SCH OF REHABILITATION SCIENCES - Doctoral Capstone Coordinator

Job Classification

  

Position summary

The Doctoral Capstone Coordinator will oversee and manage the capstone project for the OTD program. The DCC reports to the Program Director and will teach capstone courses, secure capstone sites, support the development of capstone mentors, and monitor students' progress throughout the capstone process, ensuring alignment with the academic program’s curricular design. The DCC will also ensure the OTD program's compliance with ACOTE capstone requirements. The DCC will work closely with the AFWC and other faculty members. This position requires frequent travel to various doctoral capstone experiential sites, so the ideal candidate must be flexible and willing to travel. 

Qualifications summary

The ideal candidate must possess a post-professional doctoral degree (OTD, PhD, DHSc, etc.) from a USDE accredited institution and be registered with NBCOT/AOTA. Additionally, they must be licensed or eligible for licensure as an occupational therapist in Michigan, with at least three years of clinical experience. The doctoral degree may be in occupational therapy or a related field. The ideal applicant should have DCC experience .


Must be a Seventh-day Adventist in good and regular standing.

Duties and responsibilities

Individuals must possess knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the essential function of the position or be able to explain or demonstrate how the essential functions may be performed, with or without reasonable accommodations, using some other combination of skills and abilities.

• Leadership and effective communication: DCC coordinates and collaborates closely with the AFWC and the PD, as well as faculty advisors and capstone mentors. The DCC possesses the ability to lead a group of faculty and community partners to achieve shared goals, maintaining focus on student benchmarks and deliverables. 


• Visionary and innovative thinking. Through innovative and creative thinking, the DCC may expand occupational therapy into additional emerging professional practice areas that have not previously utilized occupational therapy as part of their service delivery model. They will develop new opportunities for inter-professional learning and collaborative practice.


• Strong organizational skills and understanding of curriculum design. The DCC:
  
  
  
  1. Creates the capstone manual and procedures for the doctoral capstone (project and experience) and ensures that the capstone matches the program’s curriculum design.
  
  
  2. Will teach capstone courses and serve as the course coordinator for each section of capstone preparation courses with assistance from other faculty as needed.
  
  
  3. Oversees and designs the program evaluation component for the doctoral capstone, including determining the evaluation metrics as well as monitoring outcomes of student performance as they progress through their doctoral capstone experience.
  
  
  4.  Ensures quality control for the doctoral capstone projects and experiences, ensuring equal rigor across cohorts of students and compliance with requirements of both the university and ACOTE Standards.
  
  
  
  


• Experience mentoring, advising, and supervising students. The DCC:
  
  
  
  1. Advises students on topics, sites, and viable options available for the doctoral capstone.
  
  
  2. Coordinates the matching process between students and faculty mentors/advisors.
  
  
  3. Visits partner sites during doctoral capstone experiences as needed to foster the partnership’s sustainability and ensure the experience meets expectations.
  
  
  4. May dedicate time toward remediation in the case that students are experiencing difficulties.
  
  
  
  


• Ability to manage higher level administrative tasks like administrative leadership, including but not limited to the following:
  
  
  
  1. Demonstrates knowledge of institutional review board requirements of the university and community sites, intellectual property, authorship rights, and considerations for patents and/or trademarks.
  
  
  2. Understands the complexities of experiential learning, with the ability to navigate natural contexts and ambiguity.
  
  
  3. Is knowledgeable about employment regulations and reimbursement models.
  
  
  4. Initiates the creation of affiliation agreements with new capstone sites.
  
  
  5. Markets the program to outside partners, educating and mentoring clinical site mentors, particularly about the OTD degree and the value-added of the doctoral capstone experience and doctoral education.
  
  
  6. Ensures the sustainability of community partnerships, ensuring mutual benefit to the partner site, mentor, students, and academic program.
  
  
  7. Support and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of capstone education.
  
  
  
  

Supervisory responsibilities

None

Qualifications

• The ideal candidate will have experience with the OTD Doctoral Capstone program, administration, and ACOTE accreditation.


• An earned doctoral degree in occupational therapy or a related field from USDE accredited university.


• An occupational therapist licensed or eligible for licensure in the state of Michigan.


• Minimum of 2 years as an occupational therapist preferably as DCC in an OTD academic program.

Must be a Seventh-day Adventist in good and regular standing.

Technical competencies

Language Skills

            Ability to communicate in English expressively and receptively with all persons.

Mathematical Skills

Knowledge of basic statistical manipulations, and financial, and accounting processes.

Reasoning Ability

Possesses critical inquiry skills and judgment necessary to guide and interact with faculty, staff, and students. 

Interpersonal interactions

Possesses critical inquiry skills and judgment necessary to guide and interact with faculty, staff, and students. 

Physical demands

• Stand, talk, and demonstrate at a level to be understood for two or more hours at one time as required for lecture and laboratory sessions.


• Ambulate approximately 500 yards and negotiate at least 2 flights of stairs to get around campus as needed.


• Be able to perform physical tasks relevant to the teaching load.


• Be able and available to travel by personal vehicle or commercial transportation for distant fieldwork site visits.


• Be able to be away from home for two or more days at one time during fieldwork site visits.


• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work environment

• Office space, lecture hall, laboratory space, university library, various on-campus conference rooms, occasional off-campus clinical sites, faculty lounge, work, and storage areas.


• Work in close quarters with other faculty, staff, and students.