Rate My Professor Richard Griffiths

Richard Griffiths, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Austin Community College (ACC), holding this position since 2012 after serving as Associate Professor from 2008 to 2011. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology from Kansas State University. Before joining ACC, Dr. Griffiths taught as a Psychology Instructor at Quincy College from 2003 to 2006, where he instructed undergraduate courses including General Psychology, Adolescent Psychology, Child Development, Human Growth & Development, Psychology of Learning, and Social Psychology. At ACC, he teaches courses such as PSYC 2301 General Psychology and PSYC 2317 Statistical Methods for the Behavioral Sciences.

In parallel with his teaching duties, Dr. Griffiths serves as an Institutional Research Analyst in ACC's Office of Institutional Research and Analytics (OIRA), contributing to institutional surveys like the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and the Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (CCFSSE). He co-presented "Exploratory Analysis of Faculty Perceptions and Students' Self-Reported Time Use Behavior on the CCSSE and CCFSSE" at the Texas Association for Institutional Research 37th Annual Conference in 2015. Dr. Griffiths was selected as one of thirteen faculty for ACC's inaugural Digital Fellowship in 2017, piloting digital tools in PSYC 2301 to improve student learning outcomes, persistence, and completion. In 2018, as an Adjunct Professor in Psychology and Student Development, he received the NISOD Excellence Award at the International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence. His publications include "Predictors of Police Assaults" (Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 1993, with Q. P. McDaniel), "Time Structure and Unemployment: A Longitudinal Investigation" (Journal of Occupational Psychology, 1997, with C. R. Wanberg and M. B. Gavin), "Communication Style, Personality, Burnout and Coping as Factors Predictive of Police Performance" (2000 conference paper, with T. W. Gaylord and R. G. Downey), and others on job-seeking behavior and financial aid in psychology programs. Dr. Griffiths has developed modules for ACC's Teaching and Learning Academy focused on brain-based learning.