Dear O&P Community in the United States:
In follow up to a letter many of you may have recently received from
St. Petersburg College, I’m writing to further clarify how this exciting
opportunity has developed.
(This is a lengthy posting – you may wish to print a hard copy.)
For several years the Florida Chapter of the Academy and the Florida
Association for Orthotists and Prosthetists (FAOP) have been
aggressively pursuing the establishment of a baccalaureate program in
O&P in Florida. There hasn’t been a school in Florida since the closing
of the program at Florida International University (FIU). And now, with
Florida Licensure requirements, the situation is even more urgent. With
this in mind, Chapter and FAOP leaders convinced St Petersburg College
President Carl Kuttler, PhD to commit almost $4 million toward
establishing a new O&P school.
St. Petersburg College’s Board recognized that partnering with a
professional organization whose primary focus is education could be a
mutually beneficial relationship. With this in mind, Dr. Kuttler
approached the Academy. This was an unprecedented opportunity that the
Academy could not let pass, considering the Academy’s unwavering
commitment to P&O education. Academy officers met with Dr. Kuttler to
determine ways in which we could serve as a resource for the start of a
new O&P education program at St. Petersburg College, while also
discussing the possibility of using a portion of the new facilities as
an Academy Learning Center within the O&P school. The concept and
ultimate vision of establishing a free-standing, Academy Learning Center
has been discussed within the Academy leadership during long-range,
strategic planning meetings over the past few years.
The concept of the Academy Learning Center is to create a physical
location that could enhance the Academy’s ability to offer didactic and
laboratory-based education to orthotists and prosthetists. It would
provide venues for state-of-the-art national and international
coursework in O&P, promoting both web-based and “hands-on” training
workshops, seminars, and conferences. It could also serve as another
venue for the Academy’s ongoing efforts to convene Clinical Standards of
Practice (CSOP) consensus conferences. We also discussed some
possibilities of developing an O&P museum at some point, as well as an
extensive online library – each tied to the Academy Learning Center
concept.
The Florida Chapter and the FAOP were first to pledge $25,000 each in
matching funds to the St. Petersburg initiative. (The fundraising
letter mentions the total of $50,000 as if it all came from the Academy
instead of giving proper credit specifically to the Chapter and FAOP).
In addition to this, the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists
College Fund, a separate 501(c)(3) organization, recently pledged
$50,000 to support to this important cause. The College Fund was
initially established about 20 years ago to develop a doctorate program
in O&P and has been mostly dormant since the early 90s. The College
Fund’s trustees are the President of the Academy, the immediate four
past presidents and two at-large trustees. They recently agreed to
pledge the funds with the stipulation that they be replaced through
subsequent fundraising efforts over time. The Academy is currently
exploring the possible use of a “brick campaign” to replace those
funds.
As for the existing NCOPE accredited education programs, the Academy
launched an effort three years ago as part of Project Quantum Leap to
reverse a planned effort to discontinue tuition credit funding by the
Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to the O&P schools. As a
result of the mass letter writing campaign, as well as calls and visits
to Capitol Hill by Academy members, we secured language in the bill that
directed RSA to continue funding the schools at $250,000 for no fewer
than four schools. Unfortunately, RSA chose to ignore the wishes of
Congress and directed the money elsewhere.
The Academy has since shifted its efforts to changing the law that
funds RSA and the schools. This law is up for reauthorization and will
be considered next year. This year the Academy testified before field
hearings about the reauthorization of RSA and specifically the O&P
school funding issue. For this to be possible, the assistance of
Academy members and other key organizations to change the law in 2004
will certainly be sought.
Beyond legislative initiatives in support of O&P education, the Academy
will be contracting with NCOPE accredited schools in 2004 to develop
three online continuing education courses based on the best practices
identified in the CSOP consensus conferences. This, among other
exciting initiatives for the coming year, is made possible through a
grant recently awarded to the Academy from the U.S. Department of
Education. This is in addition to our ongoing commitment to directly
support and maintain regular contact with our educators via the National
Association of Orthotic and Prosthetic Educators (NAPOE).
This is an exciting time for the O&P profession. The Academy is very
pleased that St Petersburg College is committed to opening an O&P
program and will support it as much as possible. We will also be making
a donation of all Academy published material (the same as we have done
with the other schools) when it opens.
I hope this has been helpful in conveying the Academy’s role in
continuing its support for O&P education in the United States.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Katz, CO, LO, FAAOP
President, The American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists
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