Neal Schmitt, PhD - Michigan State University

TITLE: Objectively Scored Alternatives to SAT/ACT Scores and High School Grades in College Admissions (March 2013) (46 min.) LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 1. Explain how non-cognitive admission measures provide alternative predictors for college admissions decisions when compared with cognitive admission measures. 2. Compare how racial composition of the student body could be altered by using both cognitive and non-cognitive admission measures rather than just using cognitive measures. ABSTRACT: This is an intermediate-level presentation. SAT/ACT scores, HSGPA, biodata, and situational judgment tests were correlated with college GPA, self-reported performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and class absenteeism. SAT/ACT and HSGPA were best correlated with college GPA, but alternative predictors best predicted other outcomes. The racial composition of a student body selected using just cognitive measures or both cognitive and non-cognitive measures in various scenarios is also reported. BIOGRAPHY: Neal Schmitt obtained his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1972 in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and is currently University Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Michigan State University. He was editor of Journal of Applied Psychology from 1988-1994 and has served on a dozen editorial boards. He has also been a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. He has received the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology's Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award (1999) and its Distinguished Service Contributions Award (1998). He served as the Society's President in 1989-90 and as the President of Division 5 of APA (Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics). Schmitt is a Fellow of Divisions 5 and 14, APA, and APS. He was also awarded the Heneman Career Achievement Award and the Career Mentoring Award from the Human Resources Division of the Academy of Management and Distinguished Career Award from the Research Methods Division of the Academy of Management. He has coauthored three textbooks, Staffing Organizations with Ben Schneider and Rob Ployhart, Research Methods in Human Resource Management with Richard Klimoski, Personnel Selection with David Chan, edited the Handbook of Assessment and Selection, and co-edited Personnel Selection in Organizations with Walter Borman and Measurement and Data Analysis with Fritz Drasgow and published approximately 170 peer-reviewed articles. His current research centers on the effectiveness of organizations’ selection procedures and the outcomes of these procedures, particularly as they relate to subgroup employment and applicant reactions and behavior. Over the past ten years, he has also been working on the development and validation of non-cognitive measures for college admissions, work that was funded by the College Board.