Application Process for 2020
The student must follow the Application Process for the Year the student wishes to apply into the Program. Also, the student must follow these requirements for the year of attendance in the program (this is based on requirements of fieldwork sites, college and program policies, applicable laws, and best practice).
The Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814-3449 (Phone 301-652-6611), www.acoteonline.org, www.aota.org.
The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program includes two portions:
1) prerequisite general education and related courses (2 semesters), and
2) occupational therapy assistant technical courses (5 semesters).
Enrollment in the technical component of occupational therapy assistant education is limited, and application must be made. The technical components of the program consist of FIVE consecutive semesters of full-time, mainly day-time studies including both classroom studies and clinical internships. There are occasional evening and weekend attendance requirements. Clinical internships and field experiences may require students to travel outside of the immediate area.
Qualifications for Admission
| Prerequisite Courses |
Credits |
Grade |
ENGL 1113 Composition I
ENGL 1123 Composition II
CSCI 1003 Computers and Information Processing |
3
3
3 |
C or better
C or better
C or better |
| MATH 1023 College Algebra |
3 |
C or better |
SOCI 2003 Intro. to Sociology
PSYC 2003 General Psychology |
3
3 |
C or better
C or better |
PSYC 2223 Developmental Psychology
PSYC 2203 Abnormal Psychology
BIOL 2064 Anatomy and Physiology I |
3
3
4 |
C or better
C or better
C or better |
| BIOL 206L Anatomy and Physiology I Lab |
|
|
| BIOL 2074 Anatomy and Physiology II |
4 |
C or better |
| BIOL 207L Anatomy and Physiology II Lab |
|
|
| BIOL 2304 Kinesiology |
4 |
C or better |
| BIOL 230L Kinesiology Lab |
|
|
| OCCU 1003 Introduction to Occupational Therapy |
3 |
C or better |
**Any substitutions for the stated academic pre-requisites must be approved by the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program Director prior to application to the program.
Selection Process
Selection Process for the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program includes:
1. Prerequisite courses work: A) Completion of all pre-requisite courses with a C or better. If taken at another college/university, and approved and accepted, and the course has separate grades for lecture and laboratory portions, the student must earn a C or better in both the lecture and laboratory portions of the course. B) Introduction to Occupational Therapy must be taken/attended (this may be for credit or if already have credit for the course student must arrange with the instructor to ‘sit-in’ for all lectures [attendance requirements remain the same as if the course is taken for credit, in regard to admission consideration to the Program]) the semester of application to the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program or the student must be enrolled in the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program in the semester immediately prior to the start of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. Note: Excessive absences for the Introduction to Occupational Therapy course, as identified in the syllabus, will cause the student to forfeit application privileges into the Program, for that same calendar year. This is a requirement of application. If the student is found to have cheated on academic work in OCCU 1003 Introduction to Occupational Therapy, the student will not be considered for application into the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. If the student would like to be considered for the Program in subsequent years, the student must successfully complete all work, per rules of that future year, for OCCU 1003 Introduction to Occupational Therapy.
2. A minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 for the sum of all pre-requisite courses is required for acceptance into the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. Sum GPA for pre-requisite courses is calculated in the same manner as the college calculates GPA (please see the college catalog for further details). If a student has earned transfer credit for demonstrating mastery of a subject area based on testing of academic knowledge or life work (advanced placement, credit for experiential learning, military work credit), as approved by the College, the course credit hours will be considered at the credit level of ‘A grade’ academic work. If a student has earned ‘Credit by Examination’ by successfully meeting proficiency examination testing requirements for a SouthArk credit by examination, the course credit hour(s) will be considered at the credit level of ‘A grade’ academic work. The Program will consider highest GPA, (as identified with Final pre-requisite course grades for the Fall semester immediately prior to the semester of application) and full completion of all other requirements, as the main mechanism toward admission into the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program.
Note: GPA for admission is first and foremost calculated for admission at time of application, thus GPA sum for the pre-requisite courses is determined at the end of the Fall semester prior to application. Any re-calculating of the sum GPA for the pre-requisite courses will only affect the individual student status and will not directly affect any other student’s status.
Note: If a student has not earned the needed 3.0 GPA for the sum of the pre-requisite courses at the time of application, however is enrolled in the remaining pre-requisite courses (needed for that student) in the Spring semester of application, the program director may give the student Alternate Status Contingent on passing the pre-requisite courses the student is currently enrolled in and earning a C or better in those courses, and earning the 3.0 GPA for the sum of the pre-requisite courses. Ranking among those with Alternate status would occur after all grades were made available at the end of the Spring semester. This level of Alternate status is different than for those who earned status of Alternate and had the needed GPA of 3.0 for the sum of the pre-requisite courses at time of application.
Note: If the student has earned any letter grade (including a D or F) for a pre-requisite course, prior to the Spring semester of application to the Program, that grade will be calculated into the sum pre-requisite GPA toward admission into the Program. And note, the highest of any pre-requisite course grade is calculated into the sum pre-requisite GPA used to determine applicant status. If the student earns a greater grade, which is a C or above, in the Spring semester of application to the Program, the higher grade will be used toward consideration of application for the Program regarding final sum GPA of pre-requisites for the Program. This is only for consideration of the individual student’s acceptance status and does not affect acceptance of any other student’s status into the Program (thus it would only affect placement rank of alternate status – which is for an alternate group identified as those students who did not earn a 3.0 GPA for the sum of the pre-requisite courses by time of Application). In this regard, and in this situation only, the student could, in the Spring semester, immediately prior to application, retake any pre-requisite course and if the student earns a higher grade than the student previously earned, in the Spring semester of application to the Program, the higher grade will be used toward consideration of application for the Program regarding final sum GPA of pre-requisites for the Program. This is only for consideration of the individual student’s acceptance status and does not affect acceptance of any other student’s status into the Program (thus it would only affect placement rank of alternate status).
Note: If the student is actively enrolled in any prerequisite course(s) in the Spring semester, immediately prior to Program admission, any Program acceptance is conditional and is contingent on the student not only successfully earning a C grade or better in all such courses, but also remaining above the sum 3.0 GPA for Program pre-requisite courses. If, at the end of the Spring semester of application, the pre-requisite GPA falls below a 3.0 the candidate will lose his or her consideration toward acceptance. At the end of that semester, any other student who had applied and had a sum GPA for the pre-requisite courses at 3.0 or above, at the time of application, could advance above the student who falls below a 3.0 for the pre-requisite for the sum of the all the pre-requisite courses. Each case will be considered individually.
Note: all students at status of Alternate at original time of application or at the end of the semester will be ranked at the end of the semester, based on scoring, once all student records are reviewed. Also, levels of Alternate are different, based on if the student had the needed GPA of 3.0 for the sum of the pre-requisite courses at time of application or if the student did not have the needed GPA of 3.0 for the sum of the pre-requisite courses at time of application but earned the needed GPA of 3.0 for the sum of the pre-requisite courses only by the end of the semester of application.
Note: a student may be at the status of Alternate at time of application, but, if spots are available, the student may move into an Accepted spot, once final Spring semester of application grades are available, if the student has earned that spot, based on pre-requisite GPA, and no other student who earned and maintained a accepted spot within the GPA guidelines is hindered or has voluntarily stepped aside.
Please note: all above information about placement status is always also based on meeting all requirements of application, not just meeting pre-requisite GPA requirements.
3. An overall GPA of 2.0 is required to graduate from the college. Applicant must meet the college's requirements for admission and meet the Associate of Applied Science requirements.
4. If a pre-requisite course is taken more than 1 time, the higher grade or highest grade will be the grade considered as part of the sum for the pre-requisite GPA.
5. Successful completion of all pre-requisite courses. Any substitutions must be approved by the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program Director prior to admission into the Program and additionally approved by the Dean of Enrollment Services, in regard to graduation from the college. This must be done prior to admission into the Program. If courses are taken at another college or university the official transcript of completed pre-requisite courses for the Program must be provided to the Program Director by noon on the Monday of the week immediately following the week of Last/Final Examinations of South Arkansas Community College, for the semester immediately preceding the beginning the Program. In addition, all courses being transferred into South Arkansas Community College as pre-requisite courses for the Program must be approved by the Registrar by noon on the Monday of the week immediately following the week of Last/Final Examinations of South Arkansas Community College, for the semester immediately preceding the beginning the Program. It is solely the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the official transcript is provided and acceptance is completed. Any course not meeting both of these requirements will cause the applicant to not be considered for the current cohort admission. Note: if the student has Kinesiology from another institution, please contact the Program Director regarding any consideration for course substitution.
6. Completion of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Application Form. Form is provided at an information session, of which attendance is mandatory, in order for Application to be accepted by the Program Director. (If applicant does not attend all or part of the application meeting, his or her application will be last group of applications considered for admission into the Program. If more than 1 person is not present for any or all of the mandatory application meeting, the applicants will be ranked based on time missed from the meeting – time will be ranked in order of least amount of time/minutes missed.) Ensure all of the following items are completed and presented to the Program Director by date indicated at Professional Programs Application Deadlines (http://www.southark.edu/academic/health-and-natural-sciences/professional-programs-application-deadlines-hns), for the year of application. Including:
A. Completion of Understanding and Agreement Standings.
B. Copies of Official Transcripts for all colleges and universities for any previous course work being considered as part of the pre-requisite course work. Official Transcripts must be directly and officially sent to the office of the Dean of Enrollment Services.
C. Three letters of references. Letters of reference must come from these sources. No letter may come from a person who is a blood relative or relative by marriage. Letters cannot be older than six months. The application session will provide further details about these letters.
1. Someone from whom you know in a vocational (paid) or non-paid (avocational/volunteer) capacity. This person may be a co-worker, manager, supervisor, team leader, or business owner.
2. Someone associated with your education. These people may be from past or current educational experiences. This person may be teacher, administrator, or staff person.
Note: it is not that one letter must come from someone in #1 and one letter must come from someone in #2; #1 and #2 are simply the criteria for the people writing the letters; all the letter could come from people in #1 or all the letters could come from people in #2; and all 3 letter can come from a combination of people in #1 and #2.
D. Personal Statement.
7. Completion of the TEAS with the following minimum scores:
Reading 70,
Math 60,
Science 35, and
English 60.
The student may take the TEAS exam up to 6 times. The exam must be taken by the time the application to the program is due, but within enough time for the application to be timely submitted to the Program Director. Beyond earning the minimum TEAS scores, TEAS composite scores will be used for admission purposes in the event of selection for the final Program student position(s) if candidate(s) have identical GPA for the sum of the prerequisite courses. Provide, with the Application items, a copy of the TEAS score sheet(s). Only provide TEAS score sheet(s) for TEAS test(s) the applicant wishes to use toward consideration toward the program application. Identify on the TEAS score sheet(s) which score(s) the applicant wishes to use toward application. DO NOT include extra TEAS sheet which explain the TEAS test or the TEAS scores.
8. Attendance at all Orientation sessions of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program and completion of all Orientation paperwork and forms. Alternates must also attend all Orientation sessions.
9. Arkansas State Law requires college students who were born after January 1, 1957, to provide proof of two immunizations against measles and rubella. Measles and Rubella vaccines must have been received after the first birthday and after January 1, 1968. Documentation should be on record in the Enrollment Services office.
10. All of these must be completed (or begun if immunization/vaccination series) before the start date of the program. All of these are at personal cost to the student.
A. Completion of physical examination form by a treating medical professional.
B. Completion of tuberculosis (TB) screening. Student must not have active TB to attend clinic activities. Clinic activities are a requirement of the Program.
C. Hepatitis B vaccination (or signed waiver – student must be aware that signing a Waiver may limit student acceptance at particular clinics, which will limit student learning and attendance, which may delay student from beginning and/or finishing Program/Clinical Site requirements).
D. Completion of Healthcare provider cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. (including infant, child, and adult). Completion of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) device training.
NOTE: This course will be offered within a few months of starting the Program. If the
applicant waits until the Program offers the course, the applicant is responsible for
ensuring the applicant has completed this course prior to attending a Program field site.
Cost for the course is the applicant’s responsibility.
E. Complete Basic First Aid course including bleeding, sprains, and seizure information.
F. Varicella vaccination or provide proof by a medical provider, of having had varicella. Must complete series of vaccination if indicated by provider.
G. Completion of Tetanus/Diphtheria/Pertussis vaccination. Tdap/Td booster per CDC requirements.
H. Proof of 2 doses of Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) immunization. If born before 1957 proof of immunity or immunization.
I. Depending on the time of the year, clinics attendance may require students to have an influenza and/or a pneumococcal immunization. Students should consider that these two immunizations will be required during the Program.
J. Student must be aware that individual clinic sites may require additional immunizations/vaccinations. To be able to perform in the clinical facility, the student will need to have the required immunizations/vaccinations before starting fieldwork placement.
Please note: lack of student not completing any of the above stated items will cause the student to have difficulty fulfilling clinical site requirements, thus limiting student learning, thus delaying student from beginning or finishing Program/Clinical Site requirements, thus causing student to not complete the Program requirements, thus causing student not to graduate.
K. Due to the material content and skill work involved in the Program, the student must be 18 years old by the first day of the Program.
11. Students previously enrolled in the South Arkansas Community College Occupational Therapy Assistant Program and who wish re-admittance to the Program, must re-apply to the Program.
For students who are re-applying into the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program, secondary to withdrawing or failing due to academic reasons, a full new application packet must be completed. Re-admittance into the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is never guaranteed. If re-accepted, students must re-take all courses in the Program and at that time earn acceptable passing scores for all the courses. All work must be current and work previously used in the Program will not be accepted. When students enter the Program the second time, students are on probation and the re-admittance is considered remedial (this situation is secondary to a student who withdrew or failed secondary to academic reasons). Students will not be offered such re-admission consideration more than one time, secondary to withdrawing or failing due to academic reasons. Additional conditions to the remediation plan of the re-admittance to the Program may be appropriate, and specific tasks and/or conditions will be individualized,
and will be determined on a case-by-case basis, and are done so to promote student success. The student will have to complete all requirements for the Program year in which the student is seeking re-admission.
For students who did not withdraw or fail for academic reasons, the situation will be considered on a case-by-case basis regarding placement considerations in reference to other applicants for that Program year. The student will be required to complete a Re-Application Form and any new or expired requirements associated with acceptance in the Program. Unless required by a non-Program entity, the student will re-take all courses in the Program for credit.
The Program will abide by any federal law, state law, or accreditation rule which supersedes the above stated procedure.
12. A lack of completing any item in the application process may limit a candidate's viability toward acceptance or may limit a candidate's status toward admission into the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program.
13. South Arkansas Community College and the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program do not unlawfully discriminate in the selection of students to the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program.
Supplemental Information
1. Program Information:
A. Classroom, laboratory and clinical education experiences are scheduled for full days, Monday through Friday. Occasionally, late afternoon, early evening, or weekend attendance is required. Occasionally, clinical fieldwork or clinical trips will require attendance on Saturday and Sunday. Some class clinical experiences will require the student to be out of town over-night. SouthArk Expo attendance is mandatory.
B. Clinical education experiences will require students to provide their own transportation (and lodging, if necessary) to clinical education sites outside the immediate college area. Travel, and other expenses, may be required for mandatory clinical facility orientation. Fieldwork Level I is done over a span of 3 weeks, away from the classroom. Fieldwork Level II is done over a span of 16 weeks, away from the classroom. Attendance may be required beyond the normal scheduled academic calendar for the college. Although faculty may consider students’ input into some clinical site placement, faculty make clinical site placement decisions and not attending any clinical site is considered refusal of accepting mandatory academic and/or fieldwork course work and/or enrollment, thus, will cause the student to forfeit his or her place in the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. All travel and attendance at any and all clinical sites is at the student’s personal expense. No placement is guaranteed and will change as needed, based on the requirements of the site(s) and Program requirements.
C. The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program cannot accommodate work, family, or personal schedules or situations. Application to the Program means an understanding to the commitment to the needs and requirements of the Program.
2. Maximum of Seventeen qualified students are placed in the Program on a yearly basis. Qualified students who are not admitted shall be placed on a waiting list. These students are considered Alternates. These students can be substituted for other students who cannot complete the Program, up until the first day of classes in the Program. The waiting list ends once the Program begins in the First Semester of the Program. Any student not accepted, in a given calendar year, who wishes to be a future student in the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program, will need to abide the future year’s Program year Application Process requirements and complete all application materials and tasks. Any new Application Process requirements will be posted once the newly accepted students begin the First Program semester. The Program Director will consider altering the number of students accepted on a case-by-case basis. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure the student has initiated communication with the Program Director to secure placement in the following year’s Introduction to Occupational Therapy course – the Program Director will not initiate communication with the student.
- 3. Prior to beginning the technical portion of their studies in the summer semester, students accepted to the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program will be required to provide the following items and complete the following items. All items brought to the Program Director should be a photocopy of the original. The student should KEEP THE ORIGINAL – DO NOT GIVE the program director the ORIGINAL. All items requiring dates of occurrences and signatures of others must be fully completed. All items must be completed at personal cost to the student.
- A. Pass a medical physical examination. Original must be provided directly from the treating medical professional. It should be faxed or postal mailed. DO NOT BRING the Program Director the physical examination.
- B. Complete all immunizations/vaccinations, as stated previously. Copies brought to the first day of the Program.
- C. Medically documented proof of not having active tuberculosis (TB). Student must not have active TB to attend clinic activities. Copy brought to the first day of the Program.
- D. Attend all application and orientation sessions provided by the Occupational Therapy Assistant faculty.
- E. Complete the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) For Healthcare Providers (at the student's expense). This is for infants, children, and adults; as well as use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) device. Copy of the signed and dated course card provided to the Program Director. Copy brought to the first day of the Program. (This course is acceptable to be taken as the course the Program identifies during the initial Summer in the Program, however if student is unavailable at the time of the course, or if the course is not offered, the student will still need to secure completion of this course material and certification by the end of the initial Summer in the Program.)
- F. Complete a First Aid course which, at a minimum includes procedures for bleeding, seizures, and sprains. Copy of the signed and dated course card provided to the Program Director.
G. Procure uniform items, textbooks, and supplies. There is a certain color specified for uniform. (See the Student Handbook for the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program.)
- 4. In order to progress in the Occupational Therapy Assistant technical program, students must make a C or better in all Program courses, and meet individual course requirements as stated in each individual syllabus. These include, but are not limited to:
A. individual courses may have practicum requirements for evaluation and intervention skills to be demonstrated at 0% and safety with skills at 100%, and
- B. Professional Attribute Evaluations at the end of the third and the forth semester will need to be at 60%, and
- C. in Fieldwork Level II the final evaluation has ethical and safety items which must be scored at 3 out 4 at Final, and
- D. Successfully passing the Fieldwork Level I evaluations prior to beginning Fieldwork Level II, and
- E. Students must earn a C or better in all courses, and meet individual course requirements for each and every course, and students must meet all Program and all course requirements each semester to pass onto the next successive semester in the Program, and
- F. No course work from a previous semester may be re-applied/re-used in a subsequent semester, and
- G. If an academic course is scheduled to finish before the end of the academic calendar semester, and the student fails the course, the student forfeits his or her place in the Program and the student should withdraw from any other courses he or she is currently in or enrolled for that current semester. Failure of any course, at any time in any semester will cause the student to forfeit his or her place in the Program, and
- H. If a student makes below a C, they are dismissed from the program and future admission to the program is not implied after application.
- I. All Fieldwork Level II coursework must be completed within 18 months of finishing the didactic coursework.
- 5. Completion of the academic coursework does not ensure successful completion of the clinical courses of Fieldwork Level II. If, in the professional judgment of the faculty, the student is not deemed ready to enter the courses Fieldwork Level II A & B; the student will be required to successfully complete remediation and demonstrate they have the necessary skills to begin the Fieldwork Level II courses.
- 6. Graduation from this program does not presume or imply that the student will be certified. Certification requires successful completion of the certification examination after graduation (at personal cost to the student).
Graduation from this program does not presume or imply that the student will be licensed. Licensure requires successful completion of an individual state’s licensure process (at personal cost to the student).
- 7. Student may need to have a background check, drug screen, finger printing, Medicare/Medicaid check, abuse check, felony check, driving record check, immunization, vaccination, medical test, medical screen, social security number check, driver’s license check, automobile insurance, or health insurance or other personal information/history check for the program or fieldwork site (at personal cost to the student). Personal background history may limit student's availability of fieldwork site placement or clinical site trip placement and thus delay student from attending fieldwork or clinical placement coursework, thus delaying students in meeting graduation requirements. Students having a felony in their background may not be eligible to sit for the national examination given by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) nor receive licensure in Arkansas from the Arkansas State Medical Board. Each case is assessed on an individual level.
- 8. Costs are the responsibility of the student (Subject to change):
A. Please see page current South Arkansas Community College Catalog or the South Arkansas Community College website for current fees and tuition for the Occupational Therapy Assistant program.
B. The Program also requires uniforms, shoes, textbooks, and supplies at an estimated cost of approximately $5,700. Misc/Personal expenses are an additional cost to the student, as is room and board and travel.
C. Travel and lodging to clinical sites will be the responsibility of the student for all phases of the program.
E. Course and Semester Fees do not cover all expenses for the Program. Student expenses include, but are not limited to: project supplies, calendars/planners, office supplies (stickie notes, highlighters, writing utensils, paperclips, etc…), food to eat during the Program day (snacks), Program activities, assignment materials, coursework materials, course projects (both didactic courses and fieldwork courses) driving to/from sites, use of electronic device to access Blackboard and complete Program work, resources books, housing/lodging, e-book access, personal history information formal checks, immunizations/vaccinations, medical physical examination(s), medical test(s), medical screen(s), personal insurance(s), CPR, First Aid, uniforms/clothing particular to a site, site administration fees, facility required site specific various other required education components, postage/faxing associated with site requirements, internet access, passport style photos, electronic scrapbook, and pot-luck clinical associated activities.
- 9. The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program will comply with all federal requirements under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C.§1681 et seq regarding admission or re-admission.
- 10. The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program will comply with all ADA reasonable accommodations approved by the College regarding completing the application process and application paperwork.
What is occupational therapy?
