OT students during the Annual Research Poster Presentation on May 9, 2021.
The master’s level Occupational Therapy Program at Dominican College has been accredited for 10 years – the maximum period that can be granted to an occupational therapy educational program. The determination was made by the Accreditation Council of Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE), which accredits schools for five, seven, or 10 years based upon a self-study and onsite visit. Pamela Story, OTD, Director, Division of Allied Health, said that ACOTE considered compliance with 189 administrative, curricular, and fieldwork standards.
“A ten-year accreditation is the highest level of accreditation that any occupational therapy educational program can achieve. That a nontraditional weekend format program earned this level of accreditation under intense scrutiny and other challenges unequivocally affirms the high quality and rigor in its administrative, curricular, and clinical fieldwork content and processes,” said Story. “I am so proud to be part of a group of brilliant, talented, dedicated, passionate, and expert faculty, and an institution dedicated to supporting nontraditional programs that make a better way of life possible for those who would otherwise not have such opportunities. “
As part of the extensive accreditation process, ACOTE interviewed administrators, faculty, adjuncts, current students, alumni, community fieldwork educators, and employers of graduates.