Education

• University of Nebraska-Omaha, BS (Psychology)
• University of Nebraska-Omaha, MA (Industrial/Organizational Psychology)
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln, PhD (Industrial/Organizational Psychology)

Areas of Interest: 

• Workforce and organizational needs assessment
• Employee recruitment and selection
• Employee onboarding
• Training curriculum development
• Training evaluation
• Employee motivation, morale, and well-being
• Performance assessment and management
• Employee retention
• Workforce analytics
• Continuous workforce improvement processes
• Evidence-based management

Selected Presentations & Publications: 

• Barbee, A. P., & Paul, M. E. (2020). Workforce development of social workers pre- and post-employment. In E. J. Mullen (Ed.), Oxford bibliographies in social work. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Putnam-Collins, P., Graef, M., Merkel-Holguin, L., & Paul, M. (2021, July). Supporting worker resilience in challenging times: Evidence from the experience of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development sites. Presentation at the meeting of the 22nd National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect.
• Paul, M. E., Meyer, S., & Sunbury, T. (2020, October). What happens when the child welfare workforce teleworks? Lessons from Washington State. Presentation at the meeting of the National Staff Development and Training Association.
• Graef, M. I., Paul, M. E., Parry, C. F., Barbee, A. P., & Thompson, M. G. (2019, August). Conducting comprehensive workforce needs assessments in child welfare. Presentation at the 2019 National Child Welfare Evaluation Summit, Washington, D.C.
• Paul, M. E., & Harrison, C. (2019, June). Conducting comprehensive workforce needs assessments in child welfare. Children’s Bureau Express, 20(5).
• Paul, M. E., Weddington, S. A., Parry, C. F., & Graef, M. I. (2019, May). Using job analysis to inform the development and evaluation of workforce interventions. Workshop at the 22nd Annual National Human Services Training Evaluation Symposium, Baltimore, MD.
• Paul, M. E., Graef, M. I., Meyer, S., & Washington, T. (2019, April). Collaborating to conduct a workforce needs assessment. Workshop at the 21st National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, Washington, DC.
• Haddock, K., Potts, A. Drury, I., & Paul, M. E. (2018, July). Conducting a comprehensive needs assessment to drive workforce intervention decisions. Panel presentation at the Child Welfare Virtual Expo, Washington, DC.
• Paul, M. E. (2018, April). Assessing and selecting a workforce intervention. Annual All-Site Meeting of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development, Louisville, KY.
• Graef, M. I., Paul, Paul, M. E., Parry, C. F., & Barbee, A. P. (2017, September). Quality Improvement Center on Workforce Development: Rigorous research to discover what works. Presentation at the meeting of the National Staff Development and Training Association, Savannah, GA.
• Paxton, M. & Paul, M. E. (2017, September). How to develop an interactive Indian Child Welfare Act training for child welfare workers. Presentation at the meeting of the National Staff Development and Training Association, Savannah, GA. 
• Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2016). Caseload and workload management. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau. Guest author.
• Paul, M. E. (2015, October). Evidence-based training design and development. Presentation at the meeting of the National Staff Development and Training Association, Denver, CO.
• Paul, M. E. (2014, October). Evidence-based training design and development. Presentation at the meeting of the National Staff Development and Training Association, Louisville, KY.
• Paul, M. E., & Saathoff, K. I. (2012, May). Ensuring curriculum readiness through formative evaluation. Presentation at the 15th Annual National Human Services Training Evaluation Symposium, Berkeley, CA.
• Paul, M. E., Saathoff, K. I., & Graef, M. I. (2012, May). Developing behavior-based rating scales for performance assessments. Presentation at the 15th Annual National Human Services Training Evaluation Symposium, Berkeley, CA.
• Paul, M. E., Saathoff, K. I., & Reuhlow, B. (2011, October). Maximizing the quality of training curriculum through formative evaluation. Presentation at the meeting of the National Staff Development and Training Association, Madison, WI.
• Graef, M. I., Paul, M. E., & Myers, T. L. (2009). Recruiting and selecting child welfare staff. In F. Alwon, K. Greenhill, S. Steib, & B. Schmitt (Eds.), On the job in child welfare: Recruiting, retaining, and supporting a competent child welfare workforce. Washington, D.C.: Child Welfare League of America.
• Paul, M. E., Graef, M. I., Robinson, E. J., & Saathoff, K. S. (2009). Managing performance. In C. Potter & C. Brittain (Eds.), Supervision in child welfare. New York: Oxford University Press.