DATE:
March 30, 2004
TO:
Julie Furst-Bowe
FROM:
John Wesolek, Dean
College of Human Development
SUBJECT:
Response to Program Review Recommendations for M.S. in Vocational Rehabilitation
There did not appear to be significant recommendations that required the involvement of the dean’s
office. I did meet with both the program director, Bob Peters, and department chair, Shirley Stewart, to
discuss implications and resource needs related to the recommendations. Some actions I will take to
address these recommendations include:
1. Request that the department chair provide an updated personnel profile for her unit indicating what
skills and capacities they will recruit for in new positions.
2. Work closely with the PR to ensure that the program will continue to offer new concentrations that
reflect employment trends for graduates in the future. One possible area of development that will
need to be investigated is assistive technology.
3. I will call for a course-by-course audit in the department of their 500/600 level courses to determine
whether there is any significant duplication of course content among those course clusters.
4. I have already met with Dr. Peters to outline a preliminary plan to mount more on-line courses
tailored to meet the needs of professionals in the field who are unable to regularly attend campusbased classes. One approach suggested by Dr. Peters is to include an intensive on-campus week of
lab/lecture-based work and follow that up with asynchronous classes on-line. This approach would
enable the program to maintain its unique lab-oriented, applied delivery that sets it aside as a unique
hands-on learning program.
5. A marketing planning meeting with Dr. Peters has already been held. A strategy to use e-mail
announcements to targeted faculty at other campuses to sell the program to undergraduates with
related degrees has been initiated. Results are already beginning to occur as new registrations are
responding to these contacts. Also, a plan to redraft the web site to advertise the program in a more
attractive way is being pursued.
6. Dr. Peters will continue to pursue a certification exam (CRC) that would be given to graduates in
their last semester. This exam may also be considered as a comprehensive exam for the program in
the future.
7. Other changes deemed necessary include:
∙ Adding more situational assessment curriculum to the Vocational Evaluation concentration.
∙ Bring more current work samples that depict today’s work environment into the lab.
∙ Propose a revision for the Plan B/Work Sample development option including the comprehensive
exam.
∙ Procure new computers for the assessment lab. New updated computers are being purchased
through the use of this year’s excess tuition dollars.