to
us! Please do not be shy. We will be
e-mailing you each year asking for
updates on your personal and
professional lives, and that
information will be published to help
your former colleagues keep track of
you. Our graduate students also look
forward to reading about your
professional accomplishments, which
may provide them with future career
directions, as well as proof that there
is plenty to do after graduate school.
If you have good news that just
cannot wait – or you fear it may be
forgotten – please feel free to e-mail
Roni at your convenience. Ideas for
articles, improvements, and other
contributions are always appreciated!
Additionally, some of our
graduate students have expressed
interest in starting an informal
mentorship program with UNO
alumni. If you would be willing to
participate, please keep an eye on
your e-mail and consider
volunteering.
Hope you enjoy the newsletter!
Ben Wigert

3 4
EYE ON IT
Current Industry
Trends:
Corporate
Wellness
Eric Faurote
With the rising costs
of healthcare and new
mandates from the
federal government
corporate wellness is
gaining national
attention. Currently,
Omaha is experiencing
a wellness paradox.
Since 1982, when the
Wellness Council of
the Midlands
(WELCOM) was
formed, Omaha has
been the epicenter of
corporate wellness.
Although many
companies including
Union Pacific, Greater
Omaha Packing, and
the Nebraska Medical
Center have made
significant strives in
corporate wellness this
has not trickled down
to the greater Omaha
area. In a study by the
Center for Disease
Control (CDC)
conducted in 2006,
Omaha ranked 142 out
of 182 cities on an
index combining 5
measures of health
including obesity,
nutrition, physical
activity, tobacco use
Cont. on page 15
Danielle Crough, MA
Ph.D. Student
For the past seven
years, Procter and
Gamble (P&G) has
invited a handful of Ph.D.
students in I/O
psychology to participate
in a three-day seminar at
P&G headquarters in
Cincinnati, OH. The
seminar provides the
opportunity for a team of
five students to help
come up with solutions to
a current business
problem at P&G. This
year, two of the five
participants – selected
from an applicant pool of
over 50 graduate students
Doctor of Philosophy
Marcy (Young) Illies
Joseph James
Master of Science
Taleen Brady
Kiley Cordes
Chris Fitch
Melissa Gwartney
Greg Schreiber
Procter & Gamble Seminar
Provides Unique Opportunity
Two UNO students chosen to present HR analytics
recommendations to top-management at P&G
from across the country –
were from UNO. They
were Sheryl Fernandez
and myself.
Sheryl and I worked
with students from the
University of Clemson,
the University of Illinois,
and the University of
Cincinnati to come up
with ideas for how P&G
could effectively use HR
analytics. Within 48
hours of being told of the
HR Analytics project
topic, we presented our
ideas to top leaders at
P&G. We shared with
them our suggestions for
what analytics they
Congratulations Graduates!
Master of Arts
Joel Butler
Andy Callens
Danielle (Seymour) Crough
Erin Gallagher
Brad Hullsiek
Tasha Jarrett
Erika (Robinson) Morral
Sara Roberts
Kristin Saathoff
Theresa Sappenfield
Rebecca Shively
should measure, how the
analytics could be used in
a comprehensive system
(e.g., talent
management), and also
demonstrated some
cutting edge ideas for
how HR analytics can
provide important
information for P&G.
The experience was
amazing and a wonderful
opportunity to put the
knowledge we have been
learning in graduate
school into practice.
What’s New with SIOP-UNO?
Rebecca Shively, MA
Ph.D. Student
The 2009-2010 school
year was a busy time for
SIOP-UNO. During the
fall semester, we were
invited to an etiquette
dinner sponsored by the
College of Business,
where we learned how to
behave in public and not
fawn over free food like
typical graduate students.
We also hosted several
social events including a
bowling night, UNO
hockey game, holiday
panini party, and our
monthly First Friday
events.
During the spring
semester, we invited
several guest speakers to
come visit including Dr.
Merle Riepe, a consultant
from SilverStone group,
and several area alumni
who spoke about their
careers in I/O. We owe a
special thanks to Julie
Griffin, Jason Lebsack,
Will Meinen, and Paige
Yost for being a part of
our illustrious alumni
panel!
Last spring, we also
had seven students and
two faculty members
participate in UNO’s
Seven Days of Service.
This is an annual event
held over spring break
designed to give students
an opportunity to
volunteer and get
involved in their
community. Team SIOP-
UNO volunteered at the
Salvation Army
Headquarters in North
Omaha and Durham
Booth Manor. We spent
our time sorting and
packing donations (and
playing with toys), as
well as some spring
cleaning for the residents
of Durham Booth Manor.
Some members of our
group got a nice break
from working and got to
teach some of the
residents how to play
Nintendo Wii. The
residents were very
happy to have us around
Seven Days of Service Volunteers
(left to right: Katie Gerson, Ashley
Thomalla, Lisa Scherer, Rebecca
Shively, Wayne Harrison, Danielle
Crough, Taleen Brady, Shane
McFeely, Nick Arreola)
and we all enjoyed a nice
break from the daily
grind of graduate school.
SIOP-UNO plans to
participate in Seven Days
of Service 2011 and is
working on being
assigned to a building site
for Habitat for Humanity.
What could possibly go
wrong with graduate
students armed with
hammers?
In addition to these
project plans, SIOP-UNO
has plenty in store for the
2010-2011 school year.
We kicked off the
semester with a fall
hayrack ride and bonfire.
We also were fortunate
enough to have Dr. Mary
Sully de Luque come and
speak about her research
with the GLOBE Project
(Global Leadership and
Organizational
Effectiveness). We look
forward to many merry
First-Fridays, our annual
alumni dinner at SIOP in
Chicago, and planning
more events for next
semester.
FRIENDLY
FACES & GOOD
EATS
Alumni Dinner at
SIOP 2011
SIOP-UNO looks
forward to hosting its
annual alumni dinner
during the 2011
Society for Industrial
and Organizaitonal
Psychology national
conference in
Chicago. Please plan
on joining us for
appetizers, dinner,
and drinks! Details
regarding the date
and location will be
provided via e-mail.
Deep dish pizza is
likely to be on the
menu.
JOIN US ON
LINKED-IN
Please visit
www.linkedin.com
and search
“I/O UNO
Psychology”
to find our group.
Joining is FREE and
will keep you in close
contact with our
program and alumni!
We will provide you
with monthly job
postings, notifications
of upcoming events,
stimulating
discussions, and tons
of networking.

5
It’s been quite a year,
mixed with tragedy and
blessings. On Feb. 12 I
was enjoying an all-toorare
gathering of
psychology faculty
colleagues at Clancys for
Happy Hour when I
received a panicked call
from my mother that my
brother, Joseph Leahy, a
microbiology professor at
the U. of Al-Huntsville
had been shot at work.
He miraculously
survived, as he was given
a slim chance of survival
and no doctor expected
him to work as the bullet
entered his right frontal
lobe, traveled through the
right side of his face and
is still lodged in his neck.
He is blind in the right
eye and his left eye
vision is quite
compromised. Yet, he is
doing quite well, tubing
in the summer and
running over 2 miles a
day.
I am thankful for
wonderful colleagues and
students who soldiered
on in my 30-day absence,
particularly Erin
Gallagher, who covered
org psych without pay,
Taleen Brady, my TA
who had to deal with
100+ needy careers’ class
students, and the decision
making students who
proceeded with my
assigned readings.
Thanks to Marie and
others, the psych dept
and the history
department wore or
displayed their door
black ribbons in
solidarity with everyone
affected by the tragedy—
it was very moving to see
this when I returned. For
more information, see
al.com for details on the
shooting and the shooter,
or our blog
(josephleahy.blogspot.co
m) which tracks Joe’s
progress from the
beginning.
Professionally, I have
been busier than normal,
but really enjoying
From the Desk of
Dr. Lisa Scherer
Where we’ve been, what we’ve
done, and what we have to be
thankful for
some exciting new
ventures. As Ken
Deffenbacher retired, we
wanted to honor his many
years of dedication to our
department by organizing
the Deffenbacher
Research Fair, which will
be an annual event.
Though I missed the
actual event as I was in
Alabama, I really enjoyed
helping to conceive the
idea and promote
participation among the
students. Over 70
undergraduates
graduates
and
presented 35
papers,
Michelle
and
Harrison-Yells,
MS in I-O,
and husband Dave Yells,
Ph.D. in Psychobiology
were the invited speakers.
In teaching core I-O
graduate courses I’ve
made a conscious effort
to provide opportunities
within the structure of the
class to “vita-build” in
either research or
practitioner areas,
particularly the latter
given that thesis,
“Hug your loved
ones and don’t
take them for
granted.”
dissertation, and research
other than thesis provides
many opportunities to
enhance research
competencies, whereas
practitioner opportunities
have been spotty in this
sour economy. The
training, decision making
and human factors, health
and safety courses have
all included service
learning or practitioner
components. Students
have created and
presented home safety
training and employment
skills (finding a job,
resumes, interviewing,
professional
comportment) training to
employment-challenged,
young, pregnant mothers
at Essential Pregnancy
Services.
Students
presented
their projects
at the
Midwest
Consortium on Service
Learning as well. The
decision making class
worked with Morton
Middle School 8 th graders
to train them in a
decision making
technique to foster idea
generation and help them
decide their service
learning project for the
year. Currently students
in the [Cont. on page 15]
Alumni Dinner: SIOP 2010 in Atlanta
Joel Butler, MA
Ph.D. Student
At UNO, April comes
every year with hints of
warmer weather, a
rapidly approaching
summer, and for I/O
faculty and students,
SIOP. One of the
mainstay events at SIOP
(apart from the actual
conference and late night,
extra-curricular
activities) is UNO’s
alumni dinner. Our
alumni dinner allows
Congratulation to …
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commoveo quibus premo tamen.
Tasha Jarrett, recipient of the
A: Occuro Elton uxor Carter dolore, ut at scholarship praemitto for an
opto si outstanding sudo, opes feugiat iriure Masters validus. thesis
Sino lenis completed vulputate, valetudo at UNO. ille abbas
cogo saluto quod, esse illum, letatio
conventio. Erin Gallagher, Letalis nibh iustum recipient of the
ransverbero Presidential bene, erat vulputate enim Fellowship
dolore awarded modo. Loquor, to vulputate one meus outstanding
indoles
iaceo, Ph.D. ne secundum, student dolus demoveo at UNO. interdico
faculty and students to
meet and reconnect with
former students, network,
and sample the local
cuisine. This year’s
alumni dinner in Atlanta
was of course, no
exception.
Our alumni dinner
was held at Pittypat’s
Porch Southern Dining in
downtown Atlanta. The
restaurant is famous for
its Southern fried food,
rocking chair balcony,
and down home
Student Awards
ambiance. Entrees
included South Georgia
Gumbo, Pecan coated
catfish fingers, and fried
green tomatoes. Although
the service could have
been better, the food
received favorable
reviews. Brad Hullsiek
enjoyed the atmosphere,
and Danielle Seymour
commented that she
“really got a feel of what
great southern food was.”
Most importantly
however, our alumni
proprius. In consequat os quae nulla magna. Delenit
Erika (Robinson) Morral,
abdo esse quia, te huic. Ratis neque ymo, venio illum
recipient of the 2010 Summer
pala damnum. Aptent nulla aliquip camur ut
Scholarship for graduate
consequat aptent. Adipiscing magna jumentum
students at UNO.
velit iriure obruo vel.Volutpat mos at neque nulla
lobortis dignissim conventio, torqueo, acsi roto
modo. Feugait in obruo quae ingenium tristique
elit vel natu meus. Molior torqueo capio velit loquor
aptent ut erat feugiat pneum commodo vel obruo
mara duis enim consequat genitus. Enim neo velit
adsum odio, multo lorem ipso mata irlosa.
6
dinner gave current
students the chance to
learn from former
students. Alumni
present included Renae
Manning, Paige Yost,
Jason Weiss, Tara
Myers, and Adam
Butler. First-year
student, Nick Arreola,
was given advice on
the importance of
conversation style (i.e.,
how to talk numbers
with engineers versus
talking big picture
with CEOs). After
talking with Dr. Andy
Noon, first-year
student, Katie Gerson,
learned how the first
couple of years in a
business environment
can compensate for the
“business language”
learned in an MBA
program, but was
urged nevertheless, to
take at least one MBA
course while enrolled
in the program. Erika
Robinson also got a
feel for job
opportunities in
Washington D.C. after
talking with Tara
Myers.
[Cont. on pg. 15]

7 8
Alumni Spotlight:
Ron Kennedy
Greetings and
happy holidays to all
UNO I-O Psychology
faculty, staff and
students. My name is
Ron Kennedy, a 1977
graduate (M.A.) of the
program. I have a
wife, Dorothy, two
grown children, Mike
and Laura, and one
grandson, Otto..a real
little dynamo. I
appreciate the
opportunity to let
everyone know what I
have been up to since I
graduated.
Having worked for
Western Electric as an
internal consultant
before enrolling in the
I-O Psychology
Program, I had the
opportunity to visit the
Hawthorne
Works…quite an eyeopener.
At the time of
the "Hawthorne
Studies", there were
about 46,000
Business Owner
I-O Pscyhologist
Lifetime Student
Grandpa
employees at that
location. It is not really
that surprising when
small groups were
singled out for special
attention they got the
results they did…just my
take on the matter. It was
at Western Electric that I
became interested in I-O
Psychology.
Shortly after
graduation in 1977, my
major I-O Professor,
Clemm C. Kessler, III,
Ph.D, joined me and we
launched Kessler,
Kennedy & Associates,
an I-O, HR and
Management Consulting
Firm in Omaha. It met
with considerable success
for a number of years
until dissolution, one of
the saddest times of my
life, and we both went
our separate ways. I
admired his "guts",
leaving a secure teaching
position to join me in the
firm. He is currently
fighting esophageal
cancer and I wish him all
the best.
As a student, I
"fondly" remember
getting my research
papers back from Dr.
Kessler, so marked up in
red pencil that I could
hardly read them and, of
course, they had to be
repaired and resubmitted.
I also remember one
training project that Tom
Kranda, a fellow I-O
graduate and I designed
and executed…a
bartender training
course…and all rejected
drinks had to be
consumed. Needless to
say, we got an "A."
Another I-O graduate,
Karen Gard, had a
particularly good time
during training…enough
said! I also miss the
camaraderie over beers at
the "Dell."
After consulting, I
started two other
companies which I still
own, Vertical Conveyors,
LLC, which
manufactures automated
material handling
equipment, primarily
vertical conveyors, a very
specialized niche, and
Terrecom, LLC,
www.terrecom.com, a
global business and
government emarketplace.
Both of
these efforts stemmed
from consulting projects I
undertook while at
Kessler, Kennedy. Both
these efforts have drawn
heavily on my knowledge
of I-O Psychology.
Recently, as a
diversification strategy, I
resurrected my consulting
effort into my latest
venture, I-O Psyc.com, a
global, virtual I-O
Psychology consulting
"firm" in collaboration
with Roni Reiter-Palmon,
Ph.D. The purpose of this
effort is to provide
"excellence in the
practical application of I-
O Psychology" to
organizational clients,
and to be a feeder for
internships, and
hopefully, employment
opportunities for UNO I-
O Psychology graduate
students. It feels good to
get back to my I-O
"roots."
That brings us up-todate,
and I look forward
to the opportunity to get
reacquainted with current
I-O faculty, students and
staff.
Best wishes,
Ron
Student Spotlight:
Erin Gallagher
Researcher
Instructor
Adventurer
Super Grad
What is your position
and what are your
responsibilities?
I am a senior research
assistant and casual
tutor/lecturer in the
School of Business,
Department of
Management, at
Queensland University of
Technology Gardens
Point Campus (QUT),
located in Brisbane,
Queensland, Australia.
We relocated to Australia
in June, and I have been
working at QUT since
August. QUT is one of
the largest Universities in
Queensland, with over
40,000 students, and a
strong emphasis on
applied research and
maintaining close links
with industry partners. I
am working with Dr.
Paul Hyland, and Dr.
Glen Murphy
investigating strategic
asset management and
manually collected data
quality, focusing on how
cost and performance
drivers influence decision
processes. Project
funding is provided by
CIEAM, the Cooperative
Research Centre for
Integrated Engineering
Asset Management.
CIEAM works directly
with leading industry,
government, and research
organisations to develop
innovative solutions and
implement them in a
strategic integrated
framework, creating
significant reductions
in the costs of asset
ownership and
optimising asset
management systems
in Australia. Our
research team works
specifically with the
Australia Submarine
Corporation (ASC)
and the Australia
Nuclear Science
Technology
Organization
(ANSTO) – so we are
looking at how they
manage really big
toys! ASC is located
in Adelaide, Southern
Australia, and
ANSTO in Sydney,
New South Wales,
allowing me the
opportunity to travel
and see other parts of
the country while
doing work that I
love. In the fall
semester (February), I
will begin casual
Cont. on page 15

Meet our new students!
9 10
Dan Harris
I grew up in La Vista, Nebraska and got my B.A.
in Psychology and English at UNO. I have
conducted research in the topic of creativity,
specifically negative creativity, of which I hope to
become an expert in some day. I've also been a part
of Dr. Reiter-Palmon's research group for almost
four years now, helping out in a variety of tasks
such as rating solutions that participants provided
across several studies, entering data, and running
studies. In my free time (or rather, what time I can
take away from doing grad work without feeling
guilty) I like to watch movies and play video games.
After earning my Ph.D. I hope to become a
professor.
Carissa Orth
I grew up in Wichita, Kansas and received my BA
in Psychology from the University of Kansas. ROCK
CHALK! While attending KU, I was a Research
Assistant and helped with a gender stereotyping lab
using deception. Currently, I am working in Lincoln
as a RA for the Center for Children, Families, and the
Law. Besides work and school, I am obsessed with
music and road trips; I love tennis, and KU Basketball.
In my upcoming years in school, I look forward to
learning how to manage my stress better until I
graduate. Otherwise, I hope to attend conferences and
obtain more applied experiences from work.
Sarah Nienhueser
I grew up in Sidney,
Nebraska. I received a
B.S. in Psychology
from UNO, where I also
completed three years of
research under Dr. Roni
Reiter-Palmon. I am
currently enrolled in the
M.S. program, and my
research interests include
creativity, training
personality, and selection. I am serving as a SIOP-UNO
tri-chair, and I’m employed as a Research Assistant at
the Center for Children, Families, and the Law (CCFL)
in Lincoln. CCFL has given me a great opportunity to
become familiar with training evaluation. In my spare
time, I love to run, watch movies, and read for fun. In
the future, I look forward to gaining exposure to various
applied experiences.
Kimberly Bristow
I was born in Southeast
Idaho and lived there
until moving to Omaha to
attend UNO. I received a
BA in Psychology from
Idaho State University. I
also received a Masters of
Counseling degree from
Idaho State University.
I was a licensed clinical
professional
counselor in private practice for 10 years before
making the transition to I/O Psychology. I have been
interested in I/O for years, and I'm very excited about
the transition. When I have free time (ha!), I like to
play around with B&W photography. Since I'm new
to Omaha, I've been spending some time getting
acquainted with the city; and, I spend a fair amount of
time at the dog park with my two sweet dogs (typically
with book & highlighter in tow).
Kami Tracy
I grew up in South Dakota but moved to Omaha
from Kansas City where I had been working in clinical
research while earning my MS in Organizational
Development from Avila University. I began working
in clinical research after graduating from the
University of Kansas with my BS in Molecular
Bioscience, but I also have a BA in Psychology from
Southwest Minnesota State University. While earning
my MS, I completed a thesis on the effects that affect
and affectivity on task performance, and my research
interests are generally focused on the factors that
influence performance. In addition, I am a member of
Psi Chi, SIOP, and SIPPA. Although I grew up in
South Dakota, my immediate family has since settled
in the Omaha area, so I am not only excited to be a
part of the program here at UNO, I am also very
excited to be near my family again and look forward
to making the most of my time here at UNO and in
Omaha!
Clayton Juarez
I grew up near Dallas,
Texas. I got my bachelor's
degree from UNL with a
double major in Psychology
and Religious Studies. My
research interests are still
fairly open, but I am
looking forward to getting
experience teaching and
performing applied research
while I am here.
Andre Hennig
I grew up in Milwaukee, WI and got my BA in
Psychology from the University of Minnesota Twin
Cities, where I was a research assistant in the I/O lab.
I assisted with research on faking in test taking.
During my undergraduate career I worked for the
University YMCA for 4 years. I worked with the Y-
Tutors program, which is a community serving
program that worked in Minneapolis schools to assist
in after school programs aimed at increasing literacy
in K-3 grade students. In my third year with the
YMCA I coordinated the program. I am a huge sports
buff, and a hardcore Green Bay Packers and
Milwaukee Brewers fan. After grad school I would
like to work in the consulting world, probably within
the I side of I/O.
Casey Bowyer
I was born
and raised in
Omaha,
Nebraska. I
attended UNL
for three years,
and returned to
Omaha to finish
a B.A. in
psychology at UNO. I have assisted with projects
and presentations related to counterproductive work
behaviors under Dr. Scherer, and I plan on continuing
with that line of research for my own thesis. I am
currently a teaching assistant and an MA/Ph.D.

11
primarily center around workplace wellness, and I
have completed an internship with the Lincoln-
Lancaster County Health Department. working
with Kawasaki Motors to increase the
nutritional wellness of their employees. Outside of
school, I like spending time with my fiancé and
friends, watching movies, and playing sports. I’m
looking forward to the SIOP conference in
Chicago, the opportunity for additional applied
experiences in graduate school, and I ultimately
plan to graduate with an MS in I/O Psychology
and begin my working career.
Not Pictured: Teresa Queen
Ryan Cillessen
I am from Crete, NE
and I attended the
University of Nebraska-
Lincoln after graduating
from Crete High School.
I graduated from UNL
with a BA in Psychology
and a minor in Sociology.
My research interests
Teresa Queen
I grew-up in Omaha, NE, and received my BS
in Business Administration from Missouri Western
State University where I majored in Marketing. I
received my Masters in Business Administration
from UNO. After receiving my MBA and
performing small business consulting at the
Nebraska Business Development Center, I began
working at First Data in Omaha. Now that I’m
back in school, I look forward to learning the
psychology of work, and combining it with my
previous experiences. In particular I look forward
to conducting research on groups and
communication. My favorite leisure activities are
listening to music, reading, and playing with my
kids.
Submissions Accepted to SIOP 2011
Roberts, S., Scherer, L.L., & Bowyer, C. (2011,
April). Psychological capital as a
moderator of job stress and incivility.
Poster presented at the Society of Industrial
and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
Conference, Chicago, IL.
Jarrett, T.J., Scherer, L.L., & Bowyer, C. (2011,
April). Work-family backlash: Negative
emotions and organizational retaliatory
behavior. Poster presented at the 26th
annual conference of the Society for
Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
Chicago.
Reiter-Palmon, R. (2011, April). Leadership and
employee creativity: The importance of
knowledge sharing. Paper to be presented at
the 26 th annual Society for
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Arreola, N., Robinson-Morral, E., Crough, D.,
Wigert, B., Hullsiek, B., & Reiter-Palmon,
R. (2011, April). Creativity in teams: The
role of shared mental models. Paper to be
presented at the 26 th annual Society for
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Crough, D., Robinson-Morral, E., Arreola, N.,
Wigert, B., Hullsiek, B., & Reiter-Palmon,
R. (2011, April). Influence of team potency
and task conflict on team creativity. Paper
to be presented at the 26 th annual Society
for Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Keeny, M. J., Reiter-Palmon, R., & de Vreede, T.
(2011, April). Adjusting military leadership
styles for success in military advising.
Paper to be presented at the 26 th annual
Society for Industrial/Organizational
Psychology Meeting, Chicago, IL.
C. Allen Gorman, Ph.D. (’04) was named to the
editorial board of the Journal of
Business and Psychology.
Calvin Hoffman, Ph.D. (’84) received the
2010 Innovations in Assessment awared
from IPAC. A paper on the Angoffcut
score method modifications he devised in
collaboration with his colleagues,
Chy Tahsima and Gypsi Luck, is in press.
Ken Jordan, (’93) and Shar (Whigham) Jordan,
(’91) have two teenage daugheters who enjoy
scuba diving and dirtying biking with their
parents. The Jordans live in Coloerado, where
Ken owns a consulting firm specializing in
hiring and pre-employment assessmesnts. Shar
is the VP of Client Services at Thomson
Reuters where she is responsible for training,
tech support, customer service, technical
implementations and documentation for the
healthcare provider division.
Weekly, J., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Hullsiek, B.
(2011, April). Career velocity and
challenging work experiences. Paper to be
presented at the 26 th annual Society for
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Young Illies, M., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2011,
April). The effect of value congruence on
mentoring relationships and outcomes.
Paper to be presented at the 26 th annual
Society for Industrial/Organizational
Psychology Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Celebrate! Alumni News
Kevin Reindl, M.S. (’94) recently presented at
APA with a practitioner’s symposium on Job
Component Validity along with another UNO
Alumnus, Cal Hoffman. He is currently a Sr.
Human Resources Research Advisor at Sempra
Energy in San Diego where he has been
primarily responsible for the selection and
assessment arm of their research group. He has
also been involved with a wide variety of other
research activities including succession
management, career development, change
readiness, and internal customer satisfaction
surveys. Kevin’s oldest son, Josh, is in his 3 rd
year of college in Wisconsin, and his other son
recently turned 2½. Kevin continues to enjoy
running marathons and the occasional longboard
surfing lesson.
Kelly Strom, M.S. (’09) accepted a new position
with University of Phoenix as Regional Director
of Learning and Professional Development for the
Southeast Region.
Submissions Accepted to SIOP 2011: Continued
Saathoff, K. I., & Scherer, L.L. (2011, April). Adapting to
abuse: Roles of job satisfaction and emotional
intelligence. In J. Schaffer (Chair), Victims and
Observers: Individual Differences as Moderators
of Abusive Supervision. Symposium conducted at
the meeting of the Society for Industrial &
Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.
Reynolds, K., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Keeny, M. J.
(2011, April). Representing components
of human behavior in behavioral
simulators. Paper to be presented at the
26 th annual Society for
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Meeting, Chicago, IL.
12

13 14
Departmental Publications and Presentations: The Year in Review
Armenta, B. E., & Ryan, C. S. (in press). Academic
success among Black Americans in the era of
Obama: Potential changes in the stereotype
threat effect. In L. A. Barker (Ed.), Color
and character: The changing discourse on
race and culture in the age of
Obama. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.
Bartell, F., Lacy, C., Moraczewski, M., Nodlinski,
T., Norris, S., Prasse, K., Thomalla, A., &
Zielinski, K. (2010). Collaborating with the
private sector. U.S. Strategic Command’s
Global Innovation and Strategy Center.
Bowyer, C., Roberts, S., & Scherer, L.L. (2009,
October). The role of abusive supervision in
workplace deviance. Poster presented at the
Nebraska Psychological Society Conference,
Omaha, NE.
Callens, A., Hullsiek, B., & Stephens, S. (April,
2010). Selection and Evaluation of an
Organizational Facilitator. Poster
Presentation at the UNO Student Research &
Creative Activity Fair, Omaha, NE.
Callens, A., & Scherer, L.L. (2010, Nov.).Rules for
others but not for me: Mood and judgment
criteria in the evaluation self-generated and
other-generated solutions. Poster presented
at the Annual Meeting of the Society for
Judgment and Decision Making, St. Louis.
Casas, J. F., & Ryan, C. S. (2010). How Latinos are
transforming the United States: Research,
theory, and policy. Journal of Social Issues,
66, 1-10.
Faurote, E., Scherer, L.L., & Johnson, D. (2011,
May). Work-school conflict and satisfaction:
The buffering effect of physical activity on
job satisfaction. Paper presented at the
Annual Meeting of Work, Stress, and
Health, Orlando, FL.
Gaston, M. (2010). Psychological contracts and
experiences of organizational justice of
meatpacking workers in Nebraska. Journal
of Latino-Latin American Studies.
Gaston, M. & Alexander, A. (2010, May). Immigration, A
Catholic Perspective. S.J., Catholic Comments
Podcast, Omaha, NE.
Gaston, M. & Ruskamp, E. (2010, March). Effects of
Immigration on Rural Nebraska. Nebraska
Development) Social Issues Seminar, Creighton
University, Omaha, NE.
Gwartney, M. Scherer, L., & Roberts, S. (2009, February).
Workplace Entitlement Scale: A validation study.
Poster presented at the Deffenbacher Research
Fair, Omaha, NE.
Hanson, N., Berg, K., Deka, P., Meendering, J., & Ryan,
C. S. (in press). Oxygen cost of running barefoot
versus running shod. International Journal of
Sports Medicine.
Hillard, A. L., Ryan, C. S., & Gervais, S. J. (2010). How
teachers present the IAT influences students’
reactions. Poster presented at the annual
convention of the Association for Psychological
Science, Boston, Massachusetts.
Hullsiek, B., & Thomalla, A. K. (2010). Employee
spirituality and well-being as predictors of job
burnout. Poste presented at the Kenneth
Deffenbacher Research Festival in Psychology at
the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Hullsiek, B., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Weekly, J. (August,
2010). Leadership Experiences and Level of
Leadership. Paper accepted for presentation at
American Psychological Association Conference,
San Diego, CA.
Judd, C. M., McClelland, G. H., & Ryan, C. S.
(2009). Data analysis: A model comparison
approach (2 nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Kurebayashi, K., Hoffman, L., Ryan, C. S., & Murayama,
A. (in press). American and Japanese perceptions
of group entitativity and autonomy.Journal of
Cross-Cultural Psychology.
Reiter-Palmon, R., Wigert, B., & DeVreede, T. (in press).
Team Creativity and Innovation: The Effect of
Group Composition, Social Processes and
Roberts, S., & Gwartney, M. (2009, March).
Entitlement as a moderator of workplace
favoritism and incivility. Poster presented at the
University of Nebraska at Omaha Research
Fair, Omaha, NE.
Roberts, S., & Scherer, L.L. (2009, February). The
moderating effect of impulsivity on abusive
supervision and incivility. Poster presented at
the meeting of Industrial Organizational and
Organizational Behavior, Chicago, IL.
Roberts, S., & Scherer, L.L (2010, August). Incivility as
a function of workplace favoritism and
employee impulsivity. Poster presented at the
American Psychological Association
Convention, San Diego, CA.
Roberts, S., & Scherer, L.L., & Hennig, A. (2011,
May).Preventing burnout with Psychological
Capital.Poster presented at the Annual Meeting
of Work, Stress, and Health.
Roberts, S., & Scherer, L.L. (2011). No harm in playing
favorites? Think again. A quasi-experimental
study exploring the antecedents of incivility.
Manuscript under review at the Journal of
Managerial Psychology.
Roberts, S., & Scherer, L L.(2011). Job stress and
incivility: Role of Psychological Capital.
Manuscript under review at the Journal of
Leadership and Organizational Studies
Robinson, E., Reiter-Palmon, R., Kaufman, J., Ashley,
G., & Wigert, B. (2010, April). Is Self
Evaluation of Creativity a Useful Criterion?
Poster accepted to the 2009 Society for
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
annual convention, Atlanta, GA.
Ryan, C. S., & Casas, J. F. (Eds.) (2010.) Special issue
of the Journal of Social Issues: Latinos and
Latino Immigrants in the U.S.
Ryan, C. S., Casas, J. F., & Thompson, B. K.
(2009). Interethnic ideology, intergroup
perceptions, and cultural orientation. Informal
paper presented at the annual meeting of the
Society of Experimental Social Psychology,
Portland, Maine.
Ryan, C. S., Casas, J. F., Kelly-Vance, L., Ryalls, B. O.,
& Nero, C. (2010). Parent involvement and
views of school success: The role of parents’
Latino and White American cultural
orientations. Psychology in the Schools, 47, 391-
405.
Ryan, C. S., Shively, R., & Butler, J.
(2010). Multicultural, assimilation, and
colorblind interethnic ideologies: Conceptual
and empirical distinctions. Paper presented at the
Biennial Convention of the Society for the
Psychological Study of Social Issues, New
Orleans, Louisana.
Scherer, L.L., Callens, A., Roberts, S., Shively, R.,
Jarrett, T., & Robinson, E. (2009, September).
Employment skills training of young mothers.
Interactive workshop session presented at the
Midwest Consortium for Service-Learning in
Higher Education, Omaha, NE.
Thompson, B. K., Welsh-Wooten, L. S., Synowicki, A.,
& Ryan, C. S. (2010). Beyond gender differences
in mate preferences: The relationship between
personal goals and mate preferences. Poster
presented at the annual meeting of the Society
for Personality and Social Psychology, Las
Vega, Nevada.
Thompson, B., Welsh-Wooten, L. S., Synowicki, A., &
Ryan, C. (2010, January). Beyond gender
differences in mate preferences: The relationship
between personal goals and mate preferences.
Poster session at the meeting of the Society for
Personality and Social Psychology, Las Vegas,
NV.
Wigert, B., Reiter-Palmon, R., Kaufman, J., & Silvia, P.
(2011, August). Are perfectionists creative? The
relationship between perfectionism dimensions
and creativity. Poster accepted to the 2011
American Psychological Association
Convention, Washington, D.C.

.
15 3 16
From the Desk of Dr. Lisa Scherer: cont.
training class are developing an e-learning
component of process improvement training for
the Veteran’s Administration, something that all
200, 000 employees are to read and know but thus
far have been bored by and ignored. The students’
version is much jazzier and user friendly.
Community engagement is a priority at
UNO, and I’ve had a blast getting involved in
wellness, recently accepting a position on the
UNO Wellness Committee as well as
subcontracting with Wellness Council of the
Midlands on a grant awarded by the CDC to
Douglas County Health Department for $5.7
million. Our job is to go into corporations and
discuss their wellness at work programs and
encourage the adoption of at least one well
workplace POLICY as required by the Partners for
a Healthy City. Doctoral students Eric Faurote and
Rebecca Shively are working on this grant as
community trainers with me.
We had several students in our research
group submit papers to SIOP and to Work Stress
and Health conferences, and we are happy to
report that 3 papers were accepted to SIOP
(Chicago, April 2011) and 2 papers were accepted
to Work Stress, and Health (Orlando, May
2011).Several students in the program have papers
under review at various journals so things are
hoppin! I hope you are all well. Hug your loved
ones and don’t take them for granted.
Fondly,
Lisa
Industry Trends: Corporate Wellness
binge drinking. Omaha’s ranking combined with a
nationally respected community infrastructure
supporting wellness contributed to Douglas County
being awarded a $5.7 million grant: Communities
Putting Prevention to Work.
The grant is spread across 9 initiatives. One of
these initiatives, Partners for a Healthy City, the focus
of WELCOM’s efforts, asked for assistance from
Professor Lisa Scherer and graduate students Eric
Faurote and Rebecca Shively. Over the next two years
they will be working with companies in the greater
Omaha area to develop and implement policies
promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The tag
line for this project is “Make the healthy choice the
easy choice.” Through their work they hope to make
Omaha a healthy place to live and strive. It is further
hoped that by this exposure of the I-O psychology
program to Omaha companies might facilitate more
internship and job placement opportunities in addition
to providing necessary “real world” perspectives to
inform Lisa and Eric’s research interest in wellness.
Alumni Dinner: SIOP 2010
Eleven students went to SIOP this year, each of
whom returned with more connections, more
experience, and more knowledge about their field. As
always, our alumni dinner provided the perfect setting
for current and former students to connect, and proved
to current students that graduation is indeed possible.
We can only hope for a repeat of the SIOP 2010
experience next year in Chicago.
Student Spotlight: Erin Gallagher
teaching in the School of Management; starting with
Intro to Management and Organisational Behaviour.
How would you describe your typical day at the
office?
My typical day is no different from any other
research or teaching position – a lot of time is spent in
front of a computer identifying, reading, and
summarizing articles, analysing data, and writing
conference submissions and journal manuscripts.
Something completely new to me is working entirely
with qualitative data; all data for this project thus far
is in the form of interviews and focus groups, which
will be used to establish the framework for the
decision making typology we are developing. We
also have a partnership with a software development
firm, who in the final stage of the project will use our
framework to develop decision support system
software; essentially allowing organisations to
identify where they can reduce costs and improve
performance focusing on how the suggested changes
will impact other areas of the organisation. The
organisations with whom we are working have
budgets of $200 million per year or more. Over the
course of the project we will move from qualitative
research to quantitative research for pilot testing and,
ultimately, validation studies and software
development. I am thankful that I took a course in
qualitative research at UNO. I am also grateful that I
gained experience working with qualitative data
through research group with Dr. Scherer, not to
mention the other projects in which I participated
while at UNO. That experience is, without question,
the experience which gave me the edge over other
applicants. The strong quantitative statistics
background I gained while at UNO was another
definitive factor in obtaining the position.
What is Australian culture like?
Adjusting to the Australian culture has been a
fascinating learning experience. Australian culture
takes the work/life balance very seriously. In most
industries, organisations tend to fall more heavily to
the “life” side of the equation relative to most US
organizations. An Australian I met summed it up as,
“This is not the US where you live to work, this is
Australia where you work to live.” The culture shock
from that single sentiment was, to be honest, pretty
hard. I had been used to seeing people work at least
40 hours per week (if they wanted to get ahead, they
3
also went home and worked from there for a few
hours); here, the average full-time contract is written
psychology at 38 hours per at UNO. week and I have anything assisted further with is projects payable
and as overtime. presentations Buildings related at to the counterproductive campus do not work open
behaviors, until 8:00 am and and plan buildings on continuing lock at with 9:00 that pm, line unless of
research you get approval for my own for thesis. non-normal I am currently hour’s access; a teaching Paul
assistant told me “you for undergraduate should never psychology be here after courses, 9:00 pm, and and
never on a weekend. That is your personal time for
you.” My colleagues in the Department have been
very kind and accepting of me, and Glen likes to
tease me and say that for an I/O Psychologist, I am
normal. My joining the research team has brought a
new perspective shared by everyone, and overall
creates a nice balance between my colleagues’
management background and qualitative expertise
and my I/O background and quantitative training.
Are there advantages to working in Australia as
opposed to the US?
Australian law is very heavily weighted
toward the worker; this is especially true in an
academic setting. For example, Australian law
requires that an employer contribute a minimum of
9% of an employee’s salary to a superfund (think
401k), at QUT the university contributes 17% and the
worker an additional 7% (unless they choose to opt
out of it). Another example would be “leave
loading.” Leave loading is essentially when the
employer pays you more (usually about 15%) when
you are on leave than when you are at work; I know,
it seems counter-intuitive but they will pay you
additional money to take vacation!
All travel for work is paid for, as is travel for
conferences, regardless of the location and including
Visa fees. Researchers here attend mostly
international conferences in Europe, Asia, and the
United States. Unfortunately it is a long flight to
attend those conferences! There are multiple
continuing education/advancement workshops
available as well, including workshops on advanced
research methods and statistics. The best thing about
Queensland Australia is that we do not get snow!

17 3
Are there any disadvantages to working in
Australia?
Changing my mindset to spell Organization
as Organisation and Behavior as Behaviour! Also,
publications are taken very seriously in Australian
academics; tenure does not exist, so publishing is
important and emphasised if you want to stay
employed. The politics here in Australia are very
different from the US, perhaps it is due to fewer
lobbyists but there is usually little or no notice
given when the government decides to make a
change; the change can be decided upon and
announced as effective within just a few hours –
definitely a challenge to practitioners! In
discussions with my colleagues they all emphasize
the importance of staying up to date with changes
in legislature, as the changes are effective
immediately and even delaying a few weeks can
result in substantial monetary losses to an
organisation should grievances be lodged.
What are your career goals?
Working at QUT is a pivotal point in my
career development, as my ultimate goal is to
obtain a full-time lecturer position and pursue an
academic/research career. That was my driving
aspiration for applying for this position; I knew it
could serve as a starting point and platform to
learn the University system here in Australia,
which is different in many ways from the
University system in the United States. I have
fantastic mentors helping me learn the culture,
values, and pedagogical philosophy that is critical
to know prior to pursuing a lecturing position. For
example, a bachelor’s degree is earned in 3 years,
with the 4 th year being reserved for those
completing an honours thesis--the entire year is
devoted to only their research. Advanced degrees,
whether Masters or Ph.D., have a heavier emphasis
on research than coursework, and the expectation
is for research to be conducted with an industry
partner.
Advising a thesis student is quite different from in the
US, in that the supervisor is rather hands-off in the
project until it is complete and being prepared for
sending out to faculty at other Universities for
evaluation.
How do you spend your leisure time?
With the cultural emphasis on home life here in
Australia, I am blessed to have ample time to spend
with my family. Most often, we spend time exploring
nearby; we will pick a direction, load up a cooler,
swimming gear, fishing gear (when Gary gets his way),
and anything else we might need to have on a miniadventure.
Mostly, we have explored the coast. We
have gone hiking in Noosa Heads where we saw our
first wild Koala 25 feet from where we parked the car
(after we hiked 5 miles looking for one of course). We
have gone swimming on the Sunshine Coast, diving at
the Great Barrier Reef, rode our motorcycle through the
mountains and the bush, and watched the surfers on the
Gold Coast at the infamous Surfer’s Paradise beach.
During my lunch hour, I can take a walk through the
Brisbane botanical gardens or cross the river to South
Bank (which I think is where all of the University
students go to skip class) where there is a sand beach,
shopping, and a lot of bars.
Though a scary move to make, leaving all
behind and starting over in a new country thousands of
miles from home, I am glad we made the choice, and
believe it will enhance my knowledge base and
contribute to my success as an academic. I cannot
express enough how much I believe that any individual,
new student, graduate or alumni, should embrace any
opportunity to study and/or work abroad – the benefits
go beyond what words can describe.
Cheers,
Erin C. Gallagher
Senior Research Assistant, School of Business,
Department of Management
erin.gallagher@qut.edu.au
+61 450 303 945
Stay in Touch!
Throughout this
newsletter many pointsof-contact
are provided.
Please note our primary
methods of staying in
touch with you:
Linked-In: UNO I/O
Psychology Group
E-mail: rreiter –palmon
@unomaha.edu
Department contact info.
See below
Psychology Department
6001 Dodge St.
Omaha, NE 68182-0274
402.554.2581 ph
402.554.2556 fax
www.unomaha.edu/psych/
Upcoming Events
• Industrial-Organizational Psychology/Organizational Behavior (IOOB)
Conference 2011
March 4-6 th
Graduate student ONLY conference
Alliant International University, San Diego, CA
• UNO Research Fair
April 5-6 th
Undergraduate and graduate student research showcase
• Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference 2011
April 14-16 th
Chicago, Illinois
• American Psychological Association 2011 Convention
August 4-7 th
Washington, DC
18 3