Nominations Sought for CARTE Board

From Thom Skalko comes the following announcement:

Colleagues:

On April 19, 2010, the Committee on Accreditation of Recreational Therapy Education (CARTE) became a Committee on Accreditation (CoA) of the Commission on Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) was accepted as the Sponsoring Organization at the same meeting.

CARTE is requesting nominations for membership on the Board of CARTE. Below is a call for nominations for interested individuals.

The CARTE looks forward to serving as the first independent academic accreditation program for recreational therapy education and is implementing steps to seek nation-wide representation. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thom
--
Thomas K. Skalko, Ph.D., LRT/CTRS
Professor
East Carolina University
College of Health and Human Performance
Belk 1409
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
252-328-0018
______________________________________

Committee on Accreditation of Recreational Therapy Education
(CARTE)
Call for Board Member Nominations

Nomination to CAAHEP CARTE Board of Directors

The Committee on Accreditation of Recreational Therapy Education is soliciting applicants for the following positions:

1 - Practitioner Position (3 year term)
1 - Practitioner Position (1 year term)
1 - Student Member (1 year term)
1 - Public Member (3 year term)

Qualifications are delineated in the By-Laws below.

For consideration to serve on the CARTE Board of Directors, please submit by June 15, 2010:

A statement of your interest in serving on the CARTE Board and
A summary of your qualifications as indicated in the By-Laws

Submit your supporting materials electronically to: skalkot@ecu.edu

Dr. Thomas K. Skalko
East Carolina University
College of Health and Human Performance
Belk 1409
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
252-328-0018

Background

On April 19, 2010, the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accepted ATRA as a sponsoring member and accepted CARTE as the accreditation mechanism (CAAHEP Council on Accreditation or CoA) for educational programs that prepare individuals for recreational therapy practice.

In the fall of 2007, a group of educators and practitioners requested that the North Carolina Recreational Therapy Association (NCRTA) support a committee effort to determine the feasibility of establishing an academic accreditation program for educational programs that prepare students for recreational therapy practice in health care and human service settings. This group of educators and practitioners were concerned about the variability in the academic preparation of recreational therapists and the impact that variable competency development had on recreational therapy practice designed to achieve, on a consistent and predictable basis, patient/consumer outcomes that are valued by stakeholders in health care and human service settings. In 2008, the Board of Directors of NCRTA approved an ad hoc committee to begin this effort. This ad hoc committee became the NCRTA Committee on Accreditation of Recreational Therapy Education (CARTE). The NCRTA CARTE was instrumental in the establishment of the standards, guidelines and supporting materials for accreditation of recreational therapy education as well as developing CAAHEP CARTE By-Laws and initial operating policies and procedures.

As the result of over two years of planning and development, the NCRTA CARTE generated the document (unpublished), Accreditation of Education for Recreational Therapy Practice based upon an adaptation of the ATRA Guidelines for Competency Assessment and Curriculum Planning for Recreational Therapy Practice for use in accreditation of academic programs. The standards and guidelines for recreational therapy education included in Accreditation of Education for Recreational Therapy Practice are based upon a review of professional literature in health care, recreational therapy and allied health and standards of regulatory and accreditation agencies. The ATRA Guidelines for Competency Assessment and Curriculum Planning for Recreational Therapy Practice were designed around a set of competencies that were developed and refined over twenty-three years of application in practice and focus group work by RT educators and practitioners. These competencies represent the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for safe and effective practice as a recreational therapist in health care and human service agencies. The standards and guidelines, forms, and site visitation process incorporated into Accreditation of Education for Recreational Therapy Practice have been field-tested and revised to improve both evaluation of compliance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the accreditation review process.

The CAAHEP CARTE By-Laws define the members of the CARTE Board of Directors and their qualifications:

Article III: CARTE Board of Directors

3.1 Board of Directors:
The Board of Directors of CARTE shall consist of three (3) educators from programs preparing students for recreational therapy practice, three (3) recreational therapists, one (1) student currently enrolled in an educational program preparing for recreational therapy practice, one (1) employer of recreational therapists and one (1) public member who is familiar with recreational therapy practice.

3.3 Qualifications and Criteria for Service on the CARTE Board of Directors:
The following criteria must be met to serve on the CARTE Board of Directors:
(1) Individuals must express a commitment to serve and fully participate in the Committee on Accreditation of Recreational Therapy Education;

(2) Professional Educators must be certified by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification and state credentialed as applicable, possess at least three (3) years experience as full time faculty at an institution providing recreational therapy education and one (1) year of experience practicing recreational therapy;

(3) Recreational Therapists must be certified by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification and state credentialed as applicable, possess at least four (4) years of experience as a recreational therapist including three (3) years experience in clinical education and have experience with the supervision of student interns.

(4) The Student Member must have been completed at least one year of recreational therapy education.

(5) The Recreational Therapy Employer shall have been involved in the employment of recreational therapists for at least 4 years.

(6) The Public Member must be familiar with the recreational therapy profession.

Several members of the NCRTA CARTE Committee have transferred to the CAAHEP CARTE Board of Directors to ensure a smooth transition as well as efficient and effective implementation of the CAAHEP CARTE accreditation of educational programs that prepare students for recreational therapy practice. Those NCRTA CARTE Committee members who transitioned to the CAAHEP CARTE Board of Directors are
Peg Connolly, Ph.D., LRT/CTRS (educator, two-year term,) Terry Kinney, Ph.D., LRT/CTRS (educator, one-year term), Thomas Skalko, Ph.D. LRT/CTRS (educator, three year term, elected initial chair CAAHEP CARTE Board of Directors), Pam Wilson, MS, LRT/CTRS (employer representative, three-year term) and Ray E. West, MS, LRT/CTRS (practitioner representative, two-year term).