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Printer-Friendly ModeOccupational Therapy transitions to master's degree
July 19, 2005 —
The SVSU Occupational Therapy program has officially made its transition to granting entry-level master's degrees with Friday's approval from the Board of Control.
According to Jan Blecke, dean of the Crystal M. Lange College of Nursing, while the transition was just approved five days ago, those involved with the program have been working to make it work for two years.
In the fall of 2003, the American Occupational Therapy Association decided that in 2007, the minimum requirement for certification as a professional occupational therapist would be a master's degree. Realizing it would be pointless to have a baccalaureate program if the minimum requirement called for a graduate program, Blecke and those involved with the OT program decided it was time to make the transition.
Additionally, the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education notified educational institutions that their OT programs will be accredited only at the post baccalaureate degree level beginning Jan. 1, 2007.
With Friday's approval, the SVSU OT program is officially two years ahead of the profession's deadline.
"Your decision today concludes two years of hard work," Blecke said at Friday's meeting.
Eighteen students will graduate from the OT program this summer, with the final baccalaureate class graduating next summer. There will not be a graduating OT class in 2007, and in 2008, each graduate will leave with their required master's degree.
The new entry-level master's program, which began this past spring semester with a "Foundations in Occupational Therapy" class, will consist of 150 credits. Of those, 50 will be pre-requisites, which mainly include general education classes that are required anyway. The rest will be essentially undergraduate and graduate-level OT classes. Blecke breaks it down into essentially three and two-year programs.
"The first three years of the program are like the baccalaureate part," she explained. "The last two are essentially the graduate-level courses."
For those students who have already graduated from the baccalaureate program or who will be in the next two summers, there will also be a stand alone master's program, Blecke said. That program will consist of 35 credits.