Ithaca College Quarterly, Winter 1996

Health Sciences and Human Performance

New Therapeutic Recreation Major

In November the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies received New York State Education Department approval for its new major in therapeutic recreation. The development of this major is in response to the field's rapid growth and the need for academically qualified practitioners. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook (spring 1993) identified therapeutic recreation as 13th in a list of the 20 fastest-growing occupations requiring at least a bachelor's degree (a 39 percent increase by the year 2000).

Therapeutic recreation offers a unique career opportunity to work with individuals with special needs. Specialists conduct assessments of physical, mental, emotional, and social functioning to determine the client's needs, interests, and abilities. This information is used to develop individualized treatment plans and intervention strategies to enhance the client's quality of life.

Therapeutic recreation specialists utilize medically approved activities for rehabilitation or maintenance of functional abilities. These activities can include creative arts, music, dance, drama, horticulture, adventure programs, interaction with pets, sports, games, and community-based field trips.

Ithaca College is the fourth college in the United States to offer an accredited, independent degree in therapeutic recreation. The new major will continue to offer students a liberal arts orientation with an enhanced core in recreation and leisure studies. To accommodate the rapid growth of knowledge, the professional preparation component has been revised and expanded to include three additional skills courses. Students will also be required to take other health-related course work as required by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification.

Speech-Path News

Now celebrating its 75th year, the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology is still making history. This past September it became the first in HS&HP to have its own home page on the Internet. Several alumni as well as prospective students have already contacted the department through the World Wide Web. To learn more about the department, its academic programs, and clinic, go to http://www.ithaca.edu/hshp/slpa/slpa1/DEPTHOMEPAGE/. Or find us through the College's address, www.ithaca.edu/, by selecting the section "Academic Life." If you have any items, especially photographs, that could be included, please send them to the department chair, Richard Schissel. You can also leave a message through Ithaca's home page.

Three faculty members and two graduate students presented papers at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in Orlando: clinical assistant professor Chris Cecconi, "The Clinical Portfolio: A Valuable Tool for Students and Supervisors"; assistant professor Laura Riddle, "Word and Utterance Formulation Ability of Language-Impaired Children"; clinical associate professor Marie Sanford, "The Hearing-Impaired ESL Learner: A Manual for the SLP" with Kathleen Nesbitt, M.S. '94, and "A Screening Protocol for Narrative Language Skills" with Riddle; graduate students Beth Weisberg and Maureen Daly, "Motivation in the Adult ESL Classroom: Activities for Oral Proficiency."

Graduate student Paige Flaherty was pictured on the cover of the October 23, 1995, issue of Advance, the nation's speech-language and audiology weekly. The cover story, which discussed cultural diversity as the norm for ESL specialists, also featured Marie Sanford, graduate students Carrie Childs and Nicole Grigg, and 1994 M.S. graduates Kelly Silk Fagan and Michelle Choon Kunzmann.

[click for larger image]

Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences

Ten fitness and cardiac rehabilitation majors, two exercise physiology graduate students, and five faculty members attended the recent meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, mid-Atlantic chapter. The highlight of the meeting was the presentation by Celeste Choma, M.S. '95. "Cognitive Impact of Rapid Weight Loss in Collegiate Wrestlers" won the Geisinger Student Research Award. She receives our congratulations as well as a plaque and cash award. Professors Gary Sforzo and Betsy Keller were the faculty advisers on the award-winning project.

Faculty News

Julie Hayes Boles '84, an instructor in the health services administration department, attended the American Health Information Management Association's 67th national convention. Also attending were seven students from the Health Information Management Club.

Susan E. Durnford has been appointed to a permanent clinical instructor position, having fulfilled the same responsibilities in a temporary capacity for the past four years. This summer she received a faculty development grant from the Gerontology Institute to revise the Communication Disorders: Geriatric Populations course. In October Durnford and clinical instructor Elizabeth Begley presented a workshop entitled "Alternative Strategies for the Communication-Impaired Older Adult."

Assistant professor of physical therapy Hilary Greenberger '89 and Mark Paterno '94 recently published "Relationship of Knee Extensor Strength and Hopping Test Performance in the Assessment of Lower Extremity Function" in the Journal of Orthopaedic Sports and Physical Therapy.

In November physical therapy professors Michael Pagliarulo and Kathleen Hinkley, along with nine students, attended the New York PTA Leadership Workshop/Student Conclave in Buffalo.

Mary Bentley, assistant professor of health education, is in the process of developing a professional development site with the McCormick Center, a detention facility for youth in Brooktondale.

Gary English, associate professor of health education, was recently named executive director of the New York State Federation of Professional Health Educators. He has also been asked to serve on the professional development board of the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.

E. Petrich and Associates, a leader in health care management consulting, will include an article coauthored by assistant professor of health services administration Renee A. Stiles '84 in its electronic library of health care management literature in Russian and English. The article, "Classifying Quality Initiatives: A Conceptual Paradigm for Literature Review and Policy Analysis," originally appeared in the fall 1994 issue of Hospital and Health Services Administration. Copies of the CD-ROM will be distributed free to Russian health care organizations.

Robert Riter, assistant professor of health services administration, has been appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Long-Term Care Administration.

Occupational therapy professor Catherine Gordon was a panel moderator at the New York State Occupational Therapy Association Central District conference.

Physical Therapy News

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of physical therapy at Ithaca College, physical therapy students recently participated in a "50 hours for 50 years walk-a-thon." The students raised over $1,200 in pledges to benefit the Special Children's Center of Ithaca.

In October two seniors, Christine Cacciatore and Kristen Ryan, attended the National Physical Therapy Conference in Denver.

Junior Teresa Lemery received the Shirley Hockett Presidential Scholar Award at the fall banquet of Ithaca College's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi. Cocaptain of the volleyball team, she ranks first in her class in HS&HP.

Ithaca College Home Page --- ICQ Home Page

The ICQ on the Web is maintained by Andrejs Ozolins