News
Celebrating the First Occupational Therapy Students at Roberts
On August 27, Roberts Wesleyan College celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to kick-off student orientation for the inaugural Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) students. The ribbon-cutting took place in Smith Hall in the newly renovated classroom area and President Deana L. Porterfield welcomed the first group of doctoral students.
After the ceremony, the students attended their program orientation in Smith Hall on campus. Students will benefit from the personalized support they will receive, small class sizes, and experiential learning.
“I am delighted to welcome our inaugural students to the candidate OTD program as they start their journey to help people live better lives by participating in meaningful activities and life roles,” said Jayne Knowlton, Assistant Professor and Director of the program. “I am excited for students to learn how to help people live independently and assist individuals to achieve their maximum quality of life.” Students will learn via real-life situations in our state-of-the-art facilities.
The entry-level occupational therapy doctoral degree program has applied for accreditation and has been granted Candidacy Status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org. The program must be granted Candidacy Status, have a pre-accreditation review, complete an on-site evaluation, and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure. See our accreditation status.