Standard Celebration Society

“The values of the SCS that guide behavior in fulfilling the mission include acknowledgement and appreciation of the founding principles and applications of our science.”
the SCS Board of Directors

The Standard Celeration Society (SCS) became an ABAI special interest group (SIG) in 1995. The mission of the SCS aims to uphold and advance the defining features and conventions of the Standard Celeration Chart. The SCS strives to be a friendly and enduring forum, supporting application and dissemination of standard celeration charting across an expanding range of practitioners and other stakeholders. The values of the SCS that guide behavior in fulfilling the mission include acknowledgement and appreciation of the founding principles and applications of our science (e.g., “standing on the shoulders of giants”), generosity in our interactions with others, driving and embracing change, social beneficence, commitment to evidence-based practice, and having fun. Since 2015, the SCS has employed an organizational structure composed of a board of directors and volunteer leadership teams that actively work toward implementing new and maintaining current initiatives designed to further the organization’s mission.

We have an active board of directors consisting of five members on 3-yr terms, an executive director, vice presidents, associate vice presidents, and committee members. The board of directors provide guidance and decision making for the SCS executive director, who carries out board initiatives with vice presidents, associate vice presidents, and volunteers. Current leadership teams include finance, programs, membership, scientific and academic relations, non-conference programs, operations, marketing, communications, international relations, diversity, and website services. Our leadership teams have actively developed the underlying systems to support the SIG’s structure and facilitated institutional memory as individuals’ transition into leadership roles, an important component for voluntary leadership teams to maintain productivity.

Currently, the SCS has several active priority initiatives underway. First, the SCS is currently redesigning the central website for the SIG (www.celeration.org). While some components of the new website are already in place, we are completing the development of several other features, including a redesigned member gateway, free continuing education opportunities for members, publication resources, training program locations for students interested in academic training, and digital chart share. Membership in the SCS also offers additional benefits not available to nonmembers including discounted rates to the conference each year, access to the historical publication database of the Journal of Precision Teaching and Celeration, and soon to be announced web-based continuing education events. The fees range from sustaining membership for $100, full membership for $50, and student membership for $25.

The second initiative focuses on highlighting our organization’s entrepreneurial members such that their skills, insights, and strategies developed over decades of business development in the area of precision teaching can be made available to others looking to start their own businesses. This is an exciting time to become involved with the SCS, as this organization has a long history of entrepreneurs creating successful operations that provide clinical/educational services outside the mainstream of applied behavior analysis.

Third, the SCS has developed strategic alliances with both the Cambridge Center for Behavior Studies (CCBS), the OBM Network, and most recently, Black Applied Behavior Analysts (BABA). We also have partnered with The Applied Behavior Analysis Center (ABAC) to produce webinars related to the application and use of the Standard Celeration Chart and Precision Teaching.

Fourth, the SCS is introducing two new conferences in addition to our annual fall conference. We will offer a virtual one-day conference in the summer and each year the event will focus on a different concentration in our field. This year’s presentations are related to autism and are scheduled for July 23. We also are hosting an international conference. The event is scheduled for February 18-19, 2022 in Galway, Ireland at the Galway Bay Hotel. The keynote speakers will be Dr. Richard Kubina and Dr. Kent Johnson.

Finally, our 34th Annual Conference of the Standard Celeration Society will be held November 11-13 in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Tradewinds Hotel. The conference spans three days, with the first day offering interactive workshops for practitioners and scientists of all kinds. The last two days feature invited and submitted symposium, panel, and paper presentations. We continue to monitor the COVID 19 data and are simultaneously planning for both in person and virtual options. The safety of our attendees is our priority, and we will make a decision accordingly.

Please visit www.celeration.org for more information regarding all of our upcoming conferences. The SCS eagerly welcomes new charters and members into our community. This nurturing group is full of brilliant and seasoned professionals who are always willing to offer advice or mentorship. Simply become a member and see the opportunities accelerate!