Working Over Time for campus and community
The University of Central Arkansas’ Department of Occupational Therapy celebrates its 50th anniversary of accreditation this year with events inviting the campus and surrounding community to see the impact this innovative program has had since its establishment in 1970 and accreditation in 1974.
UCA’s occupational therapy (OT) program was the first in Arkansas and the only occupational therapy program in the state until 2017. Ahead of its time, it has continued to teach students innovative strategies through its mission, sponsoring Recognized Student Organizations (RSOs), campus partnerships, community partnerships, study abroad opportunities and capstone experiences.
“At that time, there were around 13 OT programs in the U.S., so that was in 1970 when they hired our first program director and chair to get it started here,” according to department chair Tina Mankey. “We were the first and only program in Arkansas until 2017. So, we were the only one for over 40 years.”
The history and time invested are a large part of what makes UCA’s OT program unique. Mankey credits experienced faculty, innovative coursework, and partnerships with making it an outstanding program. “We’re not new at this. We have very experienced faculty who have all been in the classroom or teaching for many years. Our curriculum has a very strong research background. We’ve been very fortunate to have very qualified research faculty. Plus, we’ve been doing this for a long time,” Mankey said.
For the year-long celebration, they are having public events each month in 2024 to highlight what they have been learning and to welcome and thank the community for their support, including symposiums, capstone presentations, podcasts, a community and university partnership recognition day, and a celebration on the lawn in April.
The notable celebration, appropriately scheduled during Occupational Therapy Month, involved faculty and a cohort of over 140 students on the UCA Stripes. October promises a space at Homecoming Tailgate for OT alums to reconnect, and December closes, highlighting all of the partnerships, on campus and off, that have made this program such a success through the years.
Current student Amber Scott, a native of Houston, Texas, liked the challenge of going to different places. “I’d never visited Arkansas before, and I’d heard really good things about UCA, but what stood out to me with UCA was the program itself. The OT Program strives for professionalism, community-based service and the learning opportunities they have for their students. The experiences I’ve had within these few months are ones I never would have dreamed of as a little girl or even during undergrad. I knew that this was the place where I needed to be,” Scott said.
The overall mission of this program is to foster a sense of community through relationships with peers, faculty, campus partners, community partners, and, most importantly, the diverse populations of patients these scholar-practitioners work to serve. Part of this design is met through the RSOs from the School of OT. These organizations include Students of Pre-Occupational Therapy or SPOT, Phi Theta Epsilon or PTE, the Student Caucus for Diversity in Occupational Therapy or SCDOT, and the Student Occupational Therapy Association or SOTA.
Jacob Whitworth ’23, reflecting on his time in OT’s student organizations, said, “In SOTA, we had Backpack Day where we would go out around campus and spread the word on how to manage backpacks appropriately so as not to cause harm later in life and reduce unneeded stress. I was also a part of SCDOT, our diversity club, where we began reaching out to underserved populations to advertise OT as a career path they may not have known about.”
Third-year student Joniya Flowers agreed that her time in OT’s student organizations greatly impacted her feelings of inclusion and learning. “I proudly identify as a UCA Bear, having entered campus in 2018. Throughout my academic journey, I immersed myself in campus life and various leadership positions in multiple organizations such as SCDOT and SOTA. This fostered my sense of belonging and made UCA not just a place of learning, but a home.”
The occupational therapy program offers specialized student organizations and partnerships with other departments, enriching the experiential learning experience for students. The Integrated Health Sciences Building at UCA offers interprofessional learning opportunities in departments such as nursing, physical therapy (PT), psychology and more. This interaction and collaboration prepare students for teamwork scenarios to offer holistic treatment options for patients, building connections within their healthcare community for the future.
Additionally, the program’s instruction style teaches students to think independently to develop more inclusive treatment methods and to go out to the communities they wish to serve. These unique experiences come from the capstone class, or experience, which is devised by the student.
Mankey said, “Our mission with our capstone is for our students to spend significant time in the community. We want to make the greatest impact on community and practice, so we encourage our students to return to their hometown or wherever they plan to go after graduation and help meet a need the community might have had.”
And more impact comes with the expanded reach of the capstone classes nationwide and internationally. Scott, reflecting on her trip working with mothers and infants in Africa, explained how it taught her the importance of community. “We were working on the basics: just being able to sit up or crawl or roll over. We taught them these things at the clinic so they could do them at home with their child. Being there showed me how culture affects everything. It impacts how we look at health.”
“OT is excellent with community engagement,” Scott continued. “When coming into the program, the very first semester, they tell us that it won’t just be classroom learning. They get you in the community-actively-whether that’s going into the schools, going to nonprofit organizations, staying in-state for fieldwork experiences, going out of state, or if you want to go out of the country. It’s available to students. They make sure that you’re thriving.”
UCA’s OT program has participated in numerous organizations, such as Go Baby Go, to assist children with mobility issues. They have sponsored a program that assists those caring for patients with brain injuries. Different Strokes is another program using golf for those with disabilities. They are also working on making partnerships with local businesses to assist those on the Autism Spectrum with gaining employment.
With that, the legacy of UCA’s OT program is already strong. It promises a future of significant impacts on our campus community, local community, state, national, and global communities as our students broaden their horizons and work to fulfill and serve the mission of this program.
Mankey sees a bright future going forward from the 50th anniversary. “While some of our programs continue, we also want to strive to keep doing more. We want more programs and more impact for individuals. We want the UCA OT program to stay the premier program in the state. We have so much to offer,” Mankey said.
“As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, UCA’s OT program is committed to continual growth and positive evolution,” said Flowers. “We are dedicated to assessing areas of improvement, implementing positive change and enriching the lives of our students while contributing positively to communities within and beyond our campus.”