Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel
Content Model and Classification Recommendations
APPENDIX A
About the Panel
Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel
Content Model and Classification Recommendations
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Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel
Content Model and Classification Recommendations
APPENDIX A
About the Occupational Information Development Panel
Official Designation: The Committee is entitled the Occupational Information
Development Advisory Panel, established by Michael J. Astrue,
Commissioner of Social Security, on December 9, 2008.
Objective and Scope of Activities: This discretionary Panel, established under
the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, as amended (hereinafter
referred to as “the FACA”), shall report to the Commissioner of Social
Security (“Commissioner”). The Panel will provide independent advice and
recommendations on plans and activities to replace the Dictionary of
Occupational Titles used in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA)
disability determination process. The Panel shall advise the Agency on
creating an occupational information system tailored specifically for SSA’s
disability programs and adjudicative needs. Advice and recommendations
will relate to SSA’s disability programs in the following areas: medical and
vocational analysis of disability claims; occupational analysis, including
definitions, ratings and capture of physical and mental/cognitive demands of
work and other occupational information critical to SSA disability programs;
data collection; use of occupational information in SSA’s disability programs;
and any other area(s) that would enable SSA to develop an occupational
information system suited to its disability programs and improve the medical-
vocational adjudication policies and processes.
Description of Duties: While the Panel’s role is solely advisory, the duties of
the Panel include, but are not limited to: attendance at meetings; review of
relevant materials; and participation in presentations, discussions, and
deliberations to prepare and deliver recommendations to the Commissioner.
Panel Membership: The Panel shall be comprised of not more than 12
members, including: a) members of academia recognized as experts in
relevant subject areas such as occupational analysis, vocational assessment,
and physical and occupational rehabilitation; b) professional experts in
relevant subject areas, such as vocational rehabilitation, forensic vocational
assessment, and disability insurance programs; c) medical professionals with
experience in relevant subject areas, such as occupational or physical
rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry or psychology, and physical or
occupational therapy; d) professional experts who represent or advocate on
behalf of persons with disabilities; and, e) an SSA representative with
expertise in SSA’s disability program policies, processes and systems.
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Member appointments may be made by the Commissioner for a period of two
years. Members who are not full time Federal officers or employees shall
serve as Special Government Employees under the authority of 5 U.S.C. §
3109. Members shall receive compensation for time spent on the Panel’s
behalf and reimbursement for travel expenses in accordance with the FACA
and its implementing regulations.
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Members and Social Security Administration Staff
Panel Members
Gunnar B. J. Andersson, M.D., Ph.D.
Mary Barros-Bailey, Ph.D.— Chair
Robert T. Fraser, Ph.D.
Shanan Gwaltney Gibson, Ph.D.
Thomas A. Hardy, J.D.
Sylvia E. Karman, Project Director
Deborah E. Lechner, PT, MS
Lynnae M. Ruttledge, Director, WA VR Services
David J. Schretlen, Ph.D.
Nancy G. Shor, J.D.
Mark A. Wilson, Ph.D.
Mental Cognitive Subcommittee
David J. Schretlen, Ph.D.—Chair
Robert T. Fraser, Ph.D.
Sylvia E. Karman, Project Director
Physical Demands Subcommittee
Deborah E. Lechner, PT, MS—Chair
Gunnar Andersson, M.D., Ph.D
Mary Barros-Bailey, Ph.D.
Sylvia E. Karman, Project Director
Work Experience Analysis Subcommittee
Thomas A. Hardy, J.D.—Chair
Mary Barros-Bailey, Ph.D.
Sylvia E. Karman, Project Director
Lynnae M. Ruttledge, Director, WA VR Services
Nancy G. Shor, J.D.
User Needs and Relations Subcommittee
Sylvia E. Karman, Project Director.—Chair
Mary Barros-Bailey, Ph.D.
Lynnae M. Ruttledge, Director, WA VR Services
Nancy G. Shor, J.D.
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Work Taxonomy and Classification Subcommittee
Mark A. Wilson, Ph.D.—Chair
Shanan Gwaltney Gibson, Ph.D.
Occupational Information Development (OID) Staff
Office of Program Development and Research
Michael Dunn, Social Insurance Specialist
Debbie Harkin, Social Insurance Specialist
R.J. Harvey, Industrial/Organizational Psychologist
Sylvia Karman, Project Director
Sika Koudou, SCEP Student
Robert Pfaff, Senior Analyst
Shirleen Roth, Senior Analyst
Debra Tidwell-Peters, Designated Federal Officer
Mark Trapani, Senior Analyst
Elaina Wise, Staff Assistant
Occupational Information System Workgroup (members in addition to the
OID staff)
Tom Johns, Branch Chief, Office of Quality Performance, Dallas
Kristen King, Administrative Appeals Judge, Appeals Council, Office of
Disability Adjudication and Review
John E. Owen III, Deputy Director, Division of Disability Determination
Services Operations Support, Office of Disability Determinations
Michele Schaefer, Program Policy Officer, Office of Disability Programs
Susan J. Swansiger, Acting Division Director, Division of Field
Procedures, Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge, Office of
Disability Adjudication and Review
Nancy Torkas, Branch Chief, Program Analysis Office, Office of Medical
and Vocational Evaluation
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Member Biographical Information
Gunnar B. J. Andersson, M.D.
Dr. Andersson is the The Ronald L. DeWald, M.D. Professor and Chairman
Emeritus of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Rush University Medical
Center, Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Andersson was Chairman of the Department of
Orthopedic Surgery from 1995 to 2008. During his tenure as Chairman he has
also been the President of the Medical Staff, the Vice Dean for Surgical Sciences
and Services and the Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs each for two year
periods. Dr. Andersson received his M.D. from the University of Göteborg,
Sweden in 1967, did his residency at Sahlgren University Hospital and also
obtained a Ph.D. in medical science at the University of Göteborg in 1974. After
a fellowship at the London Hospital he joined the faculty at the University of
Göteborg for ten years.
In 1985 he moved to the United States and Rush University Medical Center. His
clinical area of interest is spine while his research interests are disc
degeneration, epidemiology and occupational biomechanics. Dr. Andersson is a
past President of the Orthopaedic Research Society, the International Society for
the Study of the Lumbar Spine and the American Academy of Disability
Evaluating Physicians. He has been a council member of the National Institutes
of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases at NIH, Chairman of the
Research Committee at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a
member of three Institute of Medicine committees. He is a member of 15
Editorial Boards, a Deputy Editor for Spine, Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary
Spine Surgery and an Associate Editor of Clinical Biomechanics. He is the
author of over 260 original publications, over 155 books and book chapters and
440 abstracts.
Mary Barros-Bailey, Ph.D.
Mary Barros-Bailey, PhD, CRC, NCC is a bilingual rehabilitation counselor,
vocational expert, and life care planner in Boise, Idaho. She is a past Chair
(2007-2008) of the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC)
and served as the Ethics Committee Chair from 2005-2007. Mary was one of the
founding members of the Inter-organizational O*NET Task Force (IOTF) that in
the early 2000s collaborated with the US Social Security Administration and the
US Department of Labor on the use of occupational data within the disability
context. She is a reviewer or on the Editorial Boards of several peer-review
journals such as the Journal of Counseling & Development (American
Counseling Association), the Journal of Forensic Vocational Analysis (American
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Board of Vocational Experts), and the Journal of Mixed Methods Research
(SAGE Publications). Mary has a doctorate in Counseling with a cognate in
Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Idaho. Her research and
presentation interests include professional issues in rehabilitation counseling
(ethics, methodological, aging, multicultural, and international). She has
presented and published nationally and internationally.
Robert T. Fraser, Ph.D.
Robert T. Fraser, Ph.D. is a professor in the University of Washington's
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, joint with the Departments of
Neurological Surgery and Neurology and consultant with Associates in
Rehabilitation and Neuropsychology. He is an active counseling and
rehabilitation psychologist, a certified rehabilitation counselor and a certified life
care planner who directs Neurological Vocational Services within Rehabilitation
Medicine. Within neurological rehabilitation, he has specialized in epilepsy, brain
injury, and multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Fraser is author or co-author of more than one hundred publications and co-
editor on four texts to include Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation (CRC
Press,1999), Multiple Sclerosis Workbook (New Harbinger, 2006), and
Comprehensive Care in Epilepsy (John Libbey, 2001). He has been awarded
numerous Federal grants by the Department of Education (NIDRR and RSA) -
four of which have been specific to traumatic brain injury rehabilitation, and, more
recently, in epilepsy self-management by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
He was awarded two World Rehabilitation Fund fellowships to review,
respectively, the post-acute traumatic brain injury programs in Israel and epilepsy
rehabilitation advances in Scandinavia and Holland. He lectures nationally on
TBI rehabilitation. Research emphases have included evaluation of innovative
psychosocial rehabilitation strategies and prediction of vocational rehabilitation
outcome across different neurological disabilities. He is the recipient of two
American Rehabilitation Counseling Association Research Awards, and an
Epilepsy Foundation of America Career Achievement Award. Dr. Fraser is a
past-president of Rehabilitation Psychology, Div. 22 of the American
Psychological Association and a Fellow in the Division, a former Board member
of the Epilepsy Foundation of America (EFA), a current board member of the
Epilepsy Foundation Northwest, and was a former board member to the Board of
Governors for the International Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.
Dr. Fraser has received master’s degrees in rehabilitation counseling (University
of Southern California) and public administration (Seattle University). His
doctorate is in rehabilitation psychology from the University of Wisconsin–
Madison, with a dissertation focused on the use of task analysis in the national
classification and utilization of state agency vocational rehabilitation personnel.
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Shanan Gwaltney Gibson, Ph.D.
Professor Gibson’s expertise is in issues related to human resources
management & organizational behavior in organizations. Her research includes
more than 35 published conference proceedings and 20 peer-reviewed journal
articles on topics relevant to human resources and organizational development
including job analysis, technology acceptance in organizations, and
entrepreneurship. Her research can be seen in the Journal of Small Business
Strategy, Business Education Forum, Small Business Institute Forum, and
Management Research News, among others.
Professor Gibson is an Associate Professor of Management at East Carolina
University and a member of the College of Business since 2003. Professor
Gibson has extensive experience teaching issues related to occupational
analysis; in addition to currently teaching graduate level Human Resources, she
previously spent two years teaching Industrial and Organizational Psychology at
ECU, as well as courses at Radford University and Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
Professor Gibson was awarded the 2009 Robert L. Jones University Alumni
Award for Outstanding Teaching and the 2009 Max Ray Joyner Award for
Faculty Service through Continuing Education; she was recently named as the
College of Business Teaching Fellow for 2009 – 2012. She is a member of The
Academy of Management, the Society for the Advancement of Management, the
Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology, the Southeast Decision
Sciences Institute, and the Southeast Institute for Operations Research and the
Management Sciences.
Dr. Gibson graduated with a B.A. in Liberal Arts (magna cum laude) from
Armstrong Atlantic State University and a M.S. in Industrial and Organizational
Psychology and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University.
Thomas A. Hardy, J.D.
Thomas Hardy is an attorney in Private Practice concentrating his work in Social
Security and Long Term Disability Appeals.
Previously, Hardy worked for a long term disability insurance carrier as the
nationwide Manager of Vocational Rehabilitation Services; subsequently he took
on Management of Medical Services and later also assumed the Supervision of
Local Counsel. He was previously employed in the private sector as Vocational
Disability Counselor. This combination of Medical, Vocational, and Legal
knowledge made him a logical choice for a position on the IOTF (Inter
Organizational Task Force) where he served for five years as a representative of
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the Private Insurance Industry to the Social Security Administration and
Department of Labor.
Hardy earned his Juris Doctor from Rutgers University, his Masters Degree from
the University of North Texas and Bachelors Degree from St. Charles Borromeo
College. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bars. Hardy also
holds professional certifications from the national Board for Certified Counselors
(NCC), Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRC) and
Commission of Insurance Rehabilitation Specialists (CIRS). He resides in
Philadelphia
Sylvia E. Karman
As Director for Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) Occupational Information
Development Project in the Office of Program Development and Research,
Sylvia Karman, oversees the research and development of occupational
information tailored to SSA’s disability programs. She directs the investigations
and developmental work to replace the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, as well
as studies to inform disability policy development. She also chairs the Panel’s
User Needs and Relations Subcommittee and SSA’s Occupational Information
System Development Workgroup. Ms. Karman serves as an expert for SSA
executive management and for numerous private and public sector entities on
medical-vocational assessment and occupational information issues critical to
SSA disability evaluation. As the former Chief of the Vocational Policy Branch in
SSA’s Office of Disability Programs and, before that, the lead senior policy
analyst and project manager for occupational information analysis and policy
issues related to SSA’s use of the Dictionary, she has long held a leadership role
for the agency in these subject areas.
Ms. Karman began her career with SSA in 1979 as a college intern. After
graduating in 1982 with a BA degree from Towson University in Maryland, her
work involved policy and legislative development and program evaluation for the
Supplemental Security Income program under title XVI and for the agency’s
disability programs under both titles II and XVI. Ms. Karman has presented and
published papers in the areas of SSA’s use of the Dictionary of Occupational
Titles for disability adjudication, medical-vocational assessment, and the role of
vocational factors and occupational information in disability evaluation, including
transferable skills analysis. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and
seminars throughout the US and Canada.
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Deborah E. Lechner
Deborah graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975
with a BS degree in physical therapy. She later received her post-professional
masters from the Massachusetts General Institute in Boston. Lechner is
President and founder of ErgoScience, Inc.
From 1988 to 1993, she developed and validated a state of the art FCE, the
Physical Work Performance Evaluation (PWPE) as part of her research
responsibilities at UAB. When the results of the research were positive, the
University of Alabama at Birmingham Research Foundation encouraged her to
market the evaluation. ErgoScience® was formed to meet this need. Lechner
brings to the FCE process a solid grounding in biomechanics and kinesiology
from her experience in a computerized gait analysis and teaching kinesiology.
Another powerful influence on her approach to FCE was her graduate training at
the Mass General Institute. The program emphasized standardization, objectivity,
reliability, and validity in clinical measurement. In the PWPE, as with other
ErgoScience® products and courses, she combines her research background
with 25+ years of clinical experience. She has recently developed a job demands
analysis process and has assisted her faculty in developing coursework in
industrial rehabilitation, AMA impairment ratings, and marketing rehabilitation
services. Under her leadership, ErgoScience® continues to combine both a
clinical and research focus, as well as offering state-of-the-art continuing
education.
Lynnae M. Ruttledge
As a person born with a disability, Lynnae was served by the Michigan
Vocational Rehabilitation program and assisted in obtaining her teaching
credentials at the beginning of her career. Her extensive work history in the
disability field has focused on working in the public and non-profit sectors in
Michigan, Oregon and Washington. She has served in policy development,
program management and key leadership positions in independent living,
vocational rehabilitation, workforce development and business leadership
networks.
Lynnae moved to the state of Washington in October 2005 to serve as the
Director of the Washington Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. By 2007, the
Division was recognized by the Governor with an outstanding management
award and eliminated its 13,000+ waiting list by early 2008. Lynnae continues to
lead the Division as it expands its capacity and partnerships to assure that more
individuals with significant disabilities become successfully employed.
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As a Governor’s appointee, Lynnae serves as an ex-officio member of both the
State Rehabilitation Council and the State Independent Living Council. She
represents the Department of Social and Health Services on the state Workforce
Investment Board.
As a longtime volunteer and disability rights expert, Lynnae has been affiliated
with Mobility International USA since 1988 and has traveled to China, Russia,
New Zealand/Australia, Germany, Japan, Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, Peru, Qatar,
Tunisia and Mali.
David J. Schretlen, Ph.D.
David J. Schretlen is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, as well as an
Associate Professor of Radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine. He is board-certified in clinical neuropsychology, and works at the
Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he sees patients, teaches, and conducts
research.
Dr. Schretlen completed his doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of
Arizona in 1986, an internship at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and
a post-doctoral residency in neuropsychology and rehabilitation at the UCLA
Neuropsychiatric Institute. While at UCLA, Dr. Schretlen was awarded a Mary E.
Switzer fellowship by the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation
Research.
Dr. Schretlen has served as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health
and the Veterans Administration Medical Center. He serves on the editorial
boards of several scientific journals. He also has authored over 175 articles,
monographs, book chapters, and abstracts. His research interests include the
use of quantitative brain imaging to investigate cognitive and emotional aspects
of human behavior. He has received federal and private research funding to
study determinants of work disability in traumatic brain injury and bipolar
disorder. He currently is analyzing predictors of functional disability in
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Related to this is another program of
research in which Dr. Schretlen is developing strategies to increase the
diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of neurocognitive measures for persons of
diverse socioeconomic background.
In addition to research and teaching, Dr. Schretlen is actively engaged in clinical
work that primarily involves neuropsychological assessment. He consults to
physicians about treatment planning and attorneys about matters involving such
matters as vocational aptitude and work disability resulting from brain injuries.
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Nancy G. Shor, J.D.
Nancy G. Shor is Executive Director of NOSSCR (National Organization of Social
Security Claimants’ Representatives) located in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
She edits NOSSCR’s monthly publication, Social Security Forum, and
coordinates NOSSCR’s research and advocacy efforts on behalf of Social
Security and SSI disability claimants. She is a frequent speaker at CLE programs
across the country and has testified before Congressional committees on Social
Security issues on numerous occasions. She is the author of two chapters of
Social Security Practice Guide, published by Lexis Nexis. Ms. Shor is a member
of the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Ms. Shor is a past Commissioner for the American Bar Association Commission
on Law and Aging. In 2009, she was appointed to Social Security
Administration’s Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel. She
graduated from Boston University School of Law in 1976 and Wellesley College
in 1973. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and the District of
Columbia. Ms. Shor was in private practice for two years before becoming the
first Executive Director of NOSSCR in 1979.
Mark A. Wilson, Ph.D.
Dr. Mark A. Wilson, Associate Professor of Psychology and Area Coordinator of
the Doctoral Program in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, NC State
University, joined the faculty in 1992. He received a B.A. in Psychology from
Wartburg College (1975), an M.A. in Experimental Psychology from the
University of Missouri-Kansas City (1978), and a Ph.D. in Industrial/
Organizational Psychology from Ohio State University (1983).
While completing the Ph.D., he served as Project Coordinator, Technical
Director, and Senior Research Associate for Organizational Research and
Development Inc. on a comprehensive human-resource research project
involving human-resource planning, job analysis, selection (managerial
assessment centers), performance appraisal, and compensation for a market-
leading insurance company. The experience drastically altered his view of the
field and his research interests. It was while working on the project that he
developed his interest in the integration of human-resource systems,
comprehensive job analysis, his dedication to the scientist-practitioner model and
the problems of practitioners, and his love for fieldwork.
He has always been interested in work measurement issues, models of human
job performance in organizations, and research methods. He has consulted and
conducted research extensively with numerous large organizations in both the
private and public sectors. He has taught graduate and undergraduate
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management courses as an Assistant Professor at both Texas Tech University
(1981-1985) and Iowa State University of Science and Technology (1985-1992).
In 1999, he was made an honorary member of the United States Army Special
Forces. In 2006, he was appointed editor of Ergometrika (The Journal of Work
Measurement Research). He is currently editing the forthcoming Handbook of
Work Analysis in Organizations to be published by Psychology Press/Routledge.
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