McDaniel College establishes partnership agreements for Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology

Adapted from the McDaniel College website: New partnership agreements benefit Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology students

McDaniel College has established clinical training affiliation agreements with The Arc Carroll County and Target Community & Educational Services, Inc., providing high-quality, community-based learning opportunities for students in McDaniel's new Occupational Therapy and developing Speech-Language Pathology graduate programs.

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Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies Vickie Mazer joined The Arc Carroll County President and CEO Don Rowe and Target Community & Educational Services, Inc., President and CEO Matthew Ramsey, who also serves as the Laurence J. Adams Endowed Chair in Special Education and program coordinator for the Human Services Management graduate program at McDaniel, to formalize the agreements during a signing ceremony held Wednesday, Oct. 7.

The partnerships provide McDaniel students pursuing careers in occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and other related health and human services fields opportunities to connect classroom learning with meaningful, real-world experiences supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Faculty from McDaniel's Occupational Therapy and developing Speech-Language Pathology programs also attended the ceremony. Those representing Occupational Therapy were Program Director Cathy Felmlee Shanholtz, Associate Professor Anna Grasso, and Lab Coordinator Jeanna Rider. For Speech-Language Pathology, this included Program Director D'Jaris Coles-White, Assistant Professor and Clinical Education Faculty Coordinator Rosalyn Davis, and Assistant Professor Hillary Cooper.

According to The Arc's Don Rowe, "What makes this partnership especially meaningful is the opportunity for shared learning. Students gain practical experience and a deeper understanding of person-centered supports, while our organizations strengthen connections that can advance inclusion, independence, and quality of life for the people we serve."

The agreements build on McDaniel's longstanding relationship with Target and expand opportunities for collaboration with The Arc Carroll County.

"We are really excited about these partnerships," Mazer said. "We have had a partnership with Target for many years, and being able to extend this to The Arc has been extremely important to us. We actually have OT students at The Arc this semester, and we think this is a unique opportunity that we will be able to build upon and turn into a model for the future."

The partnerships also demonstrate the value of collaboration between higher education and community-based organizations in preparing students for careers that serve the needs of individuals, families, and communities.

"One of Target's values is not just great services within our organization but also building capacity within the community, so any time we can partner with another agency or make connections that is not just a win for that agency or a win for Target, it's a win for all of us," Ramsey said.