BCBA Supervisor Responsibilities and Other Information

Thank you for agreeing to provide BCBA practicum supervision for a student in the Applied Behavior Analysis program at Russell Sage College. We appreciate your support.

This contract describes the formal relationship between the BCBA Supervisor, Russell Sage College and the Applied Behavior Analysis clinical practicum student. This contract covers the 12-15 week supervisory period indicated on the next page.

BCBA’s Responsibilities to Sage and the Student

The following information is from the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB). This describes the requirements for acceptable supervision. By signing this contract, you agree to abide by these rules. Please visit www.bacb.com for more details.

  • The applicant’s primary focus should be on learning new behavior analytic skills related to the BACB Fourth Edition Task List. Activities must adhere to the dimensions of applied behavior analysis identified by Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968) in the article “Some Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis” published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Applicants are encouraged to have experiences in multiple sites and with multiple supervisors.
  • The BCBA must also be a Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) within the state that they are providing supervision in. NYSED requires supervision by an LBA, and we adhere to all NYSED standards.
  • The BCBA/LBA must provide 2 hours of supervision per week to the supervisee, per NYSED standards.
  • The BCBA must be employed by the setting in which experience is being accrued, or must be appointed by the agency.
  • The BCBA must be able to verify that they are eligible to supervise by submitting their CV, 8-hour BACB supervisor training (CEU and screen shot), 3 supervision CEUs from current cycle, BACB attest form, and LBA (certificate). The student will be required to submit your supervision contract as well.
  • Anyone who is seeking payment will receive payment 8-10 weeks after the semester ends, if they have completed the appropriate paperwork at the start and end of the semester (including the W-9).

Appropriate Experience Activities

  • Conducting assessment activities related to the need for behavioral interventions.
  • Designing, implementing, and monitoring behavior analysis programs for clients.
  • Overseeing the implementation of behavior analysis programs by others.
  • Other activities normally performed by a behavior analyst that are directly related to behavior analysis such as attending planning meetings regarding the behavior analysis program, researching the literature related to the program, talking to individuals about the program; plus any additional activities related to oversight of behavioral programming such as behavior analyst supervision issues or evaluation of behavior analysts’ performance. The supervisor will determine if activities qualify.

Examples of activities that are not appropriate as experience activities include:

  • Attending meetings with little or no behavior analytic content
  • Providing interventions that are not based in behavior analysis
  • Doing non-behavior analytic administrative activities
  • Any other activities that are not directly related to behavior analysis

Appropriate Clients:

  • Clients may be any persons for whom behavior analysis services are appropriate. However, the applicant may not be related to the client or the client’s primary caretaker.
  • Students must work with at least five (5) different clients during the experience period.

Supervisor Qualifications:

  • During the experience period, the supervisor must be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Licensed Behavior Analyst in good standing in the state that they are providing supervision.
  • The supervisor may not be the applicant’s relative, subordinate or employee during the experience period. The supervisor will not be considered an employee of the applicant if the only compensation received by the supervisor from the applicant consists of payment for supervision.
  • The supervisor must meet the BACB requirements for supervisors, including successful completion of an 8-hour BACB-approved supervision course, and the BACB-required supervision and experience module.
  • The supervisor must be an employee of the agency for which experience is being accrued, or must be appointed by the agency.

Contractual and Ethical Considerations:

  • The supervisor and applicant will both adhere to the BACB Guidelines for Responsible Conduct. The parties should pay particular attention to Sections 1, 2, and 3 of the Guidelines. Payment may be withheld from a BCBA supervisor found to be in violation of the BACB Guidelines for Responsible Conduct.
  • The BCBA supervisor or the student may decide to terminate the agreement before the expressed end date on this contract by providing the other with their intent in writing.

Nature of Supervision:

  • The student is expected to work for 17-20 hours per week at their hosting agency and may not exceed 25 hours per week.
  • Practicum allows for 7.5%-10% of the total hours to be supervised, and a supervisory period is one week. The BCBA supervisor will be responsible for one (1) to two (2) hours of supervision per week.
  • Supervisors are expected to provide supervision consistent with the BACB requirements.
  • Supervision hours may be counted toward the total number of experience hours required.

Documentation of Supervision:

  • Supervisors are responsible for providing documentation for each supervisory period (each supervisory period is 1 week). Supervisors are required to provide 2 hours of supervision per week across the semester, to accrue no less then 250 hours and no more than 375 hours, for a total of at least nineteen (19) hours on a BACB Fieldwork and Practicum Experience Supervision Forms provided by the BACB.
  • The supervisor is required to fill out a Supervision Summary Form for each instance in which supervision occurs.
  • The BACB Fieldwork and Practicum Experience Supervision Forms will require documentation of number of hours of experience, number of supervised hours, feedback on the student’s performance, the supervisor for each supervisory period, and signatures of the applicant and supervisor. The supervisor must review the completed feedback forms with the student.
  • The student should receive the original forms in case the BACB requests them when applying for the BCBA exam. The supervisor and the student are responsible for retaining their copies of the forms (in event of a disagreement regarding experience, the BACB will need documentation from each party). The BACB reserves the right to request this documentation at any time following an individual’s application to take the certification exam.
  • The supervisor will be required to verify the applicant’s supervision on the Experience Verification Form that is provided within the application for examination.
  • The supervisor should provide guidance, feedback, and shaping of the application of behavioral skills to the supervisee.
  • The supervisor should provide guidance feedback, and support to the supervisee in completing activities that are part of the online practicum courses (without completing the activities for the supervisee).
  • The supervisor must use the indicated link below, by the expressed due date at the end of each semester, to verify the number of supervision hours for the current term and apply for payment (if applicable). The practicum student is responsible for reminding the supervisor when this date is approaching. Students will not receive a grade in practicum until their supervision hours have been documented by the supervisor.

Sage’s Responsibilities

  • Sage will compensate the BCBA Supervisor at the rate of $75.00 per supervisory hour for a 12-15 week session, which equals 19 hours of supervision, for a total of no more than $1425.00 per semester. The evidence of the number of hours supervised by you will be your submission at the end of the semester.
  • Sage will provide mileage reimbursement up to $300.00 to the BCBA Supervisor at the Sage approved rate of $.535 per mile if you must travel to meet your supervision requirements. Requests should be made while applying for payment and by submitting the Travel Expense form.
  • Payment in full will be sent to you at the end of the semester after the supervisor applies for payment. Payments will be sent within 6-8 weeks weeks after the last day of the semester. Payment materials received after the submission deadline will be sent 6-8 weeks after payment materials are received. (International payments may take longer.)
  • Any fees the BCBA Supervisor charges in excess of the above stated terms are not the responsibility of Russell Sage College.
  • The student may choose to pay the supervisor directly for any excess fees or choose another BCBA Supervisor.
  • Russell Sage College is required to collect the appropriate taxation documents for any individual or business that collects more than $600 per year through contracted services with Sage. Please fill out a W-9 (U.S. citizens only). This form only needs to be completed one time, unless your information needs to be updated.

BACB Approval Form

Apply for Payment

PLEASE NOTE: verifying hours and requesting payment have been separated into two forms for your privacy. Students will only need to have a copy of the hours submission. WITHOUT both forms, we will not be able to issue the stipend. Payments take about 8 weeks from the end of the semester to be received. The practicum student you work with will provide you with the current links to the necessary forms.

Be sure to select the correct semester of supervision. If you don’t see the semester as an option, please email [email protected].

If this is the first time you are supervising one of our students, we must receive a W-9 form, linked below. Payments will not be processed without a W-9 on file.

Travel Expense Form: Fill out the highlighted portions and e-mail to [email protected] if you must travel to and from the practicum site each week.

Direct Deposit: Fill out the form and attach a voided check or letter from your banking institution with routing and account numbers.

W-9: One time only for U.S. residents! Continuing supervisors (or agencies if applicable) will not need to complete this form each semester.

The W-9 must be filled out for an individual collecting the stipend or on behalf of an agency collecting the stipend that resides or operates within the United States. Be sure to use your personal information if a person is accepted the stipend. If a corporation is accepting the stipend, please use the company’s information and tax identification number.

To ensure privacy, any of these forms can be emailed, as an attachment, to [email protected], faxed to Accounts Payable at 518-244-2027 or mailed to:

Russell Sage College
Esteves School of Education
Center for Applied Behavior Analysis
65 First Street
Troy, NY 12180

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