Clinical Director to Extend Service on Accreditation Council
Published 09.25.2008
Patricia J. Martin, clinical director of the occupational therapy assistant program at Pennsylvania College of Technology, has been asked to extend her term as a member of the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education.
ACOTE the accrediting body for the American Occupational Therapy Association is a 21-member board that fosters the development and accreditation of quality occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant education programs by establishing standards for degree programs in colleges and universities across the country. The board's members are selected from a national pool of educators and practitioners.
Members of ACOTE are usually allowed to serve only two terms but may be asked to extend their second term under special circumstances. Because of her extensive experience on the council and on the executive committee, ACOTE's director requested Martin to extend her service which was to end in August 2009 for another year to maintain a balance among new members and members with experience.
Martin was asked to join the council in 2003 and is a member of the executive committee. She was elected treasurer in 2005 and 2007 and has represented ACOTE on the American Occupational Therapy Association's Model Curriculum committee since November 2006.
As an ACOTE member, Martin reviews self studies and interim reports from occupational therapy assistant programs from across the country, conducts on-site accreditation visits to associate-degree programs, submits reports of her findings, votes on accreditation actions and represents the council at professional meetings and workshops.
Martin has been assistant professor and clinical director of the occupational therapy assistant program at Penn College since 1991.
ACOTE accredits approximately 275 occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant educational programs. It is recognized as an accrediting body by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.
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