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OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
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PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS
At Sacred Heart University's Occupational therapy program, we strive to continually improve our educational effectiveness. We meet with students each semester to receive feedback about the program and we track student outcomes upon graduation.

PROGRESSION, RETENTION, AND GRADUATION RATES OF THE OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PROGRAM 2009, 2010, 2011
PROGRESSION
Progression through the program is defined as the number and/or percentage of students who complete the program within the 24 month/two calendar year timeframe of the full time curriculum, from initial enrollment to completion of all graduation requirements including coursework, Level II fieldwork, and the Capstone project and poster presentation.
·         86% of full time students completed the program within the 24 months of beginning
·         6% of full time students completed the program within 28 months of beginning
·         6% of part time students complete the program within 36 months of beginning*
·         0% of part time/full time students complete the program in more than 36 months
*Please note the part time program has been discontinued
Cohort Beginning
Fall of:
Number of students (full-time and part-time) beginning Program
Number of Full Time Students
Completing Program
Within 24 months
Number of Full Time Students completing the program within 28 months
Number of Part
Time Students
Completing the
Program within
36
Months
Number of Full Time to Part Time Students Taking Longer than 36 Months to complete program
Total Number of Students Completing the Program
2007
21
18
0
2
0
20
2008
30
27
3
0
0
30
2009
29
24
2
3
0
29
TOTALS
80
69
5
5
0
79
*Please note there was one additional student who completed the program RETENTION

Retention is defined as the number and/or percentage of students who continue in the program through to graduation following initial enrollment.
For the three most recent calendar years (2009, 2010, 2011), the Graduate Program in Occupational Therapy at Sacred Heart University has had a retention rate of 99%.
Graduating
Year
Number of students (full-time and part-time) beginning Program
Number of Students
Completing Program
 
Retention Rate
2009
21
20
95%
2010
30
30
100%
2011
29
29
100%
 
80
79
 
Aggregate Retention Rate for Past Three Years (2009, 2010, 2011)
99%








GRADUATION
Graduation rate is defined as the number and/or percentage of students who entered the program and completed it through to graduation. Data demonstrates our students’ success rate and percentage of graduates eligible to sit for the National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapists (NBCOT) exam. Of the students who began the Occupational Therapy at Sacred Heart University for the three most recent calendar years (2009, 2010, 2011), 99% graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy. 

NBCOT PASS RATES

Our overall pass rate on the exam of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT), including repeat test takers, since the first graduating class in 2000 is over 98%. Only program graduates are eligible to sit for the NBCOT exam. To date, our program has had nine graduating classes take the national certification exam.

NBCOT Certification Results: For the three most recent calendar years (2009, 2010, and 2011) the performance of the graduates of the occupational therapy program on the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) certification were as follows:
Total number of program graduates:
83
Total number of first-time test takers of the NBCOT certification exam:
77
Total number first-time test takers who passed the NBCOT certification exam:
67
First time test taker percentage pass rate:
87%
 
For past NBCOT exam statistics:  For 2008 click here.  For 2009 click here . For 2010 click here.  For 2011 click here.

EMPLOYMENT

Of the program graduates who responded for the recent year 2010, 89% reported that they had found employment in an Occupational Therapy related position within six months of graduating from the Graduate Program in Occupational Therapy at Sacred Heart University.

 
Student Satisfaction and Student Outcomes:  Each year we survey our alumni and ask them about their employment, their accomplishments, and we ask new graduates about their satisfaction with their education. In 2010, the survey was completed using survey monkey. After answering basic demographic questions, students were asked to answer a variety of questions about their satisfaction with the program and their level of agreement with specific statements about the program. The answers to these questions were scored on a 5 point Likert scale. Alumni were recruited via our program’s Facebook page and alumni emails. An incentive for participation (a raffle for a Kindle) was provided to encourage completion. In total since the beginning of the program we have had 138 graduates. We have 126 “friends” on our Facebook page but many of those are current students who were not asked to complete the survey. Our 2010 alumni survey had 63 responses.

The following is a brief summary of the highlights of the 2010 alumni survey.
·         83% were currently practicing as an OT (some had just graduated and were studying for the NBCOT exam)
·         95% agreed with the statement “The faculty cared about me as an individual.”
·         88% agreed with the statement “It was an enjoyable experience to be a part of the program.”
·         90% were very to extremely satisfied with the knowledge and competence of the faculty
·         84% were very to extremely satisfied with the faculty student interaction they engaged in
·         86% were very to extremely satisfied with the individual attention they received while in the program
·         79% were very to extremely satisfied with the availability of faculty outside of classes
·         82% were very to extremely satisfied with the materials, supplies, and equipment available for their learning
·         77% were very to extremely satisfied with the class size
·         45% of our alumni have already taken on leadership roles in their place of employment
·         17% have created new programs that are now running in their place of employment
·         The following data represents the answers to the question- how satisfied are you with the overall education you received.
 


Specific quotes from former students: 
“All staff members were great! They provided us with the necessary building blocks to have a successful future in Occupational Therapy.”
“SHU excelled at building rapport and being available to their students. The class sizes were amazing. I felt I had infinite choices to do fieldwork and would do it all over again, I chose a great school and it has given me a great career.”
 
“The faculty at SHU were not only very knowledgeable in their area of expertise but also supportive in their interaction with students. I truly felt as though I could approach the faculty with any questions/concerns that I had throughout my two years.”
“Many of the professors were available almost anytime you went to see them. It was nice to be able to schedule an appointment time with them as well since that was an organized way.”

Alumni Professional Involvement and Scholarship:

·         We have had 7 students or alumni present at AOTA annual national conference
·         We have had 3students or alumni present sat the CT OT annual conference
·         We have had 2 students create and market equipment they designed for OT intervention
·         We have had 6 alumni published in either OT/PT in Pediatrics or the AOTA SIS newsletters
·         We have had 3 former students become adjuncts in our program as facilitators for problem based learning tuorials.    
 








 
 

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