Physical therapist assistant program at CTC clears accreditation hurdle

A physical therapist assistant degree program, delayed earlier this year by an accreditation derailment, is back on at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center.

CTC director Rich Payne said the program is slated to begin Nov. 1 after the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, or CAPTE, approved the course for candidacy, a critical step on the path to full accreditation.

Center administrators had spent more than two years preparing for the program when in January CAPTE denied it candidacy. The action followed assurances from an accreditation official that candidacy was well within reach, CTC assistant director Dean Whitlow told the Southeast Missourian in February.

"It was a shock to all of us. We didn't feel we would be denied candidacy," Whitlow said. "It was such a blow, such a discouraging thing to us and we went through all phases of anger."

In April, the CTC won its appeal before the commission in Alexandria, Va.

Payne said the approval this time may have been as simple as a different set of eyes on the application. He likened it to an employer looking at a resume versus meeting face-to-face with a candidate.

"That's why the hearing is so important," he said. "The commission panel in charge of the hearing saw our commitment to the program; they met with our instructors and myself and saw we were committed and more than willing to do what it took to get it right and make sure it's right for the students."

Candidacy affords no guarantee for accreditation. Payne said CAPTE will return to the classroom in fall 2012 to revaluate and determine accreditation status. If the associate degree program is approved, Payne said the first class, more than likely fewer than 20 students, should graduate in December 2012.

In the worst-case scenario, should accreditation be denied, students would be able to articulate course credit into another institution. Payne said part of the candidacy requirements is that CTC sign agreements with several institutions to take the students in, if need be. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and St. Louis Community College, Meramec campus, are among those that have signed on, Payne said.

The Cape Girardeau School Board in March 2009 approved the associate degree program. Payne said demand continues to rise for physical therapist assistants in the region.

A $148,000 grant from the WIRED Initiative of Southeast Missouri was set to help fund an occupational therapy program, too, but the funding stream dried up, Whitlow said. So the CTC trained the grant money on the launch of the physical therapist assistant program.

The CTC used the federal funds to purchase equipment and remodel space for classes. On the administration side, program coordinators worked out the articulated credit agreement with Mineral Area College, the degree-granting institution, sought the approval of the Missouri Coordinating Board of Higher Education, and the blessing of the U.S. Department of Education for the distribution of federal financial aid.

Payne said all but one of the 16 students looking to enroll in the program earlier this year plan to return, a sure sign, he said, of commitment to the program and the institution. The CTC director said he feels good about the program's accreditation chances.

"This has been three years of my life. I think we're in great, great shape," he said.

mkittle@semissourian.com

388-3627

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